Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera To Headline UFC 105
Following weeks of searching and speculation, it appears that the UFC has finally secured a main event for UFC 105 in Manchester, England. A light heavyweight matchup between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera is in the process of being booked for the November 14 event, according to BloodyElbow.
MMAFrenzy.com reported just a few days ago that the headlining bout would be Dan Henderson vs. Nate Marquardt, however when negotiations stalled, an alternative had to be found. Matt Hughes had even agreed to move up to middleweight and challenge title-holder Anderson Silva, but Silva would not agree to the bout, according to Inside Fights.
Randy Couture is a long time staple of the UFC, and will be moving back down to light heavyweight for this bout. He was just in action in a unanimous decision loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a heavyweight matchup at UFC 102 on August 29th. Couture will be looking to end a two fight skid in Manchester, while trying to fight his way back into contention in the light heavyweight division, a division in which he previously held the championship belt before losing it to Chuck Liddell in April of 2005. He has since held the UFC heavyweight belt, which he lost to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 in November, 2008.
Vera was also last in action at UFC 102, where he earned a unanimous decision victory over Krzysztof Soszynski. In his matchup with Couture he will be looking to continue a two fight win streak, since suffering defeat to Keith Jardine in October of 2008. Vera started out strong in the UFC with first round victories over Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva, and Frank Mir and even claimed he would one day hold the belt at both heavyweight and light heavyweight. However, since his victory over Mir, Vera has only gone 3-3 and hasn’t looked nearly as impressive as he did in those first three UFC outings.
UFC 105 is expected to air on Spike TV and also features Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang and Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim.
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 105 news and UFC 105 rumors.
Update: The UFC has officially confirmed this bout as the headliner for UFC 105.
Tags: Brandon Vera, Randy Couture
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Good matchup, altho i think randy could take this one pretty easy.
WTF is up with this crap!? Fighters refusing fights. It’s getting ridiculous.
So Anderson Silva has refused fights with Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida and now Matt Hughes. Great champion we have there.
markus, hes not refusing, anderson is making it better why waste his last three fights before he retires on marquardt and henderson when hes destroyed them both…he only needs to fight henderson….and guess what hendo’s the one being stubborn and holding out for more money…….anderson has never refused to figfht matt hughes second of all…..matt hughes wouldnt last 5 seconds….and ltoto and anderson not fighting is mutual between them both..think before you speak good sir….no back to the real topic at hand….I think this i s a great fight…standing randy has no chance…if randy cant get this to the ground wuick he’ll get ko’d
No personal attacks. -Justin
“now back to the real topic at hand….I think this is a great fight…standing randy has no chance…if randy cant get this to the ground quick he’ll get ko’d”
This is an awful and unappealing fight to me. How on earth does Brandon Vera get a fight against the Legendary Randy Couture? Infact I will take that one step further, how the hell does Brandon Vera still have a job with the UFC? When he’s not losing to any form of real competition he is boring us to sleep with his snoozefest lack-luster performances. For a stand up muay thai fighter, this guy is hesitant and does not appear to want to finish any of his fights. I can’t remember the last fight he was in I actually got excited for or enjoyed watching. Bottomline, Vera does not deserve nor has he earned a PPV headlining fight against Randy Couture.
If I was Anderson I wouldn’t fight Hughes either. That fight makes no sense at all. I don’t want to see it and I don’ think anyone else does either.
The UFC really needs to bring in some new talent. Anderson has already beat Nate and Dan. He has cleaned out the division. It would be nice if the UFC could get Mousassi, Lawler, Santiago, Galesic or Jacare. They need to rebuild the divison now that Anderson has cleared it out. Get him someone new to fight.
“If I was Anderson I wouldn’t fight Hughes either. That fight makes no sense at all. I don’t want to see it and I don’ think anyone else does either.”
I totally agree. However I am just tired of fighters being able to verbally pick and choose who they will and won’t fight. It shouldn’t be up to them at all. UFC really needs some form of ranking system to determine contenders ranks and title fights.
Also these catch weight fights need to be changed. If you are a champion of a weight class and you are moving up or down, forfeit your title, it’s that simple.
Dude honestly how many times do we have to go over this with dumb, ignorant people.
