Couture loses, but with class and style on a great night in the Rose Garden
Dana White, whose organization did a sensational job of promoting this event, marched into the interview room after the fights smiling. It was a good night Saturday in the Rose Garden for UFC.
“16,088 and a gate of $1.92 million,” White said. “It was great. Energy in there was great. One of the loudest crowds ever. . . . And nobody went to the hospital. Nobody got hurt. A good night.”
Indeed, you’ll find more people limping around or in a dream-street daze at your average college football game next week. (Speaking of which, you must go read my pal Bean’s great review of last night and UFC in general right here.)
Couture, who lost a unanimous decision to Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, fought a terrific fight at the age of 46 — then announced he’d signed a fresh, 28-month, six-fight deal with UFC. “He can fight at heavyweight or light heavyweight,” said White. “His choice. He’s earned that. He’s proved he can hang with the best heavyweights but he’s earned the right to choose where he fights. I don’t care. He’s a Hall of Famer.”
Couture said he’d take a week or two to decide his future but this really was one of his classic fights, the best bout on the card by far – against a man who looked a lot like he did in his old dominant days of being the champion of Pride, when it was arguably the top MMA organization in the world.
“That was the loudest crowd I’ve ever been in front of,” Couture said. “I think it was a good fight. They just don’t always turn out the way you want them to.”
I think Couture would be wise to drop down to the light heavyweight division. At about 220 pounds, he’s been giving up a lot of weight to most heavyweights he’s fought. And I’m not sure he’s got many main-event bouts left as a heavyweight, but as a light heavy, he’s right in the thick of a title picture, at least for a few fights.
People ask me why I’m so interested in the UFC and I have to admit, a lot of it starts with Couture. I’ve been covering athletes and their sports for three decades. The UFC thing started for me years ago when I watched the early ones on pay per view and didn’t like them much. But I still talked and wrote about it some and when I was doing radio at KPAM, Matt Lindland, another great guy, called the show one day just as a listener to talk about something I said. Soon, we were talking about Team Qwest, Lindland and Couture’s joint venture in Gresham.
One thing led to another and we decided to put on a UFC-themed show at a local pub, featuring Couture, Lindland and Tim Sylvia, who was then in town training. It was an incredbly fun show and I was so impressed with the intelligence of these athletes and their dedication. We got calls, too, from all over the country as passionate MMA fans listened via the Internet.
I got to know Couture pretty well, saw him outside the cage and even went to Las Vegas for one of his championship fights. At that fight, he allowed us access to his dressing room within an hour of the start of his fight. It was amazing watching his calmness as he got ready to fight a man who would, in a few minutes, knock him out.
I’ve found him as charasmatic as just about any athlete I’ve been around. He’s professional, hard working and dedicated — all the things you’d expect. But more than that, he’s charming, self-deprecating and really, just down-to-earth nice in a quiet sort of I’m-there-for-you way. His attitude about his profession is so amazing — he’s all about trying his best, doing his best and whatever happens, happens. The idea is simply to push himself to be the very best he can be, for as long as he can do it.
Life is good for people like that. And it’s good for those around them. Sport would do well with a whole lot more Randy Coutures. After so many years in the newspaper business, in the days when people took being unbiased real seriously, I’m always pretty distanced from outcomes when I watch sports. But I found myself squirming in my seat Saturday night as Couture escaped (barely) from everything Nogueira threw at him.
I wanted him to win but more than that, I just wanted what I know he wanted — to stage a real Randy Couture Fight in what’s probably going to be his only appearance in what was his hometown for several years. He didn’t win, but it was a Randy Couture Fight for sure. He used every bit of intelligence and skill he could muster, relied on his conditioning and smarts – and did his best.
We were left wanting more — hey, come on, just two more rounds! Brock Lesnar, the monster of a heavyweight champ who was sitting with White and openly rooting for Randy, told White the same thing. “We both would have liked to see it be a five-round fight,” White said.
However, five rounds are for title fights, which this one wasn’t. But Randy Couture certainly makes every fight feel like a championship fight — because he’s a champion in just about every way.
