UFC 129 Fight Card: What Randy Couture Must Do to Beat Lyoto Machida

The Master Strategist returns for what many would hope is not his last hurrah in Mixed Martial Arts, and what a test he has in front of him!

Randy Couture earned his nickname "The Natural" after beating Vitor Belfort using Belfort's own style of fighting against him, and many have watched as others have fallen to Couture in a similar fashion.

His most unorthodox test comes against former UFC Light Heavyweight kingpin Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida, who took the world by storm two years ago when he and his family developed a style of stand-up fighting in which the main goal of MMA was symbolized.

In other words, Machida's use of Karate embodied the point of taking the least amount of damage possible in a fight while inflicting the most damage possible.

Only Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have been able to expose any flaw in Machida's game, and really the only flaw exposed in Machida was that he relies on being an evasive counter-striker.

For Machida to be effective against Couture, he has to move forward and land his shots in perfect succession while stunning Couture to the point where the fight ends against the cage.

That's swell, except for how well-versed Couture is against the cage.

I don't believe Machida's own Karate can be used against him, but the closer Machida gets to him, the more it works in Couture's favor because of how brutal Couture can be in the clinch.

Also, you'd have to consider Machida's Sumo against Couture's Greco-Roman Wrestling. Not to say Machida will be ineffective, but Couture's been around long enough and faced so many tough wrestlers that he's found his way around a lot of their styles.

Machida's is still unorthodox and definitely a tough one to figure out, but if anyone can solve the riddle and shut The Dragon down, it's The Natural.

He will have a chance to do just that next weekend in Toronto against a great 205er in what could be Couture's farewell fight.