-He wants to see Hendo fight Marquardt to determine the true #1 contender
-He wont fight Lyoto because they train together at Black House and with the Nogueira bros. Have you ever done kickboxing, muay thai, bjj? If you have, you would know that your training partners are like family to you. It would be like beating the crap out of your brother, its just not comfortable
-Why would he want to fight Hughes? Honestly, I think it would be a quick KO for Silva
I think its apparent now that Anderson wants tough fights and tough challenges. He doesnt want to fight someone that he knows he is going to KO minutes into the fight. He also wants to be in big fights, and Silva vs. Hughes wouldnt gain alot of attention compared to how it would a year or more ago.
“He wont fight Lyoto because they train together at Black House and with the Nogueira bros. Have you ever done kickboxing, muay thai, bjj? If you have, you would know that your training partners are like family to you. It would be like beating the crap out of your brother, its just not comfortable”
This is the biggest load of horse crap I have ever heard. These are friggen PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. Friendship means nothing. It’s their job to compete against whoever their bosses tell them to. It’s not for them to decide. They should want to fight the best competition whether it’s friend or foe. That’s the true warriors mentality.
You don’t see football or hockey players refusing to play against former teammates they may have played and trained with for several years. How is this any different?
As for whether I have “done” any form of martial arts, yes I have. Boxing, Muay Thai and Hung Gar Kick-Boxing. I didn’t get the opportunity to compete against a friend though. However if it was my job and I was being paid half a million to do it, of course I would. Who wouldn’t?
Clearly A. Silva has let his dominance in the octagon get to his head. He needs to STFU and get back to doing what he does best. Kicking ass. Why deprive fans of quite possibly the greatest fight ever? Unless of course he is actually afraid of losing to Lyoto or Hendo and no longer being considered the best P4P in the world.
comfortable doesnt mean **** when it comes to your chosen profession. Everybody on this earth does things they are not comfortable with at work and for work-you gotta do what you gotta do-get over it.
Most people forget rather quickly that Anderson Silva has fought @ LHW twice per UFC’s request, not by his own desire to chase down the LHW title, and champions have chosen their opponents often in the world of combat sports, helll Chuck Liddell asked to fight Horn while champion to avenge a loss handed to him by Horn.. Tito Ortiz refused to defend his title against Liddell for the longest time, Randy Couture asked for a title fight when returning out of retirement and got it and when he “beat” Rizzo the first time he asked to rematch him and after he lost to Belfort, Couture asked for an immediate rematch and got is 7 months later…
so yes fighters (more so Champions) can pick and choose their fights
“You don’t see football or hockey players refusing to play against former teammates they may have played and trained with for several years. How is this any different?”
Dude im trying so hard to keep this clean but you honestly sound so disrespectful. Are you serious? Your going off on professional fighters. When were you a professional fighter? Who are you to criticize? Shut up dude.
And yeah your right you dont see football or hockey players refusing to play former teammates. BECAUSE THEY ARENT TRYING TO KNOCK EACHOTHER UNCONCSIOUS OR CHOKE EACHOTHER OUT. Dont compare football and hockey players to MMA fighters. Thats just stupid man. wow.
FR702 basically proved my point. And my comment wasnt directed at FR. It was toward Markus and JB. If i sounded like i was disrespecting…my bad, but that really set me off dude.
One thing people need to take into account, at least when it comes to the Brazilians is there is a cultural difference between them and Americans, that could lead them to be far more inclined to not want to fight their friends. If we were talking about the AKA crew, I would be less sympathetic to them not wanting to fight one another, but I’ve noticed that the Brazilian camps tend to be more tight knit, and more like a family than the American camps.
Good point Justin. I didnt even think of that, but thats very true.
Jenkins, if you can’t have a civil conversation with someone who doesn’t share your point of view, you got issues man. This is a discussion board and not everyone is going to agree with you, so suck it up, sunshine.
These are professional fighters, that is what they do, fight. Turning down a fight because it is against your friend is complete disrespect to the sport and to all the fighters out there who would love to be given the opportunity these guys have been.
This is not the Olympic games, this is not country vs country, so I don’t care if they live together, train together or sleep together. If their boss tells them to fight, they should FIGHT. No questions asked. Maybe if MMA is ever introduced to the Olympic games, then Anderson and Lyoto can go hold hands and carry the torch together all they want. Until then, shut up and fight.
If Anderson Silva is going to request fights at heavy weight (Like he did with Frank Mir) or light heavyweight, he better be ready to take on the champions of those weight classes if he does well. That includes his buddy, Lyoto Machida. If he is goign to continue to turn down fights at Middleweight because he doesn’t think it’s a good enough fight, strip him of his title already and let other deserving guys actually fight for it. it’s that damn simple.
