Couture-Vera Official to Headline UFC 105 in November
A previously-reported light heavyweight matchup between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera was made official on Monday to headline UFC 105 on November 14 in Manchester, England.
A hall of famer and five-time champion, Couture (16-10) returned to the Octagon in 2007, winning back-to-back bouts over Tim Sylvia and Gabrial Gonzaga, but has since suffered two-straight losses to Brock Lesnar and most-recently in August Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Vera (11-3), a former heavyweight contender, dropped down to 205-pounds following losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum and has since gone 3-1, defeating Reese Andy, Mike Patt, Krzysztof Soszynski, while suffering a loss to Keith Jardine.
The Spike TV-televised event also includes Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang and Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim, as well as TUF 9 winner James Wilks and Ross Pearson.
The current lineup for UFC 105 features:
- Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera
- Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang
- Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim
- James Wilks vs. Matt Brown*
- Ross Pearson vs. Aaron Riley*
- DaMarques Johnson vs. Peter Sobotta*
- Paul Kelly vs. Denis Siver*
- Andre Winner vs. Roli Delgado*
- Terry Etim vs. Shannon Gugerty*
- Paul Taylor vs. John Hathaway*
- Nick Osipczak vs. Matt Riddle*
- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman*
*Not officially announced
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 105 news and UFC 105 rumors.
Tags: Brandon Vera, Randy Couture
Loading ...
Solid main event!
How things have changed in the past 3 years… In that time vera went from HW title contender,contract holdout, verge of being cut, and now fighting couture in a main event. On the flip side, you got couture who came outta retirement to fight silvia (cause ironically vera was holding out), beats silvia and becomes even more popular with his “stunning” wins at HW.
Couture should thank vera for not accepting that fight with silvia, cause couture became even more popular and relevant to a new and larger mma crowd.
He should thank vera with an ass whooping, come UFC 105!!!
The Natural UD win.
randy should just retired, he’s no longer an elite fighter at LHW or HW his skills has diminished to a point where he can no longer dominate his opponents anymore and if he continues to take fight against top tier fighters he’ll keep losing which in turn will blemishes his legacy, his winning percentage is horrible for someone that’s consider an all time great(mostly because he fought too long).dana white keeps putting him in events because he’s still a draw and a fan favorite and he makes them money.vera is going to stop randy, this is a very bad matchup for randy mainly because he’s not the same as 10 yrs ago. add to the fact he’s not as evasive and fast as he was before, he’s more prone to taking clean shots and that’s taking a toll and that’s why he getting knock down or stopped in his recent fights.
Honestly this fight does nothing for me. This may sound a bit weird but, If Vera wins he should have, considering he’s fighting an “OLD” man in Couture I’m sure some will say. The same could be said about Couture, he’s fighting a guy he should beat. So how does this fight make sense for either guy?
Couture is doing something he hasn’t done in well forever, being a helpful person to ZUFFA… He also is cutting down to 205 which many say shouldn’t be difficult for him but I think he will have a more difficult time doing it @ 46 than he did @ 42, this also gives him an opprotunity to get some cash flow, lawyers aren’t cheap and well he used quite a few of them for 19months now didn’t he?
Brandon Vera, if he wins this fight he now will be on 3 fight win streak and will undoubtably tell everyone within an earshot about how great he is because he beat the Legand Randy Couture… If he were to lose this bout to Randy its ok cuz its Randy and he also has stepped up for ZUFFA hence securing a little more time being employed by the best MMA org in the WORLD
Wow.
I can smell the fr702 snarky from here as it wafts over my Couturian home.
And lets remember that it was the disrespect the UFC showed Couture originally that started their mutually unwise pi$$ing contest from a few years back.
Randy Couture is MMA’s finest ambassador, and when the UFC reportedly treated Couture like a second-class citizen, instead of the legend he is, he reacted badly.
He should have handled the matter differently, but whats done is done.
And it bears mentioning that he helps Zuffa every damned day, just as they help him, by just being Randy Couture, and lending his name and ardent support to both MMA and the UFC.
I would catagorize the relationship as somewhat strained but mutually beneficial.
Now I certainly don’t agree with everything my personal MMA hero says and does, but in this particular case I find Couture’s version of events that caused the split a bit more believable than Dana White’s, particularly given White’s predilection for punk-a$$ery.
As for the Henry VIII-type marriage platform, all I can say is that while our sport’s Captain America MIGHT be immune to aging, he sure as sh!t isn’t immune to the debilitating effects Las Vegas has on things like marriage and fidelity…
Snarky seriously forreals Snarky, wow I don’t know if I should thank you (for the use of it in a MMA thread) or be offended…. Snarky ha
It makes sense cuz Randy is still strong and smart. He may not be strong enuff to be a factor at hw but he will be a force at lhw and if Vera can get past him its up his run for the title. Imho.
