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UFC 129 in Toronto Will Feature Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida
Posted on January 2, 2011 by Ken Pishna
Former multi-time and multi-weight class UFC champion Randy Couture was all but set to retire if he didn’t get a fight that interested him.

Randy Couture at UFC 109
“If the right fight came along and again, by the right fight, I mean, one of the two guys I’ve been interested in fighting for quite a while now are either Shogun or Machida,” Couture told MMAWeekly.com in December.

“If they offered me either one of those fights tomorrow, I’d take either one of them,” he added.

Well, the right fight came along, and he accepted.

Following UFC 125 on Saturday night, MMAFighting.com reported that Couture was expected to fight Lyoto Machida, and that Couture confirmed the fight. Independent MMAWeekly.com sources also confirmed the fight, although we were unable to reach Couture at the time of publication.

The two will meet on April 30 at UFC 129 in Toronto, the promotion’s first trip to Canada’s largest city.

The hope is to have countryman and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre headline UFC 129 against Jake Shields, although that fight has yet to be confirmed by Ultimate Fighting Championship officials.

There was speculation the UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez would also defend his belt against Junior Dos Santos on the card, but that fight won’t even be a consideration for UFC 129 now that Velasquez has revealed a rotator cuff injury.

-What a way to possibly end a legendary career. This will be a very tough fight for Couture but if anyone can get Machida to the ground its "Capt. America". I dont see Couture retiring if he wins this fight though.
 
Cheers for that, I did wonder if anyone would have it on. Looks like I'll be up late tonight :)

Everyone see that Brian Ebersole stepped in for Carlos Condit who is out with a knee injury, Ebersole is a really cool dude he came to our gym for a seminar then went on a bender with us in Dartford was awesome :)
 
Dkore-DeX said:
Despite retirement talk, Strikeforce's Fedor Emelianenko could be top grand-prix alternate
by Dann Stupp on Feb 13, 2011 at 5:00 am ET
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Although the MMA legend hinted at retirement following a second-round TKO loss to Antonio Silva, Fedor Emelianenko's fighting career may not be over.

Both Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and Emelianenko's agent, M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelchtein, want the 34-year-old to continue.

And Coker could dangle an intriguing opportunity should Emelianenko wish to continue fighting: first dibs on any alternate spots that open in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix.

Emelianenko (31-3 MMA, 1-2 SF) and Silva (16-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) headlined Saturday's Showtime-televised "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva" event at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J. After a close first round, Silva unloaded a brutal ground-and-pound assault in the second. With the Russian's right eye swollen shut, the cageside physician halted the bout after before the start of the third round, which resulted in Emelianenko's second consecutive defeat since a legendary decade-long win streak.

The bout was part of the opening round of Strikeforce's eight-man, season-long heavyweight tournament. And though three tourney-reserve bouts populated Saturday's main card, any available alternate spots instead could go to Emelianenko.

"There's absolutely a possibility he could be a replacement," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after the show. "That's the beauty of the tournament. You don't know what could happen in the next leg of the tournament. As this tournament unwinds over the year, there could be an injury, and you could see Fedor back in the tournament."

Decisions about injury replacements ultimately will be made by a Strikeforce committee, as Coker previously announced. And though Shane Del Rosario, Chad Griggs and Valentijn Overeem all won reserve bouts at Saturday's show, Emelianenko could cut to the front of the line.

Emelianenko undoubtedly would be the biggest draw of the four. But Coker said there would be other reasons for the selection. Namely, that Silva vs. Emelianenko was cut short by an injury.

"It was a tough fight out there," Coker said. "Like Alistair (Overeem) said, Fedor always comes back in the third round. But he didn't get a chance today. (With) the stoppage today, I don't think Fedor could see. He may have even had an orbital fracture, but safety comes first. He'll have another day."

Regardless, Coker said he and Emelianenko, who recently signed a new multi-fight deal with Strikeforce, have plenty of bouts ahead. Neither he nor Finkelchtein appeared to take Emelianenko's retirement talk seriously.

"You know how that goes," Coker said. "Guys get very emotional after fights. We'll see."

Finkelchtein, who said the doctor's stoppage was "the right decision," thinks Emelianenko may have just been emotional when he mentioned the possibility of retiring.

"I think Fedor was just upset," he said. "That decision, of course, belongs to Fedor. But I think I know him well, and I think he's full so full of strength. I think he will continue."

Emelianenko, arguably the greatest heavyweight in MMA history and one of the sport's most accomplished fighters, suffered a June loss to Fabricio Werdum, which snapped a staggering 27-fight win streak. The former PRIDE champion now has suffered consecutive defeats.
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I disagree he is probably one of the most humble fighters there is, never blows his own horn and never said he was the best.

It's M1 that blew everything out of proportion and made him out to be unstoppable, and to be fair in his prime in pride he was. He beat a prime crocop at striking yeah it was a decision but he bossed the feet pretty much the whole fight.

I'm not saying he is the best in the world, but he is one of the greats to have fought. I still think if he dropped to 205 he would be a true force.
 
If he had crossed over to the UFC in his prime and got that title too, he would have solidified himself and I think he could have won it back then.

M1 global wrapped him in cotton wool he was always going to be a cash cow when he was unbeaten, they were scared of losing their only decent playing card.
 
crunchman said:
I'm pretty sure he just means his striking is based on throwing bombs 100% of the time hoping for the ko.

He's not exactly a technical striker is he ? ;)

Great card from SF yet again, really enjoyed the Johnsson/Del Rossario fight
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He is actually quite technical, but not in the standard boxing technique.

He uses "casting punches" in order to get closer and grapple, and he also has amazing head movement and defence. It's also the reason why he has broken his hands like 5 times, do to this method of punching.

I'll admit he does like the power right hand though :)

Check out this vid on casting punches to see what I mean:
 
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I don't think he looked right from the start, he was definitely a little more podgy than he normally is.

There could have been an injury or he may not have taken the fight as serious as he should have, but Fedor isn't the sort of fighter that would air this as an excuse to why he lost.
 
He really isn't that great at striking, he has power yeah but I wouldn't say he is technically that sound.

This is MMA not K1, he needs to work more ground if he ever wants to be taken seriously and achieve greatly.
 
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