In a surprising unanimous decision, three judges in Manchester, England gave Randy Couture a UFC 105 victory over Brandon Vera after a fight in which Vera did most of the effective stand-up striking.Vera was shocked after the decision was announced.
"I thought I won," Vera said. "I left it all out there. I gave it to Randy as best as I could. ... I still don't know -- what the hell? -- thanks, judges."
Couture said afterward that he thought he deserved the decision because he controlled Vera.
"I controlled a lot of the tempo of the fight. It probably wasn't the most exciting thing to watch, but Brandon is dangerous. He kicked me twice in the body and that hurt."
I scored the fight 30-27 for Vera. FanHouse's Ray Hui scored the fight 29-28 for Vera. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Couture.
Vera came out very fast and landed a punch and a kick immediately after they touched gloves, stunning Couture and appearing to hurt him. But once Couture recovered, he was able to hold Vera against the fence, take him down once, and generally stalemate him through an exhausting but ultimately uneventful first round that I scored for Vera, 10-9.
The second round started with Vera unintentionally kicking Couture in the groin and poking him in the eye simultaneously, forcing Couture to take a moment to recover. After that Couture was able to grab hold of Vera once again, but when the referee separated them, Vera landed two powerful kicks and a hard punch, badly hurting Couture and knocking him to the ground. Couture was able to tie Vera up in his guard and force a stand-up, but that just allowed him to survive the round, not win it: Vera definitely won the second.Early in the third round Couture landed a good combination of punches and appeared to have Vera reeling, but when Couture went for a takedown and couldn't get it, that gave Vera time to recover. The referee eventually separated them from a clinch against the cage again, and at that point Vera landed some more powerful body kicks. Late in the third Vera got a takedown and got into mount, and although Couture got back up and finished the fight swinging, I gave the third to Vera, 10-9.
The 46-year-old Couture looks like he's showing his age, but he still convinced the judges that he won, and he improved his MMA record to 17-10. Vera falls to 11-4.
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Comments (Page 1 of 6)
What the heck is wrong with Joe Rogan. OK. we know. It was a close fight but Round 3 was real close. Joe needs to get a spanking from Dana. Why does he hate Randy so much that he rains on his parade and says in the Octagon that Vera won? That's not his job, not when he is inside the cage. Dana, fire this guy please. Let him go work with buddy Alex Jones.
What a surprise more whining and crying from the big baby. Why do you eve comment when it's obvious you know nothing about MMA and you don't even like the sport? Go watch boxing or something, troll.
@John. Why can't we have a discussion like civilized people. Is Rogan as the guy who is interviewing fighters supposed to say what he think? As a commentator when he is outside the cage, he can say what he wants. But inside the cage, talking to Randy and Vera? No. That's not his job to say what's wrong with the refs.
exp, why do you keep calling for people to get fired?? you're such a baby.
The Couture Vera fight was a real close fight! Maybe the wrong fighter did win but for Rogen to say what he said wasn't professional! Joe should get in the octagon and see how tough his words can take him. And when he looses Joe Rogen can go back and host Fear Factor! Wait a minute wasn't that show canceled? PS. Goldberg would be a better fit in the UFC!
You're absolutely right ... it is way beyond Joe Rogan's pay grade to be trash talking a decision. The only mistake you made was in saying that he needs to be spanked by Dana White ... no, he needs to have his ass kicked by Randy Couture! Let him analyze that one!!
Who cares wht his job is. He and everyone else knows that Brandon won that fight and Dana White has to make it right with a re-match.
I love Randy.... he is a lengend, but come on... Vera killed him out their, what the hell was the judges thinking... even Randy new he lost.
I think Randy won. I HATE when the ref separates the fighters, especially when one guy is just leaning on the fence, like Vera. They should make the guy against the fence DO SOMETHING to improve his position or put the fighters on the ground with the wrestler on top.
THE RESULTS MUST BE KILLING M13...HE IS A BIG MMA BABY...
HA HA HA. YOU A FUNNY GUY HA HA. You hate MMA so much you keep coming back to making insults like you're so cool. We must be something right. :P
Awesome
Rogan is one of the biggest Randy supporters, so don't say he doesn't like him. that decision was crap.
OK. This is not Lyoto, which I am a fan of. I like Randy but he won that third round. Vera didn't do any damage at all. Vera won second. In the 3rd, he was rocked. Rogan is crap. He is friends with a lunatic called Alex Jones. He had no business doing that in the octagon. It's not his FREAKING JOB to say what he thinks inside the cage. I had no problem with what he said when he was with Mike. This is just bush league, and I have a feeling Rogan is going off the deep end like Alex Jones.
