Couture-Liddell III Saturday

ICEMAN

Who's watching this? I will be. We're having a big party at the house of my boxing trainer.

This will be the biggest fight in UFC history in terms of attendance (sold out 6 weeks in advance, setting a new record) and PPV buys (early estimates are that they could reach 500,000 buys).

I like both Liddell and Couture but if I have to pick one guy to win, it would have to be Randy. He's such an inspiration to me, as he's a guy in his 40's who's in better shape than most people half his age and can still compete with the top fighters in the world.

Chuck will again look for the quick knockout but if he can't get that, then I think he'll be in trouble the longer the fight goes b/c he hasn't had to go more than 3 rounds in any of his last 5 fights. I don't know if the fight goes 5 rounds if Chuck can keep up with Randy for that long.

Hopefully Randy will stick to his gameplan and try and counterpunch with Chuck while looking to score a takedown and then get in some ground and pound.

My prediction: Couture by ref stoppage in the 4th round.

Rest of the undercard isn't great; a lot of heavyweight fights which are usually bad if they go past the first round. But the Nick Diaz-Joe Riggs fight should be good.

Miakal

I want to see it. It depends if I can find a place or can get my friend to order it.

I really would like to see Randy win it and he really is the more talented fighter. With Liddell though things can be such a wild card. Plus, I think Randy's age puts things more in question. Liddell can so easily knock out anyone, and I'd be more inclined to believe that that's the most likely possibility with this fight.

I know Liddell is pretty heavily favored. I've heard that Randy has never lost a fight he was an underdog in (which, I'm entirely sure what it means).

ICEMAN

Miakal,
It's funny b/c I don't know if you watched the 1-hour preview show they had for this fight on Spike, but they talked about how Randy fights better when he's the underdog.

In fact, Dana White (UFC President) came out and said the whole plan when they first had Couture-Liddell fight was for Chuck to beat Randy, making Chuck the No. 1 contender and then forcing Tito Ortiz to fight Chuck for the title. Of course, things didn't work that way as Randy dominated the fight, then dominated Tito for the title.

This fight has a similar setup. The UFC probably wants Chuck to win since he's younger and they can book him in a rematch with Tito that would draw huge, plus there's Quinton Jackson from Pride who might be coming to UFC; as well as guys like Forrest Griffin.

Randy did just sign a new 3-fight deal, so it's not like he's retiring after this thing (he makes a reported $250,000 a fight, tops in UFC), so it wouldn't necessarily hurt the UFC if he won back the title.

I can't wait to see what happens.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I want to see it too. I like UFC, my friend is thinking about ordering it. If I had to choose, I'd say Chuck wins the fight. Nothing against Randy, I just think Chuck is on a roll right now and I wouldn't pick anyone against him.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Liddell Wins! Sorry to see Couture go though, he's a good man and a great fighter. He'll be missed greatly.

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

I would've of seen this but I went to a strip club instead.

Slimdust

man, I was hoping couture would when. Ohh well.

PS3 Online Name: xJimmyx23

www.haulingkings.com

ICEMAN

I watched the PPV last night over at my boxing trainer's house, had about 20-30 people there, so it was a good time. Most people were for Liddell, so I was in the minority in rooting for Couture. The fans at the arena were off the charts loud for that fight; I thought Randy won the first round, although it was close. Second round he seemed too tentative and then that slip happened and it was all over. Chuck's hands are so heavy that if he catches you like that, you're done. It's too bad for Randy his career ends with his back on the canvas, but I think he's making the right move. He has nothing left to prove in the octagon.

I thought most of the fights were good with Diaz-Riggs probably being the best. I was disappointed in Mir's performance, it's clear he still has a lot of training to do to get back to where he was before his car accident.

Next month's PPV should be good with Franklin-Louiseau and St. Pierre-Penn on the card.