Randy Couture: Over-rated?

Question

I think so.
People talk about him as if he's a god.
Yeah, he won against few great fighters, but he lost against no-named opponents.
His fighting record is not that great either!
15-8...

Answer 1

Not over rated really but over the hill yes. A fighter needs to know when enough is enough and retire. Look at Ken Shamrock? Need I say more?

Answer 2

Yes he is overrated, and the reason I say this is because people consider him to be top 10 HW and he is not, Big Tim should not be in the top 10 either. You don't get a spot at the top because of one fight and Randy hasn't had a win in that weightclass besides Tim for over 6 years, but he is an extremely intellegent fighter, and has had so many memoriable fights that he deserves respect. When he started in the UFC he was considered old and really is old now and back then he was facing much larger opponents as well as defeating Vitor Belfort who was on a wicked streak and thought to be unstoppable, he beat Chuck at his own game, and dethroned Tito who had just defended his title 5 times, and just recently dominated in a fight where most were concerned for his safety against the giant Tim Sylvia. He has faced some serious competition although lost to quite a few, but has had an exciting career, and is a class act with the utmost respect for his opponents, not to mention he has held more UFC belts than any one else. You can't not be a fan of the guy but he is not top 10 in any weightclass right now, but his future could prove us wrong, never count out Randy Couture!

Answer 3

While MMA is not my forte I have watched and to a very minor extent been involved directly with its evolvement in my area for more than ten years. There are many good fighters out there now that are bursting onto the scene from several different organizations. Most of these fighters are not 42 years old like Couture is. If I remember correctly he comes from wrestling background and has improved his submission, striking and kicking skills so that he is not the one dimensional fighter that he may have been back when some of those loses occurred. The fact that he is that old and still able to fight and beat a very high percentage of younger fighters out there is a testament to how good of a fighter and athlete he is.

Secondly his record dates back to a number of years ago and I daresay that some of those fights probably were before there were standardize weight classes and changes to some of the rules that you currently have. Judging may not also have been very good or standardized. His skill, experience, and abilities are more than enough to stand on their own irreguardless of his record.

Answer 4

A god no one of the greatest fighters yes, his losses are to the whos who of mma as well are his wins, when every fight your in is against a top tier opponant your record might not indicate you real skill, he takes no tune up fights, he only fights the best there are a lot of mma guys with 26-1 20-1 but they fight a top level guy then 2 easy fights and so on it is about marketing and they way you sell yourself is that great record, but Zuffa and so far anyone investing in mma sees him for what he is a real legend and a man who will fight as long as he wants and I will always pay to see a Randy Couture fight.

Answer 5

The only fighter he's lost to that I haven't heard of is Mikhail Iloukhine. I guess Shogun sucks now because he lost to Babalu one time right? Fedor "lost" to Kohsaka. OVERRATED!

Other than the UFC 13 tournament and Mike Van Arsdale, Randy has only fought top competition in the UFC. He must be overrated if he just destroyed the champion right?

When you're 43 lets see if you can do anything athletic that you do better than a 30 year old.

Answer 6

ppl are claiming that randy is the top heavyweight because he is the champ and no one has been able to take the belt( maybe there are no top heavyweights right now???) . pretty self explanatory " in my eyes" lol. emeilanenko is awesome and i hope he is as tough as tektarov but hasn't fought in the octagon. i have seen UFC "top-guns" get their asses handed to them in a PRIDE ring so you are comparing apples and oranges there. the UFC is a popularity contest more than a competition nowadays( look at the payouts and who made the most just for being a promotional tool and doing little or nothing in the ring over the last year), chuck liddell( i respect the fact that he is one of the pioneers and a hell of a fighter) is a prime example(who else has put together a losing streak like him and made a reported 15 mil a year, smart business, not results in the ring) while randy, ( not seeming to be the smartest business man, think he should have honored the contract as agreed then held out for what he was really worth to MMA) makes 1/20th of that for holding a championchip belt. right now no one has taken the belt from randy in the ring. randy and GSP are the only legitimate champions in terms of really getting it done in the ring, the rest are (poster-boys) that bring in the casual observer PPV bucks because ppl "like" em.

Answer 7

He is a very good fighter. God....I wouldn't say that. To be his age and completely manhandle a much bigger, stronger, and younger Sylvia, that is an awesome feat. His win over Liddell was also a very good performance. I say Couture is definitely an elite fighter, but he is not a god. He is a type of fighter that can always surprise you, but not the type of fighter that you think he will win every fight he walks into.

Answer 8

I don't think he is over-rated. I saw his last fight with Tim Silva and it looked like a guy beating up on his little brother. He embarrassed Tim. Just because he is 43 doesn't mean he should quit. You are as young as you feel. He said the reason he retired in the first place is because he wasn't in it emotionally, he was going through a lot in his personal life. Now that his life is better he came out of retirement because he felt like his old self again and that fight proved it. Tim was suppose to be in his prime and he got handled. You go Randy.

Answer 9

He beat

Vitor Belfort in his prime then later again!

Maurice Smith in his prime

Jeremy horn - always in his prime

Randleman - in his prime

TK

Pedro Rizzo - 2X - top 20 fights I have seen

Chuck Liddell

Tito Ortiz - beat him so bad he is a shell of his former self!

AND Tim Sylvia...

yah - I see your point!

2 of his losses are to Chuck Liddell - who doesnt lose to Chuck?

1 was from a BULLSHIT cut from Vitor

1 was from a juiced up Josh Barnett

1 was from a MUCH bigger Ricco Rodreguez

The rest happened before 2001

I see your point.

Answer 10

so what if helost to no namers jens pulver lost to joe lauzon and jens is one of the best fighters as for randy hes not over rated hes over 40 and the hevyweight champ