[pelhamc]

Anyone else think it's strange that Couture announced he will retire before his fight with Machida has happened. That's usually a post-fight type of announcement.

[dwegner1]

I think that just goes to show how much his mind is made up. They were talking to him on MMA Live on ESPN and he sounded pretty positive that this is his last fight. This should be a very interesting matchup and a fight that Randy can definitely win. I could believe how much of an underdog he was, although I havent checked the line lately

[STEEZY95]

I don't find it odd at all. Folks wanting to train at his gym now know he won't be training anymore so getting his fighters ready will be his sole priority, it gets people who wanted to keep throwing fights at him time to get it out of their system, lets the media get those questions out of the way so he can move on, movie casting departments realize he has much more time available etc. If he would have announced this post fight if he won everyone would be moaning and groaning wondering why he didn't persue a last title shot or something else. This lets everyone prepare and there are no surprises. He goes out on his terms.

[pelhamc]

and the good thing is he doesn't leave how Chuck did

[hilfiger1975]

(04-24-2011 01:24 PM)pelhamc Wrote:  and the good thing is he doesn't leave how Chuck did

Yes he will once Machida knocks him out...

[leedrane]

I won't call it "impossible", but Lyoto knocking out Randy is definitly improbable. Chuck and Brock....that is the list of fighters that have knocked out Randy.....Lyoto has a couple of KOs, but when it comes to power, he isn't Brock or Chuck by any means.

[bgstan]

This fight is probably going to be boring. Both their fighting style is for control and avoiding damage to win the fight on points. I can guarantee no submissions in this fight and a KO is very low of occurring. And if KO does happen, it will be from machida.

Randy is probably going to retire after this fight. Maybe if he wins in devastating fashion, he might build up the confidence / ego to go after the title again, but I doubt it.

[dwegner1]

I think randy is gonna pressure machida like few before, and dont think that we will see a boring fight. There might not be a finish, but sometimes 3 full rounds is just as entertaining

[bgstan]

I don't mind 3 rounds of great mma, but with both their fighting style it doesn't look to be action packed. Randy's style is pressing you up against the cage and mauling you. Machida's style is to avoid any action for 14:30 minutes and then land :30 seconds of fury to "win" the fight.

I think the pace of this fight will be dictated by randy. If randy presses the action it might be exciting, but machida will counter him pretty easily.

Remember randy's two fights against liddell? Randy has a hard time chasing counter strikers.

Anyone got shields to upset gsp this weekend?

[pelhamc]

Out with the old, and in with the new
Hate to say it, but I think it's more fitting for Couture to have retired after the loss rather than a win.
The Crane kick strikes again