MMA | Dwight Jaynes | August 30, 2009
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Dana White, Dwight Jaynes, KPAM, Randy Couture, Rose Garden, Tim Sylvia, UFC 102
I wasn’t at the Garden last night but had a house full of friends over to watch. Some of them had never seen a UFC fight before, some are knowledgeable, seasoned fans. Nobody left unhappy.
Dana White has created an amazing product and sells it as such. The men who fight in the UFC are not only great athletes but also (generally) very people. White made an interesting statement in his interview with Canzano on Friday, something to the effect of nearly all his fighters are college educated and incredible sportsmen. I couldn’t agree more.
Outside of Brock Lesnar’s comments after his win over Frank Mir a few weeks ago these men conduct themselves like real pro’s, far better than most boxers that we see anymore (did anyone catch the new Mayweather/Marquez 24/7 show on HBO?)
It was tough to see Couture lose last night but he fought an amazing fight and there were at least two points where he ‘should’ have lost that fight by submission but powered through and showed why he is a Hall of Famer. Thanks for giving us a great show!
It’s good to see someone who actually knows what he’s talking about write a good article on what was an amazing night of fights. Unlike the hypocrite Canzano, who cherishes the sport of boxing where people have actually died in the ring, calling the UFC more violent and claiming someone is going to die in the octagon even though it has never happened in the modern, regulated days of MMA or even during the “bloodsport” era.
These fighters are professional athletes who know the risks, but fight because they’re passionate about their sport. There should never be anything wrong with two consenting men fighting to demonstrate their skills and giving the fans what they desire – true competition.
Randy and Nogueira put on a hell of a fight and my ears were ringing from the crowds amazing reactions. This was definitely
one of the most enjoyable nights of my life.
After reading the Oregonian I just can’t agree with you. This stuff is the most horrendous form of sport. Like Gladiators. Horrible. Barbaric and Outdated. Blood Sports should be banned. Hunting for food is OK. I consider this almost as bad as hunting for sport.
what makes this sport horrendous? is it the wrestling? is it the boxing? is it the submission grappling? I guess we should ban boxing because of the two guys are hitting each others faces over a hundred times a fight. I guess we should ban football because guys are trying to tackle each other down resulting in more serious injuries than you’ll see in MMA. You sound like an ignorant fool.
These guys are some of the most athletic guys in the world and these are some of the brightest, most likable people you’ll ever meet. They don’t fight because they need to. Randy Couture is a 46 year old millionaire who could retire whenever he wants but he fights because he enjoys the competition. This guy has been fighting for 10 years and has never suffered a serious injury. TELL ME HOW THIS IS BARBARIC because you’re sounding like a broken record from the 90′s.
In football you tackle someone to stop their forward progress. In this UFC “sport” your whole goal is to hurt the other opponent. Sure their are people in football who try to hurt the other players but they are a small minority. And that’s not to say that big hits are a part of the game. When you play football, you go for the big hit, but not to injure the person. I don’t know anybody in football who felt good about injuring a person. And the majority of spectators at football games are not there to see people bleed or being carted out on a stretcher. With UFC fans, I’m not so sure.
And if you judge the violence of football on injuries, then cheerleading, soccer and baseball are way more violent on stats alone.
But go ahead and watch your sport. I won’t and do not want to stop you. But please stop using football and the violence of a big hit as a way to justify your obsession with watching to people fight.
are you silly? people watch football to see the big tackles. That’s why they cheer when someone gets sacked.
IF you’ve watched the UFC for as long as I have, you would understand that these fighters do not want to hurt one another and claim they only say such things to hype the bouts. If you would open your eyes as well, you will see that fighters often forgive for accidental eye pokes or low blows and often look to embrace their opponent after the fight. They also make an effort to see if their opponent is ok after a submission or tko.
As for the UFC fans, of course they like to see fights finished. that’s part of the entertainment… it’s a fight, but they also show respect towards towards both competitors.
