With Couture Coming Out on Top in UFC 109 — Let’s See An Over 45 Division! Sonnen Defeats Marquardt » 30ninjas

With Couture Coming Out on Top in UFC 109 — Let’s See An Over 45 Division! Sonnen Defeats Marquardt

Share on Facebook posted 02-08-10 by John George

Randy “The Natural” Couture (18-10-0) won the battle of the geezers Saturday night by defeating Mark “The Hammer” Coleman (16-10-0) in a second-round submission victory during Ultimate Fighting Championship 109: Relentless. The light heavyweight fight was the main event of UFC 109, which was broadcast on Pay Per View from Las Vegas.

Both Couture, 46, and Coleman, 45, have a wrestling base to their fighting styles. Couture was an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University and a three-time U.S. Olympic team alternate. Coleman has even more impressive wrestling credentials, having made the 1992 U.S. Olympic team as a wrestler, and finishing fourth at the Barcelona Olympics. He was also an NCAA champion wrestler for The Ohio State University.

Despite their wrestling backgrounds, or perhaps because of their backgrounds, both fighters chose mainly to stand and trade punches during the first round. Couture is a much better boxer than Coleman, and he definitely got the better of the exchanges. He landed harder, cleaner punches, and he also got in some good knees from the clinch.

In the second round, Couture used punches to set up a takedown. Once he got Coleman to the ground, he pummeled him until Coleman gave up his back. When that happened, Couture put in the hooks and got the rear naked choke. Coleman didn’t tap though, and referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped it as Coleman’s lights were going out.

This fight went pretty much as I thought it would. Randy’s sometimes not the most exciting fighter in the world, but he’s very smart, and he’s become very well rounded. Coleman, on the other hand, is still basically a ground-and-pound one trick pony, but that pony’s pretty worn down.

This matchup has got me thinking, though, about whether it might make sense for the UFC to set up a senior division for fighters over 45. It would be a blast to see Don Frye and Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock all mixing it up again. Randy would probably be king of that heap for a long time, until another old dog figured out a way to bring him down.

The Other Top Fights

Highly skilled wrestler Chael Sonnen (24-10-0) got a dominating unanimous decision win against always tough Nate “The Great” Marquardt (29-9-2). Marquardt started the fight off strong, threatening with two good submission attempts, but Sonnen managed to survive them, as well as another tight choke attempt in the third round, and dominated the rest of the fight with his ground-and-pound.

I was sorry to see Mike “Quick” Swick (14-4-0) get put to sleep by Paulo Thiago (10-1-0) with a Brabo choke at 1:54 in the second round of their welterweight fight. This makes two losses in a row for Swick, who dropped one to Dan Hardy in and two wins in November, and two wins in a row for Thiago, who defeated another fighter I like, Jakob Volkmann, at the same November event. I have nothing against Thiago, but he doesn’t do too much to make me root for him.

Demian Maia (12-1-0) used superlative striking to defeat Dan Miller (11-3-0) by unanimous decision in their middleweight matchup. Maia won every round, dictating the fight and imposing his will on Miller.

My favorite outcome of the night was Matt “The Terror” Serra’s (10-6-0) technical knockout of Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg (19-8-0) in their welterweight fight. Serra outboxed Trigg and used powerful punches to knock Twinkle Toes down and finish him at 2:23 in the first round. Trigg can be a real jerk, and Serra is sort of a real-life Rocky type that you can’t help rooting for. Plus, he’s from Strong Island. Represent.

Vegan powerhouse Mac Danzig (19-7-1) finally got back to his winning ways by defeating Justin Buchholz (8-5-0) in a unanimous decision victory of their lightweight bout. Danzig was methodical and steady throughout, taking a pounding in the first round, but staying strong and clearly winning the second and third rounds. I really like Danzig, and I was happy to see him end his three-fight losing streak.