UFC 109 Results: Couture Dominates Coleman, Sonnen Upsets Marquardt for Title Shot
In the first-ever matchup between UFC hall of famers, Randy Couture dominated Mark Coleman before finishing him with a second-round submission in the main event of “UFC 109: Relentless” on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Couture opened the fight with crisp, accurate punches that took Coleman out of his element and had him backing away from the opening bell. Though Coleman eventually landed several shots midway through the round, Couture picked him apart in the clinch and appeared to near a finish with several uppercuts before Coleman tied him up for the remainder of the frame.
An opening combination in the second had Coleman backpedaling and Couture took advantage, first taking mount where he unleashed some ground and pound before taking his back and quickly securing a rear naked choke. Coleman refused to tap, and “The Natural” put him to sleep for the victory.
Following his win, Couture, who entered the Octagon to “Stranglehold,” said he had been training chokes in preparation for the bout and was “head hunting” before securing the fight-ending submission. The 46-year-old, who also beat Brandon Vera in November, might be on a fast-track to a title shot, improving to 18-10 with his first submission victory in over four years.
Though Coleman exchanged heated words with Tito Ortiz and promised to fight again after his loss, his lackluster showing and 1-2 record since returning last year could mark an end to his UFC career.
In the UFC 109 co-main event, Chael Sonnen earned the next middleweight title shot by upsetting fellow contender Nate Marquardt, surviving a deep gash and a frantic final minute to earn a unanimous decision victory fueled by dominant wrestling and ground and pound.
Though Marquardt is known for his grappling and regarded as a well-rounded fighter, Sonnen had no problem getting him to the ground and keeping him there while pummeling him with punches. Though Marquardt secured several guillotines and connected with some strikes from the bottom, including an elbow that cut Sonnen, he was largely unable to escape and, despite a last-minute flurry, Sonnen’s ground control proved too much and earned him unanimous 30-27 scores for the decision win.
Also on the UFC 109 main card, Paulo Thiago dropped Mike Swick then quickly choked him out cold with a D’arce in the second, Demian Maia displayed improved striking in earning a unanimous decision over Dan Miller, and Matt Serra kicked off the pay-per-view card with a swift first-round knockout of Frank Trigg.
SEE ALSO: Danzig and Guillard Win, Beltran upsets Gracie on UFC 109 prelims
The complete results for UFC 109 were:
- Randy Couture def. Mark Coleman via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 2, 1:09
- Chael Sonnen def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Paulo Thiago def. Mike Swick via submission (D’arce choke) – Round 2, 1:54
- Demian Maia def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matt Serra def. Frank Trigg via KO (punches) – Round 1, 2:23
- Mac Danzig def. Justin Buchholz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Melvin Guillard def. Ronnys Torres via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Rob Emerson def. Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision
- Phil Davis def. Brian Stann via unanimous decision
- Chris Tuchscherer def. Tim Hague via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Joey Beltran def. Rolles Gracie via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:31
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for complete post-UFC 109 coverage.
Pictured: Randy Couture
Tags: Brian Stann, Chael Sonnen, Chris Tuchscherer, Dan Miller, Demian Maia, Frank Trigg, Joey Beltran, justin buchholz, Mac Danzig, mark coleman, Matt Serra, Melvin Guillard, Mike Swick, Nate Marquardt, Paulo Thiago, Phil Davis, Phillipe Nover, Randy Couture, rob emerson, Rolles Gracie, Ronnys Torres, Tim Hague
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Wow Couture looked amazing. Coleman looked like a 45 year old while Randy looked like a 25 year old. Would love to see Randy vs. Rashad. I was rooting for Coleman and was hoping he would put up a good performance but he’s done. Secretly I was hoping for a draw. I’m a huge Tito fan but wouldn’t mind seeing Coleman give him a whooping to go out althought I don’t see that happening.
I felt bad for Coleman. I think he should quit. He looked 65 yr old. Sorry no offense. I think Tito was being a D-bag on the ringside and came out with something that Coleman didn’t like as he said “F U Tito”. Sonnen was solid.
I don’t know about Coleman retiring but something needs to be done about Tito. He makes the sport look bad. He is a good fighter but horrible for the sport and for the UFC. I would really be interested in hearing what Dana has to say about his antics.
If anyone missed it…
http://fansided.com/2010/02/07/mark-coleman-thinks-tito-ortiz-is-a-douchebag/
I don’t think he his next fight scheduled yet so it will be interesting to see how Dana and Joe Silva handle the situation. I really hope they don’t try to hype up the beef and schedule Tito vs. Coleman.
Tito is fighting Chuck Liddell again in June, following a stint as Coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.
Oh right. Thanks.
Go chuck!
No problem.
Coleman’s comments about Tito’s family were out of bounds. Ask yourself, if a coworker talked some trash about the mother of your child, wouldn’t you want to exact revenge in the most brutal way possible?
Coleman,,,ouch. I’m not sayin anything,,,but,,,the minute he came out with the knee supports on,,,
Then again, he did man up and try his best against the capt.