Dude Markus do you realize that you were the one arguing with everyone on here before i even posted on this thread? Read much? maybe you should think before you post.
Lets get this back to civil gents thanks
FR702
Jenkins,
I wasn’t arguing with anyone. Infact I replied to the article itself with my feelings on the matter. I never addressed you or anyone else until you had replied to me first. So saying I was arguing with anyone is completely off-base. Either that or you are actually that egotistical that you think your opinion is shared by everyone else and that you are some holy grail of posters on these forums. Again, HELLO???? this is a discussion board. Discuss. It ain’t that hard.
Let’s get back to the topic at hand and see if you are actually capable of addressing my points rather than basing me and throwing insults like a 5 year old child.
My opinion remains the same. These are professional athletes and turning down a fight because it is against a friend if not just unprofessional, it’s disrespectful to the fans, other fighters and to the sport in general. These are fighters, they are paid to fight. Why deprive the world and the people who pay your salary the chance at seeing the best match ups possible because of friendship? It’s plain ludicrous.
I can agree with him turning down pointless fights in which noone wants to see like a potential bout vs Matt Hughes, however everyone and their mother would want to see a Silva vs Machida fight and it makes perfect sense.
Silva needs to stop running his mouth determining his opponents, he needs to let Dana and Joe do their jobs and fight whoever they tell him to. If that happens to be a friend of his, sobeit. Fighters will fight anyone not just enemies, to prove themselves the greatest warrior of all.
lol dude…im just gonna let this one go. It reached a level of ridiculous a long time ago. Its a Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera thread and were arguing about Anderson Silva. I was just proving my point that people shouldnt judge Silva for refusing fights. And im right, but apparently Markus doesnt understand that. Hahaha
well hopefully that is the end of that !
HINT
I like Vera but after his last performance with the “Polish Experiment” I just don’t think he has in him to beat Randy imo.
THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!
JUST LIKE THE OTHER FIGHTS
THAT WERE SUPPOSEDTO HAPPEN.
I think this would be a big fight for Vera, but a bad match-up for Couture. I honestly feel that Vera will wither ko or tko Randy in the 1st or 2nd for sure. Randy can take damage, bt Vera is faster, and stronger and has better all around strinking than Nogueira and Vera also posesses those leg kicks that might be a problem for Couture. I know Vera hasn’t really looked awesome in his last fights but i’m sure that if this fight happens we will see Couture lose 3 in a row and get ko’d again. But i could be wrong because Couture can do what he does best and that;s out work Vera, push him against the Cage and “Couture” Vera all night and Vera’s ground game is not as strong as to avoid getting taken down, sooooo who knows? But i still feel that COuture is facing a very dangerous striker who can really give him problems.
Mk4 u have some goods points. Vera can win if his old self shows the one that was hungry and wanting to be a 2 division champion. Otherwise he’s going to get slammed and g’n'p’d badly.
i wouldnt jump in their and be saying vera’s stronger then couture you seen him clinch with lesnar right? faster yes and an edge in the kickboxing. i wanna give this fight to couture but their only one thing im worried about and thats going to be the leg kicks so i hope randy trains to counter them with takedowns.
Wow, 105 is looking pretty interesting…in a good way!
This card is looking pretty sick!
This is an interesting matchup, and honestly its hard to give someone an advantage if you really think about it. Randy has been fighting huge guys lately, compared to the guys Vera has fought. Randy has amazing wrestling and dirty boxing. Which could really make a difference in this one.
If he decides to stand and trade with Vera, he will get KO’d. Randy needs to train to defend Vera’s kicks. A big factor will be Randy’s takedown ability. If he catches one of Vera’s kicks, then its almost an automatic takedown. I know Vera used to fight at HW, but he is NOT as strong as Randy.
I dont see Randy getting sub’d either. After watching him fight Nog, im convinced he isnt going to get sub’d by any of his next few opponents.
This fight could turn out to be similar to the Kongo-Velasquez fight. Vera starts rocking Randy, so Randy gets the takedown, holds Vera down, and beats him up. Vera has some great submissions, but I think Randy will out-muscle them and he will out-smart Vera.
I know its early to call a winner but….
Randy via UD (if this fight actually goes down)
wow this match is going to suck. how is this worthy of a main event. The Truth IMO is not main event worthy.
Randy will win easily!!
Vera is winning as “boring” as it seems to some of you, now has an opperunity to step up and Randy gets to see if he can with the yung up and comers it a win win fight. I don’t see anything “boring” about this fight. I also think if Randy wins(and he will) it will determine who he fights next if its not for the title.
