UFC 129 Fight Card: A Head to Toe Breakdown of Jon Jones vs. Randy Couture

". There’s a lot of younger guys … Jon Jones is the perfect example. They offered me that fight in the fall. Nobody wants to fight that cat right now. I don’t see that battle in my future."

Randy Couture doesn't see UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones on his radar anytime soon, and the consensus is likely that the UFC Light Heavyweight Champ doesn't see the UFC Hall-of-Famer Octagon Warrior on his list of guys to beat to cement his name as the best MMA fighter of all time.

Nevertheless, when Couture openly said that nobody wants to fight Jones (save for Rashad Evans) and that he doesn't see that fight in his future, Captain America left the door wide open for us to ask the question:

What would go down if "The Natural" and "Bones" really did go at it, belt or no belt?

Let's be honest with ourselves: it might be easy for some of us to think that Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida will beat Randy Couture, but resisting the urge to find something exciting about Randy Couture and Jon Jones? Not so easy to do, that is.

Jones has Fighter of the Year potential and Couture is arguably one of the sport's two greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time.

Couple in Jones' unpredictable all-around game and Couture's clear ability to fight despite being likely to never be considered a "Top 10 Fighter" due to his age, and what you have here is one hell of a Light Heavyweight superfight.

Do the signs point to Jones prevailing, or do they reveal the one fight in which a loss to Jones might not be surprising?

Here for your consideration is a head-to-toe breakdown of the bout that Couture says isn't in his future, but could be tempting enough to reach both Couture's future and Jones' future.

Striking

This one is likely the only one that could be a no-brainer, depending on your bias.

Couture earned his nickname against Vitor Belfort when he utilized a Boxing game that left Vitor with little to no answers, and with the nickname of "The Natural" he also earned a reputation as a "Master Strategist" who could easily use one's strengths against them when given the opportunity.

However, while he's shown effective striking, his most effective striking has come in the clinch rather than just on the feet, although he definitely has dropped many a person in the Octagon before.

Still, it takes a certain kind of guy to shut Jones down on the feet, and while Couture's whole career has been his ability to shut people down at their own game, it will be really difficult for Couture to come up with a game plan that can shut Jones down.

Advantage: Jones, but you can't ever doubt Couture.

Submissions

Of the thirteen wins in Jones' career, three of them are by submission.

Compare that to the four submission wins out of Couture's nineteen career wins and...does it really matter?

Before Mark Coleman, Couture had only submitted Mike van Arsdale and the late Tony Halme.

Hopefully there is no question as to how James Toney lost to Couture at UFC 118.

Truth be known, Couture and Jones are more finishers than anything else—even though Couture has won by the distance more than by TKO.

There's one major contributing factor that will decide who might get the edge here, and that's both guys' Wrestling.

Jones' Greco-Roman or Couture's blend of Greco-Roman, Submission, and Catch wrestling—you decide where the edge lies.

Advantage: Open

Conditioning

This one is definitely tough to call, because Couture's always been able to fight for 15 to 25 minutes when he needs to, and Jones has already proven himself in multiple bouts that he has the conditioning to go past the first two rounds if he has to.

The only time Couture has lost by the cards was (if you can believe it) his UFC 102 bout with Antonio Minotauro Nogueira, while the still-young Jones hasn't lost by the cards yet.

Someone would have to go down eventually, but with how good these guys can be as the fight goes on, maybe the better hope is that the fight will turn into a classic as it goes on to the later rounds.

Advantage: Open

Creativity

Okay, so I guess this one is obvious as well who it could go for.

Again, Couture could be creative in this bout and use some type of unforseen maneuver to shut Jones down, but Jones has reinvigorated the MMA world with the game he has brought since his debut.

He's arguably the UFC's most creative striker and he's arguably one of the sport's most creative fighters of all time.

That could be trouble for Couture if creativity is intended to have nothing to do with how Couture approaches Jones.

Advantage: Jones

The Clinch Work

I've left a couple of elements open so far, but when it comes to the clinch, I'd easily say this one is Jones...NOT!