Again, something needs to be done about the judging. No way in h-ll was that a unanimous decision for Sonnen. Yes, I believe the judges did right by giving him the decision but at best, it was split decision, possibly even a draw! The guy was gushing blood by end of the bout. He won, sure, but not by a majority.
Great bout of fights, for sure.
One elbow does not equal a won round. Sonnen won every round of that fight. The only round Marquardt was remotely in was the last one with the submission and the fifteen seconds of mount. Outside of that, Sonnen completely dominated that fight.
No there was nothing wrong with the judges in that fight. He got cut by one elbow does not mean he should be penalized. He dominated the whole fight.
Just watch the fight again in a day or so, and you’ll see that while Marquardt did bust Sonnen up a bit, in no way, shape, or form did he do enough damage to win a round, let alone allow anyone reasonable to think that the decision should have been anything but unanimous 30-27’s in his favor across the board…
I dont see how you could score it for Nate. You could even argue the 2nd was a 10-8 round.
Amazing bouts from start to finish. Paulo Thiago is the man putting a whooping on the AKA guys. I hope he gets a rematch with John Fitch,he put out Koscheck,Swick, and by the way Fitch looked against Pierce,I believe Thiago has what it takes to take out Fitch. I was amazed by Sonnens perfomance. I did not think Nate was gonna let him survive the first round, but thats what happends when you underestimate your opponents. I hope to see Captain America back in action soon.
no disrespect to coleman but he reminds me of mickey rourke in that movie the wrestler, hes had a great career though and with randys win i just wonder who is next, theres alot of interesting 205ers id like to see him go against. rashad would be good but id love to see him against shogun.(i know shoguns got something else lined up but its just a thought, a ufc vs pride type thing)
It will be interesting to see what Couture does next. I believe they’re trying to build him to a shot at the belt, but I think he needs another fight before that. Against whom is a hard question to answer, though, with many top lhws booked.
Rashad v. Rampage
Shogun v. Machida
Jones v. Vera
Forrest v. Lil Nog
Tito v. Chuck
Perhaps Kieth Jardine or Thiago Silva? Or passover Sonnen getting a shot at Silva (if he wins) at 185 and have Silva move up and fight Randy? The “if” in “if he wins” is a big one against Belfort though, so I wouldn’t bank on that.
jardine is fighting ryan bader at 110 i believe. i wouldnt mind seeing thiago silva vs couture i think that would be a good test for randy and considering how rashad used his wrestling to wear down t. silva i see couture having a good shot at getting the win
Good call, I forgot about Jardine v. Bader. It would be odd to see Randy work up by taking on a guy coming off a loss (T. Silva) but there’s not much else out there, unless he waits it out and faces someone that’s fighting at 110, which is only 2 weeks away.
Thiago Silva is the best available fighter, but if they wanted to wait six weeks, the winner of Vera/Jones would be available (pending medical suspensions, of course).
what about rich franklin or matt hammill
Hammill will be out a while as he really got a shoulder screwed up against Jon Jones. In all honesty, I think Thiago Silva or Silva Thiago or whatever his name is would be a higher quality opponent than Franklin, although it all depends on availability/medical suspensions.
I’m reasonably sure we’re going to see Couture-Franklin at some point this year, with the winner maybe getting a title shot…
I told you guys about Sonnen the other day. It’s time he gets the credit due him.
i know chael sonnen won and may get the next title shot but say if belfort beats silva and when wandy beats bisping wouldnt you rather see a wandy and belfort part 2, or if wandy and belfort both lose that is a fight i would definately like to see in the future. i dont think it would be the same fight as their first encounter.
Dana already went on record before the fight to say that the winner of the Sonnen/Marquardt fight (Sonnen) had next against the champion, be it A.Silva or Belfort. Winner of W.Silva/Bisping may have next after that, but Sonnen is next. And with a performance like that, it’s hard to disagree.
Dana has “promised” title shots before, and well…lets just say that maybe something has gotten lost in translation.
Hopefully Sonnen does get to step in against the Silva-Belfort winner…
not to get off topic here but was anyone else shocked that serra beat trigg? i was bankin on triggs wrestling to hold off serras jiu-jitsu and pound him out…wtf happened to trigg?? i mean i know he lost his last fight and all but that was against kos who im fully convinced now is beastly after his win over rumble, but this was matt serra, who hasnt fought since hughes, so…any1 else shocked or just my dumb a$$?
I thought Serra was the favorite, but I thought Trigg had a chance. I’m more surprised that he didn’t try to use his wrestling, but I guess he just didn’t have time.
I think it was just an old fashioned case of Trigg’s mouth writing a check to Serra that his a$$ couldn’t cash in the cage…
i would love to see paul thiago vs paul daley or anthony johnson or alves tht would insane but both of them are taken.. and i thionk randy couture should fight rich franklin or silva.. phil davis is a beast one of the best athletes in mma he reminds me alot of kevin randleman. he can be a threat when he comes more well rounded
I kinda like the idea of Anderson moving up to face Couture. I don’t think it would be very evenly matched, but Randy is always at his best and manages to shock the world when he is the heavy underdog. Maybe he could nuetralize him with his wrestling, not likely, but maybe.