UFC 52 on Bravo!!!

[Matt M]

Bravo are showinhg UFC 52 on the Sunday after it happens, 17 April.

Well done Bravo, now we can see Randy kick Chucks arse for a 2nd time.

[Justin Hurley]

I wish I had sky, I really want to see the Couture vs. Liddell fight.

[Matt M]

I'll put a disk in the post on the Monday.

[Justin Hurley]

April 17, 2005
by Josh Gross

LAS VEGAS, April 16 —Twenty-two months ago when Chuck Liddell stood in front of Randy Couture, a then 39-year-old fighter coming off two tough losses who many regarded as simply a stepping-stone to the belt Liddell coveted, the San Luis Obispo, Calif. native learned a valuable lesson: having something in your grasp does not always mean it’s yours to keep.

So badly wanting to shed the title of “Uncrowned King” after the indignity of having to wait to fight Tito Ortiz — a “champion” that wouldn’t fight him — was Liddell that when he suddenly knocked out Couture — a champion who would — tonight in front of 14,562 stunned fans inside the MGM Garden Arena, he quite literally jumped for joy.

Two minutes, six seconds.

Time truly is relative — the frustration that came with years of waiting for Ortiz to accept a fight; the months of heartbreak following the loss to Couture; the hardship which comes with countless hours in the gym, preparing for a championship that hadn’t come.

Gone, all of it, in two minutes, six seconds.

From the start of the fight, this seemed like a different Couture, now 41, than the one who so effectively dominated Liddell in June ’03. Understanding that the bout only lasted two minutes, Couture seemed a step slower in nearly ever facet of his game. He appeared unable to beat Liddell to the punch the way he did the first time they fought and incapable of closing the distance necessary to work his world-class takedown game.

And the times that Couture landed a shot, Liddell countered or moved. “I think a lot of it had to do with game plan stuff we learned from the first fight,” said Liddell at the post-fight press conference. “John [Hackleman] had me move. We kept moving. … I think anytime I get flat-footed then I think I was risking getting taken down. So, if you noticed I was moving side-to-side and forward.”

Before the fight Couture’s trainer Robert Follis spoke of his philosophy of controlled-aggression. “To me you’ve got to be aggressive enough in a fight to bring that guy into your game plan,” Follis said. “But not so aggressive that you come out of your game plan.”

Couture, it seemed, stepped over the line of control into dangerous territory, which led to the only two-division champion in UFC history lunging at his challenger. An off-balance hook from the Gresham, Oregon-based fighter gave Liddell the perfect angle to fire a right cross, and “The Iceman” swiftly countered, dropping the compact shot that caused Couture to lose his legs.

“I was able to catch him on his chin,” said the new 205-pound UFC King. “There aren’t too many people who can stand after that.”

As Couture, whose record stands a misleading 13-7-0, fell to the canvas, the crowd — equal parts stunned, terrified and out-of-its-mind — rose to its feet. Liddell dropped two unnecessary shots to the downed champion before referee John McCarthy could step in.

“If you fight in this sport long enough,” said Couture in the ring, “that’s bound to happen.

Visually, an unconscious Couture was disturbing, a picture no one wanted to see but everyone knew was possible. Juxtaposed against the jubilance of Liddell and his camp, it quickly hit home that this is a sport of men and things like this happen — even to the best.

“I’ve been waiting [to win the title] my whole career,” Liddell said. “Randy is a great champion and a great guy.”

Whether it was, as pundits will surely ask, Couture’s mileage or the fact that a healthy Liddell, now 15-3-0, was “on,” the new light heavyweight champion strung punches together with an accuracy that comes when he’s at his most dangerous.

[Justin Hurley]

I'm gutted. I really wanted to see randy win.

[Matt M]

What the f*ck was Randy on? He looked like a novice, throwing big wild swings.

I think Cote v Doerkson was fight of the night, he was very unlucky.