If Vera keeps the distance and works his leg kicks he will be an issue for Couture…. Dirty boxing clearly goes to Couture and well if Randy can (he should be able too) get this fight down to the ground then Vera will be in some trouble…
Remember when people thought that Randy v Big NOG was going to be a slow boring fight between a really old guy and the guy that Mir (t)ko’d and nobody interesting was fighting on that card, I’m soo happy I didn’t watch that stuff, how dare the UFC
O and I do believe that this fight card will be free to boot, I thought I heard that somewhere
I like this match-up, it gives Randy a chance to go back down the ladder some and work his way back up facing smaller, less experienced fighters. It will also be a good test to see if he can hang with the striking talent in LHW. If Vera picks him apart as MK4 seems to think then Randy could quite possibly go out on a Shamrock type note which would suck ba11s for real. I see the fight going something like… Vera pieces Randy up a couple good times, then over commits to either a flurry or too high a kick and Randy gets the take down which spells disaster for Vera. Essentially thats all it will take is one mistake in any round and Randy will dominate. Give the edge to Randy all day don’t see him falling into Veras world and standing in front of him for long at all.
I’ve been critical of Silva for awhile now but I can’t fault him for turning down Hughes. Bad fight, little drawing power and Hughes would get quickly mauled. Hard to believe that Dana/ Joe Silva would even put that bullsh!t on the table. Its a slap in the face to the most dominant champ ever, and a slap in the fans face for even offering it up. Meanwhile I can also sympathize with Hendo for wanting some compensation for being mislead and lets face it, LIED TO by Dana White. He has come too far and accomplished too much in the sport to be kicked around like he’s nothing.
Vera by UD.
How do you claim Vera is not main event worthy, and then claim he will win? That doesn’t even make sense.
Thank god this card is free. I would have a hard time paying for this one even if my guy Randy fights.
Awesome main event to an awesome card.
IDC if its Vera in the main event, anytime I get to watch Couture fight, its an honor.
Dude couture is a machine, but this fight isn’t that smart for vera. First of all, Vera is a lhw and on a 2 fight winning streak. Couture is an aged hw on a 2 fight LOSING streak.
SO basically, what does vera get out of this fight if he infact wants to continue climbing to the top? Yes, couture is “Randy the natural couture” but what could a win against him at LHW do for vera’s place @ 205? Maybe i am overlooking the fact that it is randy couture and the fact that a win over a big name like him wether he’s re;evamt @ 205 or not could be a big thing for vera.
I just believe couture is not relevant @ 205 and brandon vera could very well make it to the top of the division and i honestly don’t like this fight for vera.
He should fight griffin or thiago silva.
Idk its just like what? who wants 2 c randy fight vera. everyone that i talk 2 says that there r certian guys that randy needs 2 fight n just hang up the gloves. he needs 2 fight one last time at HW against Cro Cop then come back down 2 LHW n fight Rampage, Rich, Shogun, Coleman, Wanderli, Forrest, Henderson, n if they ever sign Fedor make that his last fight
This is an interesting matchup. Personally, I think Vera has more talent, but Couture will find a win to squeek out a decision. My prediction is that this will be a rather boring fight, as Couture will spend 15 minutes smoothering Vera to avoid his deadly strikes and submission game.
I am a HUGE Couture fan, but I think his time has come. In terms of sheer heart and will to win, Couture could fight until he’s 84. However, he just lacks any form of intimidating offence at this stage in his career. His last 4 fights have done nothing for me…
Sylvia – Tim Sylvia is just a bum. i am sure it would only take him about 4 seconds to knock me out, but in terms of the professional MMA world, Sylvia just doesen’t belong. Name a HW in the UFC that would lose to him today!
Gonzaga – While accidental headbutts are apart of the game, that was clearly the difference in how that fight played out. Had Gonzaga not been cut so bad, I think he would have finished Couture with ease.
Lesnar – Couture’s entire gameplan for that fight was simply to try and survive. Couture just doesent offer any real threat to the overpowering Lesnar.
Nogueira – Again, you can’t question Couture’s heart or will to win. But seriously, what else does he have going for him…..he can’t finish fights anymore!
To conclude, I would once again like to point out that I am a HUGE Couture fan….he’s truly an inspiration on so many different levels. I would love nothing more than for him to prove me wrong….knock Vera the f**k out and climb that ladder one more time…..unfortunetly, I don’t think it’s realistic.