LAS VEGAS — It’s officially time to stop doubting Randy Couture.
“The Natural” celebrated his 44th birthday in June and the odds makers made him a 2-1 underdog for his fight against challenger Gabriel Gonzaga, 28, Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Couture continued to punch Father Time in the face the same way he continues to beat down the new generation of mixed martial arts fighters.
Couture roughed up Gonzaga in the clinch for more than two rounds before taking him down and pounding him out at 1:37 of the third round to retain his UFC heavyweight title in front of a sellout crowd of 11,100.
Nearly all the experts doubted Couture had a chance to finish the fight on his feet when he came out of a 13-month retirement to take on 6-foot-8 Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight title in March.
Couture proved them wrong with a dominant performance en route to a unanimous decision to take the title from Sylvia.
In beating Gonzaga, Couture said, “I felt if I got in his face and kept the pressure on him it would pay dividends. I was able to wear him down.”
Couture set the tone early in the opening seconds of the first round when he landed a left hand that set up a takedown.
Gonzaga got back to his feet but he spent the better part of the first round mashed against the fence in a clinch absorbing short shots and knees.
Gonzaga suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose after being slammed to the canvas in the second round and Couture continued to press his advantage.
Gonzaga opened the third round with a right high kick that stopped Couture in his tracks. He landed another right high kick, but Couture absorbed the blow again. Gonzaga’s right high kick was the same blow that ended things against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Couture went right for the clinch, got the takedown and went to work with lefts and rights. Gonzaga covered up and didn’t fight back as Couture continued to pound away. Referee Herb Dean finally pulled Couture off a bloody Gonzaga to end the fight.
Couture improved to 16-8, while Gonzaga dropped to 8-2.
Canadian Georges St. Pierre (14-2) exorcized the demons that had been haunting him since losing his UFC welterweight title in a stunning first-round KO to Matt Serra in April with a three-round unanimous decision victory over Josh Koscheck (11-2).
St. Pierre earned the victory by taking Koscheck, a former NCAA national wrestling champion, out of his comfort zone and outwrestling him.
St. Pierre won the striking battle, took down his opponent and controlled him on the ground.
Koscheck got only one takedown in the entire fight and didn’t do anything with it. All three judges scored it in favor of St. Pierre, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
“It’s like I’ve just been reborn,” said St. Pierre, who is in position to face the winner of the Serra-Matt Hughes match for the UFC 170-pound title. “This is the best thing ever for my career. I’m better than ever.”
Lightweight Roger Huerta (21-1-1) of Minneapolis used his unique brand of ground-and-pound to wear down Alberto Crane (8-1) of Glendale, Calif., before pounding him out with strikes at 1:50 of the third round for his fifth consecutive victory in the UFC.
Las Vegas’ Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (33-7), The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner, continued to impress at 155 pounds, notching a three-round unanimous decision against Kurt Pellegrino (16-3) of Jupiter, Fla. All three judges scored it in favor of Stevenson, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
Patrick Cote (12-4) of Canada handed TUF 3 middleweight winner Kendall Grove (10-4) of Hawaii his first loss in the UFC with a vicious TKO at 4:25 of the first round.
Loading ...
All Articles