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Randy "The Natural" Couture (-115) vs Brandon "The Truth" Vera (-115)

by Stan Leung
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UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera
November 14, 2009 7 GMT
Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera
UFC Betting Pick: Randy Couture (-115)

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Light Heavy weight bout: Randy "The Natural" Couture (-115) vs Brandon "The Truth" Vera (-115)

When last I wrote about Randy "The Natural" Couture (26-10) the word on the street was “retirement” if he was to lose to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira. It was believed Couture was past his prime and too old to be a serious threat in the octagon. Well once again we find ourselves asking the same question—is Couture too old to fight? After his showing against Nogueira I believe the answer to be “no” and in fact, I think he will actually walk away with this one.


The UFC Hall of Famer returns to the light heavyweight division for the first time in over three years with the hopes of beginning his quest for an unprecedented sixth world title with a victory over striker Brandon "The Truth" Vera (14-3) in the main event at UFC 105.

BetCRIS opened up the lines even at -115 but I predict by the night of the fight, Vera will be the sportsbooks betting favorite. If one was to examine the betting trends, Couture is not known to win when he is the online betting favorite, however, he fairs well as the under dog. Couture was the underdog in his winning bouts against Gabriel Gonzaga (+120) and Tim Sylvia (+220) and the favourite in his loss against Nogueira (-190). He seems to be able to pull wins when the odds are against him. Many online bettors are counting him out but I think Couture has it in him to win this one. He is the consummate work horse and has a great work ethic which is the opposite of Vera.

Brandon Vera is a fighter that believes he is better than he actually is—wasn’t it just a couple of years ago he was proclaiming he would be the first light heavyweight and heavyweight champion? In short, Vera is the type of fighter that does not believe in training to improve himself and likes to leave well enough alone. Two prime examples are his fights against Mike Patt at UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine and Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira. If Vera was the fighter he believes himself to be, his wins over both men would have been clean and easy and without excuses. His victory versus Soszynski is misleading as his original opponent, Matt Hamill, was forced to drop out due after suffering a meniscus tear while training and Soszynski stepped in on short notice.


As of yet, Vera has yet to beat a top level fighter. Though he took Frank Mir at UFC 65: Bad Intentions, it was a fat and out of shape Mir and his win against Mike Whitehead was only due to an injury on Whitehead`s part. Vera may be a good fighter, but he is not the fighter that many people make him out to be. He will be facing a top level fighter in Couture but I do not believe he has what it takes to step it up a notch for this fight.  

As a fighter, Vera has not developed like the UFC marketing team envisioned. Though he is a better striker than Couture, Couture has enough experience and ability to deflect and dodge Vera’s strikes. Vera has the power to knock out Couture, but if he knows his game, he will no want to engage in close combat with Couture. Vera will need to avoid low legs kicks as he will not want to be taken down. The key for Vera to win this fight is to keep the distance from Couture and to use his kicks, however, no fighter in the UFC is as good as Couture when it comes to closing in the distance.

Couture is a master at the clinch game. If he is able to close the distance on Vera he will be able to pin him against the cage and take over the fight. Couture tends to apply a lot of pressure against his opponents when they are up against the cage which easily saps their strength. As Vera is not greatest conditioned athlete he will find himself trapped and unable to fight his way out. This is when Couture will use his superior wrestling ability to take over the fight. If Couture does not go this route, he is still capable enough in the stand up to survive the onslaught from Vera as proven in his matches against top level strikers such as Vitor Belfort, Chuck Liddell, Tim Sylvia and Pedro Rizzo. Vera may be considered by some as a good striker but we have yet to see him KO a top level fighter.

Couture has the wrestling advantage in this fight. He is a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-I All-American and a two-time NCAA Division-I runner-up at Oklahoma State University. In 1992 he was the Division-1 runner up at 190 pounds coming in second after Mark Kerr. Vera will not be able to handle Couture’s size and strength in the clinch.

When it comes to grappling however, Vera is a better grappler than Couture. He is a brown belt under Lloyd Irvin who runs a great grappling camp. However, it is interesting to note that neither Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trained Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira nor Ronaldo Souza could tap out Couture. When Couture and Souza went head to head in a submission wrestling match that bout ended in a draw. If two top level fighters could not tap out Couture there is no way that Vera will be able to do so.

Bottom Line: Though Vera may be a better striker and grappler he is not a better fighter. He does not have the heart, experience and drive to train properly and compete in mixed martial arts at the same level as Couture. Having more skill does not necessarily make one a better fighter as there are intangibles that Couture has that Vera will never possess.

Couture will surprise many with his striking ability. He will close the distance and use his power to crowd Vera and land dirty boxing shots as he is up against the cage until he is able to take him down. Though Vera may be able to fight well on his back Couture is more than able to fight and ground and pound from the top. He will stay in Vera’s half guard and land shots until the referee stops the fight.

Brandon Vera does not have the discipline to be a top level MMA fighter. On the other hand, Couture is a workhorse and will utilize the entire Xtreme Couture camp to help him train for this fight. Now that he has signed a six fight contract with the UFC his future is secure and his focus is on nothing but training for both himself and others. While Couture can call upon the likes of  Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard, Mac Danzig, Mike Pyle, Tyson Griffin, Goran Reljic, Vitor Belfort and Ronaldo Souza—all Xtreme Couture camp members, Vera does not have anywhere near the resources that Couture has at his disposal. Despite his age Couture is a well conditioned athlete than can easily compete with guys half his age. He lives and breathes athleticism while Vera only trains when he feels he needs to.

Though he may not be in the top five in the heavyweight division Couture can definitely give any top heavyweight a decent go of it. And though he may not be a viable contender for the belt in the light heavyweight division, the same also holds true for Couture in this category.


1997 was the last time Couture squared off against anyone that was “sub-standard”. Vera can neither compete in the heavyweight division nor the light heavyweight division and in reality, he really should not even be mentioned in the same breath as any top level fighter.

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