UFC 74: Respect - 08/25/2007

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 8/09/2007 3:46pm

Randy Couture Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga - Is it too early to judge Randy Couture's heavyweight comeback? Though he did outclass, but not finish, an injured Tim Sylvia who knows what will happen here. Gonzaga surprised a lot of people in his last outing against Crocop. He clearly was a qualified grappler but who knew he could do a good imitation of Crocop?
I probably will have to do with Couture by JD.

Roger Huerta Vs. Alberto Crane - I have Huerta's last fight somewhere on my computer, haven't watched it yet. I understood his last opponent 'gave him fits' and 'rocked him' from what I've read. While some people may think Alberta Crane winning is an upset as he hasn't fought any big names, a look at Crane's BJJ credentials shows a huge threat on the ground.
Huerta by JD.

Josh Koscheck Vs. Georges St-Pierre - I could see Koscheck taking GSP down a few times. Then....not much else. GSP by TKO late.

Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Joe Stevenson - Fairly equal in submissions, I see Stevenson's size getting him the win.
Patrick Cote Vs. Kendall Grove - Hmmmm, Cote will probably fend off Grove's submissions but lose to a decision.
Ryan Jensen Vs. Thales Leites - Don't remember their fights. Leites comes from a better camp.
Renato Sobral Vs. David Heath - Sobral by sub. He'll actually come forward and not run backwards like Machida.
Frank Mir Vs. Antoni Hardonk - Meh. Should play out like McCully vs Hardonk, which I didn't see. I'm sure Mir can wrestle the kickboxer Hardonk to the ground enough to get the UD.
Clay Guida Vs. Marcus Aurelio - Did you see Ishida vs Aurelio? The same will happen but Guida is much more aggressive. Guida by UD.

**Eldarbong** · Posted On: 8/09/2007 5:26pm

UFC 74: Respect - 08/25/2007 7pm PT / 10pm ET
Mandalay Bay Events Center, Nevada

Randy Couture Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga - tko rd 2
Roger Huerta Vs. Alberto Crane ud
Josh Koscheck Vs. Georges St-Pierre ko rd 1
Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Joe Stevenson sub rd 1
Patrick Cote Vs. Kendall Grove sub
Ryan Jensen Vs. Thales Leites sub
Renato Sobral Vs. David Heath sub
Frank Mir Vs. Antoni Hardonk sub
Clay Guida Vs. Marcus Aurelio UD

**Shawarma** · Posted On: 8/09/2007 6:16pm

Even if only Couture and Gonzaga fought on this card it would be excellent. Now we'll see if Gonzaga's a chump who got lucky or a true threat and whether Randy can hang with the heavyweights like he used to.

**the yellow dart** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 1:17pm

Couture vs. Gonzaga - I see Gonzaga winning by submission in the 3rd round. Couture has never had amazing sub defense, and we haven't seen that much improvement overall from him in that area. Gonzaga is definitely a strong grappler with most of his victories coming with submissions. BJJ is his strong suit, and frankly, Couture's biggest weakness. Gonzaga also showed his stand-up chops with his fight against Cro-Cop, where he definitively beat one of the best strikers in the world standing up. Gonzaga is also a larger heavyweight, and size is one of the things Randy has issues with at HW. He is a very small one, and Gonzaga is on the larger side and will push Randy around. I think Gonzaga will punish Randy for the first two rounds before taking him down and submitting him in the 3rd.

Huerta vs. Crane - Huerta by TKO in round 1. Crane is a can that hasn't fought outside of KOTC promotions and similar level matchups. Huerta is good, and will beat the crap out of him quickly.

Koscheck vs. GSP - GSP by TKO in round 2. I think we are going to see a tentative Koscheck who will try to do with GSP what he did against Sanchez, with much less success. GSP's striking will keep him ahead of the game, and I envision that GSP will attempt to remain offensive the entire time, taking Koscheck down himself using his absolutely brutal strength and simply overpowering him on the ground, brutalizing him in rd. 1 and doing the same in rd. 2, and about halfway through the second round GSP will do it again, but this time pass Koscheck's (non-existant) guard and G'n'P for the win.

Pellergrino vs. Stevenson - Stevenson by rd. 1 submission. Stevenson is a great fighter, and this will be a nasty BJJ fest that I think will favor Stevenson and his strength, locking in an armbar early on in the contest.