Nice ’safe’ for Randy Couture. Brandon Vera is somewhat feather fisted so there isn’t much need to worry about being knocked unconscious. I’m leaning towards Vera winning via decision, though I might change my mind if I see how Couture has been training for the fight.
Solid card.
FR I agree, this match-up is pretty much to help the UFC sell some tic I believe. I don’t understand why they would need that when The Count is on the card…. Joking
I also have to agree that this bout doesn’t make too much sense. I will enjoy the fight, but I think this is once again another example that the UFC bit more events than they could chew this year, and once again we are struggling to see them put together a last minute main event.
I’m not sure how this fight will play out, both guys have a chance and I see the winner of this fight taking on the winnder of Cane/Nogeira for the next 205 title shot following the winner of Rashad/Rampage. Depending on when that fight actually happens, it may even be on the same card.
Well said FIGS,
It’s great that these two guys have stepped up and given 105 a main event.
However, I too am one that doesn’t see much relevance in this matchup. Vera is on a 2 fight win streal @ lhw and is on his road back to the top. Couture on the other hand has lost 2 in a row @ hw and hasnt fought @ lhw since i believe 05′ or 06′(i know someone will correct me). Couture is old dude and should now, seriously be thinking of hanging em up. vera on the other hand is a possible future title holder. If he wins, it’s like FR said, he beat a legend. But if he loses it will have more effect on his career thant if he won. If he loses he drops and drops far in the lhw rankings.
But if he wins, it’s ok dude you beat an aged randy couture who isn’t even a lhw.
So this fight doesn’t really make much sense to me but it’s in interesting sylistic match up and should be kool to watch.
Im not too hyped about this matchup honestly. Although im curious who would win, i have to agree that this is a fight Vera “should” win. Since moving down to light heavy Vera has not looked very impressive. Afraid Vera will be aware of this and may go in trying to take Randy’s head off. Randy of course will want to take Vera down for some good ‘ol G n P. But i believe “the truth” will win by TKO if Randy does not ride out a decision.
man i haven’t read all of the post but the top few were abit depressing, any fight with randy is guna be exciting every1 wants him to win but in the back of there minds expect him to get beat, this is a good main event and im DOWN for watching this fight, i do think randy will have to much for vera tho, and for people saying this is a pointless fight, look at what happend to shogun an evens when they won against an “old washed up man” well done ufc great fight plus us english get to see randy in action.
JOHNBOY,
Dude that’s a great point about evans and shogun! Guess it’s not a bad thing for vera to go up against the legend! Good s*** dude!
I AGREE ASWELL.. I DO LIKE THIS FIGHT..
what happened to the title fight that was promised to the british fans. its just typical that we get screwed out of our money as usual
I agree that the British have had “rather rubbish” main events, but with that being said you guys did get Rampage vs. Henderson. Since then its been downhill.
Talk about selling the fight that nobody wants to see. This whole card is fights that nobody really mentioned caring to see. I doubt I will be paying for this crap. If anything I will go to a restaurant and get a soda. Is it me or does it seem like Randy’s fights never sell as good as you would think they would.
nice that it is free on SPIKE, ya there is always that
I am glad these are free. I would much rather see Dan vs. Randy or Hamill vs. Randy. It just sucks that UFC 100 and Ultimate Fighter has left the UFC a little short on main event fighters. I didn’t know these were going to be free at first. This makes things a little better.
Umm if you would have been in Portland you would take that statement back. The crowd was the loudest crowd ever even Dana said it, and most fans were there for Couture I know I was.
Dude, Dana always says it was the loudest crowd ever. Been to UFC events live lol.
VERA BY UD
I can’t stress this strongly enough, when I say that those who doubt and/or disrespect Couture REALLY should have been in Portland for 102.
Is Couture the same figher he was 5 years ago?
Certainly not.
Is Couture capable of still delivering heart-stopping performances against some of the top MMA talent in the world?
Certainly.
Just ask BigNog.
I do agree that on the surface Couture-Vera seems to be the fight that no one was looking for, but the fact that both of these guys stepped up to help out the promotion when they were in a tight spot says a lot about their character.
Also, just because Vera has recently been a .500 fighter doesn’t mean he still isn’t going places, it just means he’s shifted gears from his once meteroic rise to some thing slower and steadier, for reasons as of yet unknown.
Unfortunately whatever gear he steps into the cage in at 105 won’t most likely be enough to help him against Couture, who should pull this one out by ref stoppage or UD.
Jcohl, Dam you why do you always make sense? An yes they should have been in Portland!!
