UFC 109 Matchups: Couture vs. Coleman Odds & Picks
The main event of UFC 109 is a fight between two current UFC Hall of Famers as Randy Couture faces off with Mark Coleman.
Both fighters are former heavyweight champions in the UFC and Couture is also a former light heavyweight champion. This fight will take place at light heavyweight (205 pounds). Couture enters the fight as the favorite with a betting line of -450 according to online sports book SPORTSBETTING.com. Coleman has a money line of +325. Here is a closer look at both fighters heading into this main event bout, which will take place from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. on Saturday at 10PM ET on Pay-Per View.
Randy Couture (17-10):
Strengths: At 46-years old, Couture is still surprising people with his incredible conditioning and fighting ability. A wrestler at heart, Couture has respectable hand speed and punching power. Ultimately, Couture likes to push the pace of fights and ware down his opponent before getting the fight to the ground where he will dominate with ground-and-pound striking. Couture is also very good inside the clinch, where he utilizes uppercuts and inside elbows.
Weaknesses: Couture has started to show that perhaps he has lost a step from the fighter that was one of the most dominant in the UFC years ago. Couture lost his last two fights at heavyweight in clear fashion and then narrowly defeated Brandon Vera in his return to light heavyweight in November. Couture doesn’t quite have the punching power to really knock anyone out, so he needs to control the fight on the ground where he is more comfortable.
Last Five Fights:
Unanimous decision win over Brandon Vera at UFC 105 on Nov. 14, 2009
Unanimous decision loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102 on Aug. 29, 2009
Second round TKO loss to Brock Lesnar at Nov. 15, 2008
Third round TKO win over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 on Aug. 25, 2007
Unanimous decision win over Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 on March 3, 2007
Mark Coleman (16-9):
Strengths: Coleman is a former UFC champion back in the old days of the sport in the late 1990’s. Coleman is a strong guy that likes to push the pace of fights and hope that he has better conditioning than his opponents. After taking three years off from fighting, he returned to the UFC in 2009 and in both fights he has taken a lot of punishment. But, also in both fights he tired his opponents to exhaustion. In his win over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100, Bonnar dominated the first round, but tired himself trying to finish Coleman, which allowed Coleman to win the final two rounds with his persistence.
Weaknesses: Coleman doesn’t seem to have a lot of fundamental skills and just relies on being able to last longer than his opponents with toughness and cardio. Coleman will have trouble with that against Couture, who shouldn’t tire during the fight. Coleman also lacks a lot of proper training, as he does most of his work on his own, while Couture runs his own camp and is surrounded by a lot of talent day-in and day-out.
Last Five Fights:
Unanimous decision win over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009
Third round TKO loss to Mauricio Rua at UFC 93 on Jan. 17, 2009
Second round submission loss to Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 32 on Oct. 21, 2006
First round TKO win over Mauricio Rua at Pride 31 on Feb. 26, 2006
First round submission win over Milco Voorn at Bushido Europe on Oct. 9, 2005
Who will win: Both fighters have similar styles, but Couture is more polished and in better shape than Coleman. This fight seems to be perfectly setup for Couture to allow him to continue to pursue a third title reign in the light heavyweight division. Look for Couture to win by decision or third round submission against a tired Coleman.