People cheer the sack because the other team lost a lot of yards. And you maybe right about the big hit, but I cannot recall the crowd cheering a big hit by a defensive back when the other player makes the catch for a big gain.
But maybe the reason you think the opposite is because you are the same person who enjoys UFC fighting.
In the end, it’s all about our perspective.
What a great night.
I really wanted to win…badly. However, what I got instead is why he is regarded as one of the greatest to ever enter the octogan. The man has true grit.
He found a way to make it last. He found a way out of every potential dead end. He showed championship heart. He mimicked what our lives should be all about.
The crowd was awesome. At times they were rockshow loud, and very invested into the action
I hope the UFC comes back. It was worth every penny
all apologies, I should have said, ‘I really wanted Randy to win’
I don’t think it’s right to confuse “intent” to injure with injury. Yeah — supposedly nobody tries to hurt somebody in football, but the injuries are there just the same. And all I’m saying is that at the average college or pro football game, more people are suffering broken bones, head injuries or spine injuries than the average UFC card. Again, don’t tell me there’s more people involved. Point is, you’re there, enjoying every moment of it, and people are getting hurt in order to help provide entertainment for you. You can rationalize that any way you wish, but it’s true.
Point taken (somewhat) but the entertainment value of UFC is fighting, which you try to injure your opponent and the entertainment value of football is watching your favorite team outscore its opponent. Their is no confusion of the intent of the two sports. And like anything you do in life, you take on the risk of injury (including carpal tunnel while surfing the Internet), entertainment or work.
fighting is a contact sport and so is football. to refer to football as a non-contact sport would be ridiculous. If you’re rooting for your team to outscore your opponent then you’re rooting for your defense to smash the other team to get the ball back. Football wouldn’t be as popular as it is now if players weren’t trying to pummel their opponents to get the ball. That’s why they were protective gear because they hit hard with the intent to get a victory.
Both in fighting and football you’re going to see guys wanting to beat their opposition to get a victory. They’re contact sports and that’s why everyone loves them. It’s entertainment and they want to entertain us.
I’m not trying to say that football is not a contact sport. I’m talking about intent. And if you think fans just show up to see violence and big hits, why is it that people talk about the final score and plays to determine the outcome. People rarely talk about who hit who harder and most of the debate that does come up about hits are about cheap shots (see duck fans obsession with Boise State’s cheap shots in last years loss in Autzen).
But this is becoming more clear to me that we are coming from two different perspectives. A football fan, and someone who played football in his youth, who appreciates the competition of football, and UFC fans who are defensive about my perspective that you only like these fights for the blood lust. But I do think their is an art to the fighting as I respect boxing. I just see the blood lust alure of the sport and I can’t get past that. I’m sorry for argument sake that I just can’t get past that.
where do you get this blood lust alure from? should fans not cheer for knockouts and submissions? should they just sit on their hands? it’s natural to get a cut from glancing blows. For you to say that MMA is a bloodsport is just completely ridiculous and hurtful to the sport. MMA is filled with regulations and rules.
This isn’t the old days where there was no athletic commissions, no weight classes, drug tests, bare knuckles fights, no rules, etc.
Today’s MMA bouts are require fighters to undergo drug tests weeks before the event, right before the event, and after the event. They have fighters weigh-in a day before the event and have tons of prefight medical examinations before they step foot in the cage or ring. The athletic commissions also will suspend fighters after an event for safety and health reasons so fighters can recover. The UFC also has the best ring side doctors to insure a fighters safety and conduct several tests to ensure a fighter can continue IF they want to. One thing a lot of people don’t know about fighting is that most cuts fighters receive on the head tend to bleed a lot but in reality the size of the cut can be very small and non threatening to the fighter’s health.
This is one of the safest sports you could ever perform in and that’s why nobody has died in the UFC and likely never will. They have the best of the best working for them to insure the fighters safety and if the fighter ever wanted out of the fight, they can verbally quit or tap.
Like I mentioned earlier, Randy Couture has been fighting for over 10 years. If this was a blood sport and fighters actively looked to harm one another, Randy at his age wouldn’t have last as long as he has. You don’t see 46 year old football players out on the field because they could never handle the abuse to their bodies but you will find plenty of 40+ year old fighters who train every week and who teach new students still stepping into the Octagon because they know it’s safe.
Please educate yourself before you call the sport of MMA a bloodsport and its fans blood thirsty.
Submissions and knockouts happen because one of the fighters is hurt. To say that the intent is not to hurt or injure the other person has to be some sort of a fib because you can’t win unless you do this. And people cheering on the hurting they are putting on that person gives off the perception of blood lust.
But don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the fighters want to permanently injure their opponents. I’ve seen handshakes and hugs after these matches but that doesn’t take away that it is a sport based on violence. It’s the same reason on why they have to have so much safety and regulations on the competitors. If people start dying, you are in a world of trouble.
But I will try my best in the future to be more objective about this sport. I have become a fan of boxing and if I can do that, I could probably find the sport in WMA/UFC fighting. It’s just tough for me to get past all that I have commented on today.
So would you be ok with the NFL becoming a flag football league? No tackles…just two teams trying to “outscore” one another?
Give it up dude.
How about this. Rugby and Aussie Rules football. These are way more “violent” then American football yet they are not even close to being a spectator sport in America.
And I wouldn’t give a rip if the NFL became a flag football league. College Football on the other hand, has to be tackle in my mind.
WOW that last statment is dumb as hell. “And I wouldn’t give a rip if the NFL became a flag football league. College Football on the other hand, has to be tackle in my mind.” Wow how dumb. Can we just say MMA is not for everyone? Some people dont see the effort, skill, and technique it takes in these fights. Some people just point straight to the violence. But some of the best matches ever don’t have a knockout or blood. Many people just look at MMA from the outside and say “its 2 guys trying to kill each other.” Other people look at it as a battle of skill, whos technique is better, who is faster, stronger, more agile? Hell isn’t that what track and field is? Seeing whos better stronger faster with the best technique? Hell isnt that almost all sports?
People need to get off their pedestals and quit just looking at the surface of MMA. If we looked at the surface of any sport many of us would not like it. You don’t have to like MMA, many people never will, but to go as ridiculous as Canzano did, basically just trying to destroy everything this sport has worked for, those are people who need to keep their opinions to themselves and just shut up. Not everyone likes NFL (hell half the world thinks the game sucks), not everyone likes NBA, MLB, soccer, etc. You don’t have to like everything, but to disgrace the people in the sport like Canzano did is sheepish and cowardice.
Blazer Dawg, my NFL vs. College was a joke because the whole suggestion that I was suggesting that football should be a flag was ridiculous.
And my whole argument has not been that you can’t be a fan of fighting. But it is not comparable to football or other contact sports. People don’t watch football for the violence.
And every fan who has responded here says they watch UFC/WMA for the art of the competition. I can respect that, but I just don’t think that is true.
Hey Dwight, you wanna send this article to Canzano so he’ll pull his head out of his @$$ and actually pay attention, rather than be a lyin hypocrit. He said someone will die in the ring, and UFC 102 had broken bones. Well according to the quote you got from Dana White, no bones, no real major injuries, nothing. If you could send a transcript of the Dana White interview to Canzano, that would be great, cuz he’s basically making Oregon look uneducated about the sport that we helped make very popular.
Thanks Dwight for being a media figure, over the age of 35, who actually gets and promotes UFC. I would like to see you cover more of it.
Kirk, you really need to rethink your point of view.
If you had sat down last night and flipped back and forth from the PPV coverage of the fight, preseason football and the baseball game it would have been easy to see that the intent of the “athletes” was the same.
Here’s the scene…
One team takes the field with a leather glove on their hand to catch a ball while a member of the opposing team steps into the box wearing a protective helmet. The ball is thrown, the hitter connects, a ground ball past a diving second baseman; the runner on third scores and the crowd roars in approval. click…
Two teams line up against one other with padding all over their bodies and protective helmets. The ball is snapped. The QB hands off to the RB who sprints through the hole created by “grappling” linemen. Five yards pass the line of scrimmage the LB hits the RB from the side; the ball is jarred loose from the intense collision and the crowd roars in approval. Fumble! click…
Two athletes are in a caged ring wearing nothing but shorts and half gloves with a bit of padding over their knuckes. Athlete 1 tries to sweep the leg of Athlete 2 but misses. Athlete 2 instinctively swings and catches Athlete 1 with a blow to the head causing him to fall to bounce of the cage wall and fall to the mat. Capitalizing on the advantage Athlete 2 sits on Athlete 1′s chest and tries to pummel his face with more blows to his head, while athlete 1 tries to block them with his hands to no avail. The referee rushes in to stop the fighting. The crowd roars in approval. click…
See Kirk, it’s all the same.
Ok, so all sports have a violent part to the activity. How many of you know that water polo is a nasty, drag it out, competitive envirionment? You have fights in all sports too. Baseball brawls, basketball players slapping each other, football players punching players wearing facemasks, and lets not forget the most violent, hockey. But all these sports punish their players for these DELIBERATE violent actions.
And don’t confuse a big collision for deliberate violence. Those idiots who go in for the big hit usually miss tackles by not wrapping up and even if they connect, if the player is only knocked back, only to get up and run for more yards, the crowd moans in displeasure.
The point of these sports is scored, not on violence, but scoring within the rules. Sure, some people get excited about a big hit, but that is not why people souly show up.
But your favorite sport is based violence. Your last paragraph said it perfectly. Score is on violence. Granted their is talent in bringing the other person down and it does involve stratagy. I respect that. But you are purposely inflicting pain on the other person to win.
All the other sports are scored on goals, runs, baskets and touchdowns. Violence may occur because we are all imperfect humans, but it is not the means to score.
Kirk,
I agree with you 100%. I was trying to show that with other sports the fans reaction is a result of the team trying to play a game, while with MMA the goal is some sort of focused violence against the opponent. A big hit is cheered if it’s helping the team. However, wiping out a WR who is fully extended usually draws a gasp from the crowd. Pummelling another person into submission can’t be confused with true sport in any sort of way. I admire your persistence and applaud your efforts, however it is obvious there will be no converts from the dark side!
“Submissions and knockouts happen because one of the fighters is hurt. To say that the intent is not to hurt or injure the other person has to be some sort of a fib because you can’t win unless you do this. And people cheering on the hurting they are putting on that person gives off the perception of blood lust.” – Kirk
Then the NFL is a bloodsport by your definition. I’ve personally seen players air lifted off the field to a hospital because he was hit so hard that he couldn’t move because of a neck injury. I’ve seen players get knocked out cold and the player who did couldn’t care less, and I remember the fans cheering the tackle and would awe/oooh at the replay. Don’t tell me that football is different. Pro football players are getting injured every in almost every game because they’re getting hit by people who want to take them out so they can win. You don’t just tag the guy who is trying to score a winning touchdown, you do what needs to be done to get him down at any cost. There’s your intent to hurt and I always see players from opposing teams arguing and shoving after a play and fans loving every minute of it.
Look it, the point of a fight is to win, much like the point of any competitive game is to win. The result of the fight is the result. If every fight went to decision it would quickly become boring. It’s one of the reasons people don’t like Soccer. Fans appriate a spectacular finish. They’re paying $50 bucks a PPV and even more to attend a live event. Don’t be calling people who want to see a little bit of action blood thirsty.
For another example, you see tons of people wanting the Blazers to become more aggressive and you even hear comments from people involved with the organization that players like Ruffin were brought in to be a sacrificial lamb to go out and punch guys like Ariza.
Injuries do not indicate blood lust in our sport. Everything from football to golf has injuries. And when people get injuried in football, and are helped off the field, everyone cheers that player as they leave. Home or away. Football fans are not there to see violent collisions. Sure they like them because it can intimidate a receiver’s next route, but they want to see their team outscore the next.
And you may want to tackle a person at all costs as you put it to stop a touchdown, but as a person who played football you don’t even think about hurting the player to accomplish your goals. You may want to hit them harder but that is due to your momentum vs. theirs.
