UFC Championship Time: Couture Vs Lesnar

  The UFC is widely regarded as the best organization in the Mixed Martial Arts business.  And lets be frank, Dana White is a very savvy business owner who knows how to be successful, investing a great deal of his own time and money into the venture.  He has hit shows on Spike (one of my favorite channels for brain-bashing shows), a huge stable of fighters for great matchups, and one of the more recognizable brands in the sports industry.

  With all that said, it is a wonder to me that Dana and his staff at the UFC think they can just pull the wool over our eyes and make a matchup between an MMA icon and a relative baby in diapers (at least to MMA)...  And Dana and gang didn't just make the matchup, they're putting the championship on the line...  And not only is the belt on the line, they are billing this thing as some "Fight of the Century" like Lesnar belongs in the ring with Couture legitimately.  Are you thinking what I'm thinking?!?!

  Exactly!  Despite his newness to the Octagon, the MMA game, and obvious lack of striking experience compared to Couture (who once knocked out a world-renowned boxer, Vitor Belfort, with nothing but punches), Lesnar is going to win.  What?  That's not what you were thinking?

  Let me tell you why you should be thinking that.  Lesnar is waaaaay bigger than Couture, and other than Tim Sylvia (who we all agree has become kind of a wuss) Couture struggles against bigger guys.  To be such a small heavyweight, Couture usually fights up a little on paper.  Ricco Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Josh Barnett are all bigger than him.  Sure Couture beat Gonzaga, but Gonzaga was still new to the game, and the UFC threw him to the wolves before he was ready.  The other two guys, Rodriguez and Barnett, beat Randy up, both winning the striking game well enough to get a stoppage.  Rodriguez got the submission to strikes, and Barnett scored a TKO.

  So what does all this have to do with the upcoming Lesnar-Couture bout?  Everything!  Brock Lesnar is the most physically imposing and impressive man that Couture has ever, and will ever, stare at across the Octagon.  Couture usually wins by getting his opponent down and pounding on him, but the odds of getting Lesnar down (also a world-class freestyle wrestler) are almost nil.  To top it all off, Lesnar could bench press Couture's entire extended family all at once.  He is a beast, a freak of nature, a true hulk.

  While Couture may be the better striker, Lesnar is the better athlete (Couture is not used to that either); while Couture may be the better wrestler, he won't be able to bully Lesnar down; and while Couture may be the experienced veteran, Lesnar brings an explosive, lethal combination of power, size, speed, and just plain overall wow that Couture has never seen before.

  My prediction: the UFC is about to have a new heavyweight champion, one who has to diet to get down to the 265-pound max weight for heavyweights.  This new champion has more athletic skill, strength, raw power, and speed than any heavyweight the UFC has seen.  This new champion will be the one and only Brock "The Raging Bull" Lesnar.  (That nickname is my idea, I really want it to stick.)

  The MMA world is about to become a new animal, and it will be a change led by a beast.