Randy Couture: Passing the Test or the Torch?

(Idiom) To pass the torch: to relinquish (a title, for example) to another or others.

When WWE star Brock Lesnar takes on UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture it very well could be an accelerated passing of the torch, from one prominent wrestler as heavyweight champion to another. While Lesnar's record doesn't reek of a man who is title contention ready, he would quell the critics who doubt him with a win over Couture.

However, should Lesnar win it will most likely be little more than that...a passing of the torch. Fans everywhere could view this as a bridge between generations in MMA, not as "the better man wins." To the masses and at least to the hardcore Couture fans, he will always be the better man, just enough past his prime to lose to a beast like Lesnar.

It would be difficult not to see this as merely the older champ officially handing over the high profile throne to the younger, newer champ. Sadly, this is an unfortunate byproduct of the title fight happening before Brock earns his way up the ladder, and even more so because he would be seizing the title from a 45-year-old end-of-his-career warrior in Randy Couture.

Whatever level of belief you have in Couture's ability to defy the odds and beat down the bigger man, even at age 45 (like he did against Sylvia), will be directly proportionate to the level of credibilty and respect that a victorious Brock Lesnar would inherit.

Should Randy win, fans of MMA the world over will clamor for Couture vs. Fedor, with a chance they demand a Lesnar rematch more IF the bout is THAT good.

Should Brock Lesnar win, the bout could likely be capped off as no more than a proud and glorious segment on a highlight reel. Now don't get me wrong, Brock Lesnar can be the dominant UFC Heavyweight Champion who mows down contender after contender. But, he won't be the man atop the mountain with the bulls-eye on his back from beating Randy Couture alone.

He'll need to beat a handful of top level heavyweights for that kind of praise. And that process, should it come to fruition, will be retroactively referenced as having begun with the demolition of Heath Herring at UFC 87.