Randy Couture's Next Fight - Anderson Silva?
While Randy Couture's next opponent is rumored to be James Toney, would Anderson Silva make for a better fight?
With the recent victory of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua over Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida for the UFC light heavyweight belt, a lot of match-up possibilities have opened up in the light heavyweight division. One highly anticipated possible arrival into the weight class, is UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
Anderson’s friendship with Lyoto Machida has put a hold on Silva competing in the 205 pound division. But with the dethroning of his friend and training partner, Anderson could be making a splash in the UFC’s most popular weight class soon. He has competed at the weight twice in the UFC, once on a free fight night against James Irvin on July of 2008 in which he knocked Irvin out in just over a minute. His most recent light-heavyweight bout was last August against Forrest Griffin, in a heavily anticipated bout that Anderson did not disappoint, knocking Forrest out just over three minutes into the fight.
After his fight with Forrest Griffin fans have been craving to see Anderson fight other top light heavyweights, especially after a lackluster performance at UFC 112 in which he defended his middleweight title against Demian Maia in a controversial bout. No one has been able to present much of a challenge for “The Spider” for some time at the 185 pound division, and he might have to move up a class to find better competition.
If Silva made his way up to the light heavyweight division, it would be met with questions. Would he get an immediate title shot? How many fights would he need to get one if not? Who would he fight for contender-ship? One possible dream match-up that would cause a stir among MMA enthusiasts is one pinning him against former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture.
Couture, who is currently riding a two fight win streak over Brandon Vera and Mark Coleman since returning to light heavyweight, is a very intriguing match-up for any top fighter. Randy, who is far past his prime at 46 years old, has remained very competitive despite his age in recent bouts. He is expected to fight James Toney on the upcoming UFC 118 fight card this August, and a win against Toney could put Couture very close to a title shot.
This is a match-up that would have been even more anticipated about 3 years ago when Couture was still the heavyweight champion and on the better side of 45. But late is better than never, as we’ve seen in such bouts as Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua which had been years in the making and both bouts delivered with plenty of excitement.
While the general consensus would have Anderson man-handling the 46 year old, Couture is an odd match-up for anybody. “The Natural” is a highly touted Greco-Roman Wrestler, and has used his wrestling skills to dictate the fight in the clinch and on the ground. To compliment his clinch and ground game, Randy has a good boxing game in which he showed off against Mark Coleman early on in the year. But make no mistake about it, there is no logical reason for Couture to try and stand with “The Spider.”
While there are some arguments against Anderson being the top pound-for-pound fighter, there are almost none for him being the best pound-for-pound striker. Anderson’s speed and precision striking would be way too much for the aging Couture in the stand up, so the question in this fight would be could Randy get a hold of Anderson and get the fight to the ground? Even if so, his work is not done there, Anderson has a solid ground game with a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and has submitted guys with solid ground games such as Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson.
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The odds would seem to be against Couture in this possible match-up, and well this is not the first time he’s gone up against a younger faster striker recently, ala Brandon Vera who Randy defeated in a razor thin decision, it is important to note Anderson is much more dangerous than Vera. Couture who is an excellent strategists, would seem to have only one path to victory, to get a hold of Anderson, put him against the cage and eventually on his back, and then try to overwhelm “The Spider” from there.
This is Anderson’s fight to lose, as he has faced other top wrestlers in the UFC and hasn’t let that dictate the way he’s fought on the feet. It’s hard to imagine any less than a stunning victory for “The Spider” in a fight that should attract quite a bit of fan fare, but one thing Randy Couture has taught us throughout his illustrious MMA career, is to never count him out.
By Ryan Silva
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer