Five better retirement fights for Randy Couture instead of Lyoto Machida

It’s official. Randy Couture has decided that he will finally hang up the gloves for good… again. Sure, he has said it before, and once he even retired just to get out of a contract deal, but all signs point to a legitimate retirement next weekend at UFC 129 in Canada. The 47-year old wrestling specialist has done it all, and well into an age when most pro-athletes have given up the competitive aspect of their respective sports and are enjoying endorsement deals. Instead, he has defied odds time and time again and enjoyed a historic career filled with championship belts and exciting matches from end of the globe to the other.

With all of the hype around the epic showdown between Jake Shields and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, Couture picked a great show to retire. The Rogers Centre sold out immediately and will fill up with nearly 50,000 spectators who expect to see fireworks fly in this very hyped event. Unfortunately, the last man Randy Couture will face off against happens to be a man who is not always the most exciting fighter to watch, Lyoto Machida.

Coming off two consecutive losses, Machida needs a win and badly in order to get himself back in contention for a shot at the Light-heavyweight title, so it would not surprise me if “The Dragon” played his game even more conservatively than usual. With all fights, anything can happen and for all we know, maybe Machida will be unusually aggressive, or perhaps Couture will dictate the pace of the match and gradually pick Machida apart in classic Couture fashion. All signs point to this fight going the distance with the potential to be a snoozer, and a very unsatisfying way to end such an amazing career.

Maybe I could be fatally wrong and Couture VS Machida will rock our socks off, but I am skeptical. Instead, I offer you five other opponents that would make more sense for Randy to end his career on, and allow us to speculate a bit on what could have been, and what we may ultimately miss. Hit the jump to read about five fights that should have been how Randy went out!

Rich “Ace” Franklin
During the time that Randy Couture was climbing in popularity as UFC light-heavyweight champion, so too was Rich Franklin who was sitting on top of the middleweight food chain. Until Anderson Silva came along and rearranged his face like a Mr. Potato Head doll, Franklin was the big dog in the yard, with wins over Nate Quarry and David Louiseau. Even after he lost the belt was relegated to gatekeeper status,he defeated Matt Hamill, Travis Lutter and Yushin Okami.

Since 2009, Franklin has been testing the waters in the heavier weight classes once again, including matches with Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, and most recently knocking out Chuck Liddell to send him out of the octagon and into the Zuffa offices to sit behind a desk. Franklin has become the UFC equivalent of “Human Resources”, cutting the fat from the company and keeping things running smooth for the younger guys.

With Randy back in light-heavyweight along with Franklin, this would be an easy match to put together, and a very good final test for Couture. Franklin always looks to end a fight when he can and will keep Couture on his toes for the duration of the fight. Compounded by the power in his hands and the aging chin of Randy, the threat of a knockout would loom over this bout and make things even more exciting, and overall a very desired match-up that we will never get to see.

Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic

These two have always been in the wrong place at the wrong time. When Randy was fighting in RINGS, Crocop was in K-1. As Couture made a name for himself as UFC Light-heavyweight champ and as one of the most popular fighters in America, Mirko was busy in Japan fighting for Pride and eventually winning their Open Weight Grand Prix in 2006. It has only been up until the past few years that both Crocop and Couture have been in the same company, but alas, not at the same weight class, or at least not long enough to warrant them meeting.

Now, with both fighters in the twilight of their career, this is a fight that the fans deserve to see. Would it be as great as it could have been five years ago? Probably not, but then again, that could be the same for every prospective match on this list. This would be a classic “Striker VS Grappler” match with the backing of two men who have cemented a legacy in the same sport, but on different sides of the world.

Does Crocop still have power in those beefy Croation legs of his? Again, with Couture’s chin anything can happen, and that’s what would make this a great formula for a match. Crocop is not quite as good at sprawling from takedowns as he used to be, but he can still get back to his feet after being put on his back. Mentally, this is also a good fight for Crocop who despite defeating Pat Barry and Anthony Perosh, is having a big difficulty hanging with the younger top talent. Couture presents a challenge on an equal setting of a fight that we never had the chance to see before and one that I always wished to see.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

In a dream match, at least for me, Randy met Big Nog at UFC 102, and went a full three rounds with Nogueira coming out on top. The fight earned “Fight of the Night” honors, and Randy heralded the match after, saying he was in the best shape of his career for this match, and both men left it all in the ring. While some fans said it was disappointing or just not that good, all things considered, this fight was exactly what we expected it to be. Two masters of their craft playing the human chess game that is MMA, and it just happened that Nogueira was the better player on that night.

A match of this caliber deserves a rematch, especially with the fact that it did go the distance. Nog won by unanimous decision, but one needs look no further than the Liddell VS Couture trilogy to see that even the biggest beatdowns are often even better the second time around. Nogueira has been recovering from a much needed knee surgery that has sidelined him for many months, and he should be back in action very soon, but in an ideal world, this could have been the finale worth watching for Randy and seeing if he could turn the tides against one of the best heavyweights in the world.

Wanderlei Silva

Believe it or not, this match almost happened way back in 2003. During that time, the UFC and Pride FC were actually being friendly and trading fighters. By trading fighters, I mean the UFC sent guys like Chuck Liddell and Ricco Rodriguez over to Pride, and Pride sent no one to the UFC. Kind of one-sided, but while Pride won that battle it was the UFC who won the war (for better or worse). However, Pride did sent their Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva over to the UFC at UFC 49, and he stepped into the cage to congratulate UFC Light-Heavyweight champ Randy on his win over Vitor Belfort and to hype a potential match between the two champs.

The match never came to fruition for a number of reasons, but as Pride was gobbled by the Zuffa monster in 2007, many contracts ended up in their control including Silva. Since then, Silva has been inconsistent in terms of his record in the UFC in the Light-Heavyweight division, and most recently dropped to Middleweight to defeat Michael Bisping and now moves on to face Chris Leben at UFC 132.

Randy VS Wanderlei takes the classic formula of “Striker VS Grappler” and throws a monkey wrench into it. Silva is a master of the Muay Thai clinch, and Couture helped innovate the dirty boxing style that compliments his wrestling prowess, and neither are afraid to throw leather from the outside. Silva is also a very capable fighter off his back, so this match would be a back and forth affair until the bitter end. This is a fight where neither man would leave it to the judges, and even though this could have happened nearly eight years ago, it did not. UFC owes us this one, so it is time to collect on their promise!

Fedor Emelianenko

Two titans of the heavyweight division, locked in mortal combat. It could have happened back in 2007 during Randy’s infamous contract dispute that led him into his second retirement, only to come back out of it for the potential of fighting Fedor Emelianenko. Pride had just died and Fedor was left in limbo due to contract problems with M-1, so promoters jumped at the chance to put Fedor in a fight with Couture, who was also a free agent.

Negotiations fell through and Fedor ended up in Bodog briefly until he made his way into Strikeforce, while Randy moseyed back into the UFC, where he has been since. However, Fedor and Randy still continue to lament what could have been one of the biggest heavyweight fights in MMA. At this point, Emelianenko’s undefeated mystique has vanished but that does little to make this match any less desirable. Randy has never been the most winning fighter either and has suffered his share of losses.

Sadly, this match would be impossible to book unless either Randy left the UFC, potentially ruining his relationship with Zuffa for the last time, or if the UFC could co-promote with M-1 Global for one event to have Fedor fight. In other words, do not pass, do not collect $200. But hey, none of these matches will happen anyway, so why not dream a little?

There you have it, five fights that I think would be a much better way to end Randy Couture’s career! None of these are easy matches for either fighter and that adds to the allure of the fight, and they all promise to deliver when it comes to being exciting. The point I want to make clear about these bouts is they can also act as a means of retiring the opponents as well. All five of these proposed challengers are also coming to that time of their career where they can not keep up with the young guys anymore, and they owe it to themselves to let their legacies speak for themselves.

Agree or disagree? Did I miss any fighters that you want to see go at it with “The Natural”?