The young phenom can't have every edge in the world, and in the clinch he may not be able to hang with Couture.

Maybe if Jones is the one that initiates the Muay Thai Clinch then perhaps this could be another strong suit for the champ, but it's very rare that getting in the clinch with Couture qualifies as a damn good idea.

Maybe Jones should do his dirty work from the outside and hurt Randy at a distance before he thinks about moving in.

Advantage: Couture

Game Planning

Jones is always doing something new in his fights—that's the type of trend we can now expect out of guys in Greg Jackson's circle what with GSP fighting Jake Shields this Saturday and with Miguel Torres facing Demetrious Johnson at UFC 130.

The problem with that here: Couture isn't doing the same thing every fight.

He's looking for different ways to change up his game, and of course the game plan he had for Mark Coleman at UFC 109 wasn't the same game plan that he'll implement on Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 this Saturday.

In the same respect, his plan for Machida likely would be different from the plan he has for Jon Jones.

Then again, Jones' game plans aren't always predictable, as his past two fights have shown.

Advantage: Open, but I'll lean more towards Couture, despite the 99.9 percent chance of Jones proving me dead wrong.

Strength

Now here's a question: If these two met, would Jones be stronger than Couture, or would Couture be stronger than Jones?

Couture took James Toney down but it wasn't one of Couture's signature takedowns.

Likewise, the Greco-Roman and Gaidojutsu of Jones often comes into play, yet people tend to undermine Jones' takedowns almost as much as they tend to write him off as a legit fighter.

I'll let you figure this one out.

Advantage: Open

Wrestling

This is what I think will determine the submission edge because this is exactly the way in which both men have been able to get the submissions that they've gotten in.

Couture has been considered one of the best Wrestlers in the game, but Jones is coming into his own as a guy with some very good wrestling skill.

Much like the submission aspect of the fight, this one simply boils down to who can get it first.

Jones' slim frame might make it easy for Couture to get him down, but then again, Couture could be taken down at will by Jones for all we know.

If this fight goes down, we might have a clearer picture of how this could go.

Advantage: Open

Heart

Two guys that are gamers, two guys that come to fight whether they win or lose (even thugh many feel that Jones should be 14-0 in MMA), two guys that will not go down by choice but by force--that's what you have with The Natural and Bones.

Couture's lost because of bogus doctor rulings, roided-up foes and slips, and he's gotten himself caught in positions in which he had no choice but to tap, but the only time he's truly been finished in a fight by way of something undisputed was in the last two fights he had with Chuck Liddell.

Jones only has a loss on his record because Matt Hamill couldn't continue after that ill-timed elbow, but many feel that Hamill was losing that fight either way.

If these two collide, don't expect an easy finish from either man.

Couture's 47, going on 48, and Jones is 23, but that doesn't mean that they still don't want to be fighters.

Advantage: Open

Age

In MMA, there are people than can kick your ass, and then there are old people who can kick your ass.

Love him or hate him, Jon Jones is a 23-year-old guy that can kick your ass in ways you don't even know about.

On the other hand, Randy Couture is a 47-year-old man who can kick your ass in ways you don't even know about.

If this fight actually happens, the first thing we'll hear people saying is that Couture is too old and that it will show against Jones.

I disagree strongly with that.

Tim Sylvia was supposed to kick his ass at UFC 68, and Couture made Sylvia look like he was just debuting.

Gabriel Gonzaga was supposed to destroy Couture at UFC 74, but that never got around to happening.

Brock Lesnar did beat Couture as did Minotauro, and some people think Brandon Vera did also.

What Couture did in those fights that nobody gave Couture a shot to do was look damn good, even if the other guy was kicking his ass.

So, does it really sound fair to assume that Couture's only chance to win is if the judges rob Bones?

I don't think so.

Advantage: Open

Is the reality reflected in this piece? Is a superfight between Jon Jones and Randy Couture really that difficult to call, or is it more lopsided in the favor of one of these two warriors?

I left the majority of these open because I want to know who you think may have the edge in those "Open" areas, so if you think there's an obvious edge that I missed, please don't hesitate to let me hear about it!