Apologies, dude.
I tend to do that when it comes to MMA in general and the UFC in particular…
Again.. Dana, Joe, or Mike almost always say this is the loudest place. They’re all loud as hell trust me. Besides Portland had a WAY better card than this card and they had a hard time selling tickets. You can’t even compare the two cards to each other. The Couture-Vera match up is lame as hell to me it has nothing to due with Portland. If you love Randy so much fly to the U.K. to watch him probably get his butt handed to him. (hopefully not though!)
Just as an FYI, I do on fact love Randy Couture that much, and am doing the best I can to see if I can scrape the scratch together to make it out to Manchester.
Unfortunately I’m not wealthy, and I spent quite a bit on going to protland for 102 with my godfather, so I’ll keep you posted…
Very glad this is a free card on Spike TV. I am far more excited about Fight Night 19 than I am UFC 105. I’d be upset too if I were a Brit. This is not pay per view caliber by any means.
I still for the life of me don’t know why Brandon Vera even has a job with the UFC. When he’s not losing he’s boring us to death. Of course I, along with the rest of the world will be rooting for Randy… but answer me this… if The Natural does lose, where the heck does he go from here? A loss to Vera at this point is pretty much rock bottom and he still have 5 more fights to go on his contract.
Respectfully I would say that Couture’s next loss will most likely be followed by a second, and more serious, retirement announcement.
Not to be hella harsh on Vera, but if the Natural can’t “Couture 101″ his way to a relatively easy win over a .500 205er, then he should probably call it a career.
There are some unkind Internet rumors that are saying that Couture is just fighting for the cash, and that he’s prepared to accept loss after loss as long as its followed by huge paycheck after huge paycheck.
I would hope that isn’t the case, but like a lot of legendary fighters I suppose he’s earned the right to end his career as he sees fit, even if its as a high-priced “opponent”.
I’m thinking that with a win over Vera, a once well-regarded fighter, the UFC will try to book some sort of “super-fight” between Couture and Anderson Silva, which I would hate to see, but by now I think all MMA observers know which way the wind is blowing in the UFC as it regards these pointless super-fights.
Maybe a better question than “what does Couture do if he loses?”, would be, “what does Brandon Vera do if he loses?”
Vera’s once-promising career has sort of downshifted into a win some, lose some type of proposition, which is most definitely NOT what Dana White is looking for in the sport’s most stacked division.
The promotion likes Vera, and reportedly plans on using him to great effect in the future when they hold events in places like the Phillipines, but a loss to Couture, especially a ref stoppage, might have Dana looking elsewhere for a Pacific Rim point-man, if you follow…
I agree. WHEN HE’S NOT LOSING HE’S BORING US TO DEATH. USUALLY BEATING CANS. NOW HE WILL BEAT SOMEBODY WHO IS WAY TOO FREAKING OLD.. WHOOPDIE wouldn’t be surprised if Vera TKO / KO’d Couture in the first. I hope it doesn’t happen but that’s the way I see it happening.
i think this is a great fight for the british/english fan, we have both tuf fighting on this card (i think)plus the two biggest names in british mma hardy/bisping then probley the biggest name or one of the biggest names in mma history, plus vera whos a well known guy himself, i think we have a great card this time round, just because theres no belts up for grabs doesn’t mean its guna be a bad card, plus all the champions in the ufc look like theres no way on earth there going to get beat and lets face it most of the time u like to see the belt swich hands, ide much rather watch randy an vera go at it in a even contest then the likes of silva an gsp just kicking ass and takeing names.
Random comment, but I am just watching Channel Five’s repeat of 102 for free on British TV! I don’t understand the guys who think Vera will beat Randy. If Randy stops his gangly limbs, he should, I hope ‘Couture’ him against the cage and on the ground and get the decision if he doesn’t get the TKO. I can’t see Vera TKO’ing Couture thats for sure, he is just too tough for that!
I’m going to go check prices for this… £200 doesn’t sound pretty
This is a big opportunity for Vera., i think Vera has the advantage against couture given the factors affecting couture mainly his age. If i were to come up with a fight plan against Randy., here is what im gonna do.
1. Avoid clinch., Vera cannot match Randy’s dirty boxing even though he has good muay thai skills.
2. Avoid Randy’s fake left, followed by a straight punch. If Vera can seize the timing supposing Randy will do a fake punch., go for a takedown., and try GnP to wear Randy out..Randy normally does fake punches early in the round..
3. Utilize reach advantage., Wear out Randy in the first round ( this is a must )
4. Randy does a lot of ducking when going for a punch., use muay thai clinch then followed by kicks to the chin ( possible KO )
I could be wrong.. Randy is master planner.. But Vera can take this in my opinion.