Nothing wrong with Alex Jones as he is one of the few members of the alternative media who actually gives an unbiased opinion. Personally I'm a fan of Jones even though I don't necessarily agree with him on a lot of the things he says and I don't like the fear mongering but he isn't a ideological kook-aid drinker like the rest of the talking heads.
Anyway ... onto the fight. I watched it live online and I thought it was a terrible decision. How can you win a fight in which you land no meaningful strikes and get rocked in every round? All Couture did was grapple against the cage on the first two rounds with no punches or successful takedowns (one half a takedown that Vera got right up from) but the truth of the matter is that Randy got that decision when he didn't earn the win. I had Vera winning all 3 rounds personally but I could see giving Couture round 3 ... but rounds 1 & 2 as well in a unanimous decision? Really? Even Coutures corner said after round 2 that he needed to quit stalling and at best it was 1-1.
In my opinion Vera dominated the fight on the feet and the ground. He did more damage and he was (in my opinion of course) the better fighter.
In my opinion:
Marcus Davis got robbed in his first fight with Dan Hardy.
Wanderlei Silva got robbed in his fight with Rich Franklin.
Shogun Rua got robbed in his fight with Lyoto Machida.
Vera got robbed in his fight with Couture.
It's been a terrible year for the UFC and these controversies just add to the lackluster 2009 in my opinion.
Let's also not forget that Belcher got robbed in that decision with Akiyama.
I'm proud of Rogan for speaking his mind and telling it like it is. Thats his job ... he isn't supposed to be a lackey. For christs sakes these are grown men fighting in a cage if they can't handle criticism or opposing points of view they're in the wrong career field.
John. I got familiar with Alex Jones when he had bill Cooper on. But then he screwed bill cooper and claimed cooper was a loudmouth and he "had" to kick him off. So I stopped listening to him. Then he had this episode with Jeff Rense, which I used to listen to, and he threatened Jeff's family.
Alex is not who you think he is. Do your research. My problem is both with his content and his character. If you do a research on him with open eyes, you'll see his agenda and major flaws.
This was no robbery. The fight was awful but Couture did enough to win whereas Vera was to passive.
I've done a lot of research on Jones and like I said I'm a fan of his work. Cooper was a true patriot and his suspicious and untimely death at the hands of the federal government speaks volumes to how swiftly they react to dissent. As I said I don't always agree with everything Jones says but I'm glad that he is out there putting information out to the public and always challenges his audience to research the things he says for themselves. I respect the things he has exposed when it comes to the powers that be. Don't shoot the messenger in this case as what Alex says is for the most part accurate and based on fact. You just hate him because he is a truther and exposed 9/11 ... before it happened and went on record as saying they would blame the attack on ... wait for it ... Osama Bin Laden!
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the Couture fight. I don't see in what universe Randy won rounds 1 or 2. I can see making a case for Round 3 but even that I gave to Vera. I guess I agree with MDS & Hui on this one.
@John. Have you listened to Jeff Rense? Ever? He used to be on GCN, Alex's network. Don't tell me why I hate Alex. I don't hate Alex. I just don't think he is credible. I have a strong suspicion that he is out there to direct the attention of some of us in one direction but not the right one.
And Alex did not expose it. Bill Cooper did. Everybody who has done an ounce of research knows that but Alex took all the credit for some reason.
Jones is known for hoaxes, disinformation and misinformation. He is in it for the money mostly. Jeff Rense couldn't put it better.
Listen. I am not here to convince you what to believe. This is an MMA site. But you do seem like a very bright person (even though we disagree on a lot of things). I implore you to do some real research to see if you are trusting the right people.
I've done plenty of research and Jones did in fact predict 9/11 and that it would be blamed on Bin Laden. You don't have to like Jones or whatever and I'm very critical of Alex but I still listen to him and deduce whats real and whats hyperbole on my own. As I said I don't shoot the messenger like you do I just go for the message and base my opinion on the facts and information. Actually, I've had a number of discussions with fanatical Jones supporters who seems him as some sort of messiah ... I think he has ulterior motives in a lot of instances and I don't fully trust him like I do say ... George Noory or Art Bell. But, I think he has uncovered a lot of information most people would have never known about otherwise and he has a unique ability to see the big picture and connect the dots. Sometimes it's a little out there, seems anti-establishment, hyperbolic and on the side of fear mongering. I don't think anyone would make a career or punditry and go on the airwaves if they weren't interested in making money or having popularity. But, to Jones credit he does encourage people to burn copies of his movies and give them to friends, puts all his documentaries on youtube, gives his daily podcast away for free and offers a 24 hour stream of his audio archives.