Lesnar lowers boom on overmatched Couture
Randy Couture didn’t show his age Saturday night. Rather, he showed his size in a futile attempt to conquer Brock Lesnar, a 6-foot-31/2-inch, 265-pound giant.
Couture, the 45-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder, was overmatched in the octagon at the MGM Grand Garden. Lesnar, in only his fourth professional fight, won Couture’s belt with a second-round technical knockout in front of 14,272.
Lesnar, 45 pounds heavier than Couture, tagged the champ with a big right hand and quickly pounced on him midway through the second round of their scheduled five-round bout. With Couture getting pummeled with both hands, referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in and stopped the fight at the 3:07 mark.
For Lesnar (3-1), it was the sort of Hollywood script he might have expected to act out when he worked in the choreographed world of WWE. This was a great performance, but it was no act. Lesnar was too much for Couture, who had been inactive for a year but still took on the challenge.
"I can’t believe it," Lesnar said of becoming UFC’s heavyweight champion. "I believe in hard work and that it pays off.
"I may come across as a cocky SOB, but I believe in myself. I’ve got the utmost respect for Randy Couture. He’s been a great champion."
Lesnar wasn’t especially popular inside the Grand Garden, being roundly booed as he entered the cage. But it was a different story in the MGM Grand sports book, where the money poured in on the big man from South Dakota. By fight time, Lesnar was a minus-140 favorite.
Those backing Lesnar were rewarded, because he didn’t flinch when he appeared to be in trouble early in the second round.
Lesnar had dominated the first round and was looking to build on that momentum. But Couture caught him with a solid right to the face, opening up a cut on Lesnar’s right eyebrow.
Just when it appeared Couture was going to dominate, he walked into a big right hand by Lesnar. Couture landed on his back and Lesnar was right on top of him, pounding away until Yamasaki stepped in.
"Those were some big ham hocks coming at you," Couture said of Lesnar’s fists. "I felt comfortable with the size difference. He’s just a big SOB."
While Lesnar’s UFC future is bright, Couture’s is cloudy. He said he didn’t feel rusty despite a year’s inactivity. But he’s not sure if he wants to continue fighting, and if he does, will it be at heavyweight, where he was a three-time champion, or light heavyweight, where he won two UFC world titles?
"I’m going to let things settle down and see what happens," Couture said, whose record fell to 16-9. "I still feel like I’m getting better. I still enjoy fighting."
On the undercard, Kenny Florian destroyed Joe Stevenson in their lightweight bout, forcing Stevenson to tap out after applying a rear naked choke 4:03 into their scheduled three-round fight.
"This is exactly what I wanted," Florian said. "I wanted to make a statement. I want BJ’s belt."
Florian was referring to UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn, who was in attendance and watched Florian improve to 13-3.
Florian used an effective kick to slow down Stevenson. And when he got Stevenson on the ground, he pummeled him with a series of blows to the face before locking in the submission hold and dropping Stevenson to 34-9.
Dustin Hazelett used an arm bar to force Tandan McCrory to submit at 3:59 of the first round of their scheduled three-round welterweight bout.
"My goal is to get the most submissions of anyone" said Hazelett, who improved to 14-4 with the tapout win over McCrory (11-2). "When I hooked his leg and grabbed his wrist, I was able to hold on and finish."
Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga made quick work of Josh Hendricks, dropping him with a hard right to the head 1:01 into the first round of their scheduled three-rounder.
Gonzaga (10-4), used his knee effectively, striking Hendricks several times in the stomach before unloading with the powerful right that dropped Hendricks (18-5). Gonzaga pounced on him and leveled a couple more shots before the fight was stopped and Gonzaga was a TKO winner.
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