MMA HQ – Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

Would people please stop calling for Randy Couture to get the next light heavyweight title shot. It’s embarrassing.

Yes, he destroyed UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman at Saturday’s UFC 109. Made him look like the washed up old wrestler he is (Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler comes to mind). But, please, a little perspective is in order. Coleman is 45 and has just a single win in the last four years and that was over Stephan Bonnar. As I wrote yesterday, any other outcome but a Couture win would have been a complete shock.

Yes, Couture is in remarkable condition for a fighter his – or any – age. And maybe he is “only getting better,” as he often says. I also recognize that at 46 (Couture will be 47 in June), the clock is ticking and he doesn’t have any time to waste if he wants to be champ again. But let’s look at what he’s done lately. Before Coleman he out-hugged and out-decisioned Brandon Vera in a fight I and a lot of other people thought Vera won. Before that, he was getting beat up by heavyweights Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

The UFC light heavyweight division is just too stacked to put Couture at the front of the line behind Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who will rematch Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 in May.

Next in line are Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans, who will duke it out – finally – at UFC 114 in late May or early June (in other words, sometime just before The A-Team opens in movie theatres). I say the winner of that fight gets the winner of Machida vs. Shogun II and the loser gets the loser of that bout.

Then there’s Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who faces Forrest Griffin on the same card as Evans vs. Rampage at UFC 114. I fully expect Lil Nog to get by Griffin and while that would only mark his second fight in the UFC, it would definitely put the PRIDE vet into the top of the mix, perhaps even nudging out Evans or Rampage depending on how dominant each fighter is in victory.

Even if Couture were guaranteed the next title shot, that wouldn’t be until at least three months following UFC 113, which puts it seven or eight months away minimum, and I don’t think Couture wants to be inactive for that long. He fought three times between the end of August 2009 and last weekend, he came out of the Coleman fight unscathed and again, the clock is ticking.

So, why not give Couture another bout against a top competitor while we wait for the title to be decided? Thiago Silva is still smarting from losing to Evans and needs a big win to get back on track; Jon Jones is lingering around the light heavyweight belt and still needs a couple of wins to secure his title shot (he could get one of those when he faces Vera at the first UFC on Versus card next month, which could propel him forward or move Vera back up the ladder).

And what about Anderson Silva? He’s been toying with light heavyweight and I full expect to see him make that move in a more serious fashion than just the occasional one-off, especially if his friend and training partner Machida loses the belt, freeing him to go for it himself.

All I’m saying is that Couture doesn’t deserve an automatic title shot – and saying he should get one because of his age while the others are young enough that they’ll have other chances is ridiculous. Who’s to say Couture won’t fight for two or three more years or that injuries (or Hollywood ) won’t shorten those younger fighters’ careers? I could just as easily argue that he’s already been champ a few times already so step aside, Grandpa, and let some young buck have his turn. It’s like pulling out a Magic 8-Ball when you make speculative arguments based on what could happen. There’s enough top-level competition in the division to keep Couture busy – and headlining events – well into his 48^th year.