Cote vs. Grove - Grove with a nasty first round sub. Cote isn't a horrible fighter, but his sub defense is pretty poor and he has lost to such MW standouts such as Chris Leben. Grove is a strong up and comer who will dominate with his BJJ game.

Jensen vs. Leites - Leites by rd. 1 submission. Jensen is alright, but Leites will simply outclass him with his ground game. Easy win for Leites.

Sobral vs. Heath - Sobral via UD. Neither is at the peak of their career, and I think Babalu will keep it mixed up on the ground but not do well enough to finish Heath off. He'll get the UD, but it won't be a definite victory.

Mir vs. Hardonk - Mir by sub rd. 1. If this goes past 1 round, Mir and his general lack of conditioning will sink him. Regardless, Hardonk is still pretty much a joke who will get beaten early on if Mir is even a shadow of his former self.

Guida vs. Aurelio - Aurelio via rd. 2 sub. I like watching Guida fight and think he is exciting to watch, but he isn't a match for Aurelio. Aurelio has fought and beaten some of the best LWs in the world, whereas Guida just doesn't have that same experience and can't hang at that level. Both are solid ground game fighters, and I have Aurelio simply out-working Guida for the win.

**Shawarma** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 1:40pm

I disagree with your assesment of the Couture/Gonzaga fight. First of all, Couture has brilliant takedown and positioning skills which Gonzaga will quite likely be hard pressed to match. Secondly, Gonzaga has proven little in the UFC against top heavyweights except that he can get lucky against a totally uninspired CroCop. And as for his size: Randys wrestling skills are good enough to control people larger and stronger than himself, as he did both Tito and Sylvia.

I don't think you can actually make assumptions about this fight at this point. Gonzaga is too much of a wild card.

It'll be one of the most interesting bouts of the year for certain.

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 2:11pm

**the yellow dart** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 2:41pm

Originally Posted by Shawarma

I disagree with your assesment of the Couture/Gonzaga fight. First of all, Couture has brilliant takedown and positioning skills which Gonzaga will quite likely be hard pressed to match. Secondly, Gonzaga has proven little in the UFC against top heavyweights except that he can get lucky against a totally uninspired CroCop. And as for his size: Randys wrestling skills are good enough to control people larger and stronger than himself, as he did both Tito and Sylvia.

I don't think you can actually make assumptions about this fight at this point. Gonzaga is too much of a wild card.

It'll be one of the most interesting bouts of the year for certain.

I really think you overestimate Randy. Sylvia, while not a can, is certainly not extremely skilled when it comes to things like takedown defense, BJJ, and various other aspects of ground fighting. The fact that Couture could not finish Sylvia, an extremely poor groundfighter (comparatively, of course) in 5 rounds that he more or less dominated speaks volumes about Randy's abilities on the ground. Couture has never had great sub defense, and as an undersized HW I don't think he has what it takes to beat Gonzaga, who is an absolute beast.

I may also get some flak for this, but I really don't think Randy has the skills to beat Gonzaga. He is a wrestler who utilizes GnP to beat guys, but I really don't think he can manage against someone who is a world-class grappler. You also underestimate the size advantage of Gonzaga. While Sylvia is just big, Gonzaga has almost 30 pounds of sheer muscle to push Randy around with. I don't see Randy winning this fight.

**Roidie McDouchebag** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 5:29pm

Gonzaga could do what Barnett did, but Couture's had plenty of time to work out a solution to the problem of the bigger grappler.

**Shawarma** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 6:19pm

Christ, Gonzo gets lucky once against a top fighter and everyone's sucking his Balzac.

Let's see if he beats Randy convincingly, or at least puts up a hell of a fight losing. Then we can see if he deserves to be called "a beast." Of course, then he'll have to face Death by Gong Sau. There can be only one.

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 8/11/2007 7:03pm

Originally Posted by the yellow dart

I really think you overestimate Randy. Sylvia, while not a can, is certainly not extremely skilled when it comes to things like takedown defense

Skilled enough to avoid Ricco's takedowns

The fact that Couture could not finish Sylvia

Monson also couldn't finish Sylvia, and Monson has beaten Gonzaga in grappling.

I think you're vastly underestimating Sylvia, especially since Couture has in fact finished excellent grapplers on the ground.

How the fight will go is gonna depend on whether Randy can outstrike Gonzaga. If he can, he's gonna win pretty easily, because I don't think Gonzaga can take him down. If he can't, then he's going to take Gonzaga down, and it's going to be interesting to see Gonzaga working his superior submission skills against Randy's superior base and GnP.