Randy Couture v Vitor Belfort II

According to MMAnews...

http://www.mmanews.com/news/ufc/head...69985093.shtml

It's Randy C v Vitor on UFC 46 for the light heavyweight title.

Place your votes here!

Who will win? How will he win it? How long will the fight be?

Randy's a machine when he's ready for a match...

Of course, but it should be a good fight nonetheless.

I don't like this. Vitor hasn't done enough to warrant a championship shot yet, and it might be coming too early for him.

Hey... I think Vitor should get redemption here... but I don't think he'll win...

The poll says 100% on Couture... no one here honestly believes Vitor has a chance?

It's too hard to say what level Vitor really is at right now after only seeing him in action for seconds against Marvin Eastman. It certainly means he's at a very high level, and he does have the skills to beat anyone IMO, Randy included.
But having seen so little of himm it doesn't mean you can realistically bet that he'll be able to deal with all the tools that Randy brings in...

If they'd given him a fight with Franklin, Sobral, Horn or even Matyushenko beforehand, things might be clearer.

The same dark cloud that shrouded over Ken's abilities on UFC 40. When the match was announced way back UFC 37.5, I didn't know what Ken's shape was and how he'd perform against one of the most dominating champions in UFC history. With that said, it makes sense for the UFC to throw this fight in since people don't really have a good idea of how Belfort performs after his quick devastation of Mr. Eastman. There will be myths about how this fight will turn out and while Randy Couture's performance is a secret no longer, the big question mark is Vitor Belfort.

I read some articles that Vitor seems to be back to his old shotgun punches he used to use to drop people in the octagon. If that's the case, I think he will be much more lethal now with that style than he did way back at UFC 13(?)... when he first got KOed by Randy. I think Vitor has better cardio and his fights in Pride must help him evolve as a fighter. One thing's for sure. Vitor is no walk-over for Randy. Watching Randy fight Tito. Sure, Randy was pretty much on the offensive all night, but Tito sure made him work for it. Tito was no push over. He just wasn't in the position to throw anything. Vitor will be in a much better position to fight Randy than Tito, if it goes to the ground and Vitor (assuming he still has those shotgun strikes) has a formidable stand up game. Which means we could see one hell of a fight. But I still think Randy will come up on top.

Nice to see someone believes Vitor can win...

The reason that Randy was able to defeat Tito as easily as he did was because Randy was the superior wrestler. Fighting Vitor, who is a superior striker and skilled at bjj, is going to be completely different. In the first fight, Vitor showed that he also had superior strength. Randy has to be on the top of his game for this fight. Vitor is going to be pumped up after his vicious defeat of Marvin Eastman. In that fight he showed great knee strikes and unbelievably fast punching. Randy has to continue cirlcling to his left, get through Vitor's initial burst of power, and take him to the ground, pounding the crap out of him.

Randy is an animal, and if these two fighters are at the top of their game, it will be an amazing fight.

Vitor ALWAYS has a chance to beat anybody with his unbelievable punching power and explosiveness, but I think it far more likely that Couture will take him down to the mat and pound on him much like he did to Tito until Vitor cries. I do not, however, predict a spanking in this one.

Results of UFC 46...

http://www.mmafighting.com/results/ufc46.html

Man, what a bizzare ending to the main event...

I'm sure Vitor didn't want this to happen at all.

Apparently the punch ripped up Randy's eyelid and exposed the eyeball. rumor is it could end his career. This is according to wrestling observer.

I just read that the injuries are not as bad as indicated yesterday morning. He just ended up getting stitches in his eyelid. He also suffered a retina abrasion and minor problems with the pupil. It appears his career is not in jeopardy and can train in 10 days - 2 weeks. A rematch looks to be almost a sure thing.

This is sad news, Couture was is an awesome fighter. I hope he comes back soon :(

Apparently, according to some people who were ringside. Vitor wanted to refuse the belt and have it called a No-Contest. He also immediately said he would grant Randy a rematch.

Just goes to show, Vitor is a credit to the sport, as an athlete and as a man.
I also hope that, despite everything, it will have entirely restored his confidence, if needed be.

And most of all, I pray they find his sister Priscila safe and sound.

Also, the crowd booed Vitor Belfort when he was announced the winner.

Man, it's not Vitor's fault. It was a legit punch, and Randy couldn't continue. TKO.

Randy is expecting the rematch at around June.

I doubt if they'll squeeze the rematch on UFC47... that event has Tito and Chuck booked.

Great news, it's great to see what kind of a man Vitor really is... :cheers:

From mmaweekly... on Randy v Vitor III.

It's been an interesting weekend to say the least for Randy Couture. He has been recovering from his eye injury and this past weekend he wanted to start training for his rematch with Vitor Belfort.

Only problem is when Couture talked to the UFC this weekend, there hadn't been an indication that he would get that rematch with Vitor Belfort. The UFC and Couture want the match, but it's unclear what Vitor Belfort wants.

This weekend Randy gave a video interview to Team Quest and MMAWeekly (you can see it on the soundoff forum) and Randy was not happy about the things he was hearing.

Couture said, "Vitor changed his tune, going back and saying he shouldn't have to fight again because he already beat me. I really don't see how he can feel that was a win."

It appears that Zuffa was ready to solidify things this weekend by working out a deal between Couture and Belfort, but things have hit a snag as it was revealed that Belfort had some questions about facing Couture for a third time.

MMAWeekly tried to reach UFC President Dana White over the weekend but he has been on vacation and returns to Las Vegas today. It's believed that White will contact Belfort today and try to find out what the future has in store for a third installment of Couture vs Belfort.

Couture hopes the fight takes place at UFC 48. "I want the fight and the UFC feels the same way as they want to see us fight. I gave him a rematch from a long time ago, I feel he should do the same with this fight. It's ridiculous for me to think that (this past fight) was a bonified victory."

uh oh...