Also, your fans desire for a spectacular finish is exactly where people get the perception of blood lust. No honor in a decision because we didn’t see someone knocked out or a submission (which is a hold where the other person couldn’t escape or take the pain, right?). Fighting is only a sport when it takes stratagey, rules and scoring. Without that, its only a fight, right? So what do you want to see? A fight or a sport?
And Ruffin was not a sacrificial lamb to go out and punch guys like Ariza. That is just ridiculous.
Kirk you obviously dont watch MMA that often. “Submissions and knockouts happen because one of the fighters is hurt.” Well last night the first punch of 2 fights ended the fight, how were those guys hurt before that?
Knockouts and submissions happen when a combatant takes advantage of the others mistake. That can mean leaving yourself open to punches, that could mean leaving your leg out there to get leg locked. It’s like football, a RB slips a couple tackles and takes it 80 yards for the TD. That’s one combatant (or team in the case of the NFL) taking advantage of another’s mistakes. That’s what all sports are, that’s what MMA is based off. Making smart decisions and not leaving yourself open so your opponent can make mistakes. It’s just different from football because you’re ALWAYS on defense and ALWAYS on offense. At any time a mistake can be made, and if one of the combatants is good enough (Anderson Silva) he will capitalize on that mistake and make his opponent pay. And the NFL has tons of padding. Why do they have padding, because their sport is violent, bloodshed, very hethen and animalistic. You can take an outside look at any sport and say it’s bloodlust (NBA=Ariza/Rudy situation, NFL=Kevin Everett, Tennis=John McEnroe, etc.), its just people make a bigger deal of MMA because it’s most basic sport there is. 2 guys, no special equipment, whos technique and skill are better.
Blazer Dawg, I appreciate your insight and taking of your time to explain the stratagy. Thank you. And you are correct in saying that if the NFL were not to protect its players with helmets and padding then the violent collisions would result in injury.
But football fans are not there to watch players get hurt. Just know that is where I am coming from.
I appreciate everyone trying to defend MMA sport. I will try to look past the violence and see the stratagy of the sport. I still don’t see it but I will try.
But I think its funny that you all seem to jump on the football comparision when you leave the obvious hockey comparision all alone. Fans love hockey fights and the league hardly punishes their actions because it would probably diminish their fans.
I have one last question for you. When you watch or attend these matches, who do you root for? Do you just want a good fight, or do you constantly root for a certain athelete? When I go to a sporting even, I always have a favorite team I root for and want to see the team win the battle of the scoreboard. Every once in a while you see a big hit, or a batter gets hit in the head (absolutly frightening when you see it live), or a couple of NBA players taking rainmaking slaps at each other as their teammates breakup the fight. But fans of these sports are rarely at these events for these reasons.
I will give you all the bennefit of the doubt that you attended or watch the MMA because you appreciate the sport. But to people outside of your circle, they would disagree with you.
I don’t understand this discussion regarding UFC. If you like it, great. If you don’t, great too. Why all of the “UFC is the next big thing! You should totally watch it!” or “UFC is barbaric!”? It’s seems like it’s arguing just to argue at this point. You don’t hear the same arguments for any of the other semi-popular sports like tennis or F-1 racing. Check out the US Open! It’s going to be awesome!
If you don’t like UFC, don’t watch it. If you love UFC, watch it. But please, whatever group you identify with, stop trying to convince the other they should agree with your assessment.
It would be interesting to see what other sports UFC/MMA fans like to watch. If I could set up a poll, I would. I would really like to know what section of the sports watching world likes MMA as well. Some Venn diagrams would be nice, too.
As long as MMA/UFC events are mostly pay per view they will never become the next big thing. Most fans can not/will not pay 50$for a single sporting event on the TV. That is the number one thing that has killed the popularity of boxing. Not the brutality or the blood. Pay per view. It has made a few promoters a ton of cash but killed the mass appeal of boxing. The masses do not have access to and just don’t do pay per view.