THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Randy (The Natural) Couture defeated Mark (The Hammer) Coleman via second-round submission in a battle of UFC Hall of Famers at UFC 109 Saturday night.
Coleman was never really in a light-heavyweight bout dominated by Couture, who lived up to his entrance music –Ted Nugent’s "Stranglehold."
"He’s one of the best light-heavyweights in the world, period," UFC president Dana White said of Couture. "He proved it again tonight."
There was plenty of history in the cage at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Coleman, 45, was the UFC’s first heavyweight champion. Couture, 46, is a five-time title-holder who has ruled both the heavyweight and light-heavyweight divisions.
In the co-main event before a sellout of 10,687, Chael Sonnen used his superior wrestling skills to upset Nate (The Great) Marquardt via a dominant decision that earned him a middleweight title shot. That means the 32-year-old Sonnen could do an unlikely double in 2010 — win a world title and get elected to political office. He is running as a Republican for the Oregon house of representatives.
Couture, wearing the logo of the Edmonton Rush lacrosse team on his shorts as part of a sponsorship deal, came out second while Coleman paced in the cage.
Couture scored with his striking in the first round, driving Coleman back to the fence and hurting him with uppercuts from the clinch. It was a good round for Couture, a 3-1 favourite.
Couture repeated the strategy in the second, then took Coleman down and hammered away at him. Coleman gave up his back and Couture choked him out. Coleman didn’t tap, with referee Steve Mazzagatti stepping in at one minute nine seconds of the round.
"I think I was a little slow tonight," said Coleman, who spat out a few curses after the fight in the direction of Tito (The Huntington Beach Bad Boy) Ortiz after the former champion, standing near the cage, made a comment about payback. Ortiz and Coleman were supposed to fight last fall before Coleman injured a knee.
It was Couture’s third fight in seven months and he looked good.
"I’m enjoying training and competing against guys my own size, to be frank," he said of the move back to light-heavyweight.
The two were slated to meet at UFC 17 in 1998 but Couture popped a rib in training and the fight was called off. Coleman, a former NCAA wrestling champion and 1992 Olympian, beat Couture, a four-time national champion and U.S. Olympic team alternate, in an amateur wrestling match in 1989.
Couture’s purse was US$250,000, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Coleman’s purse was $60,000 with a matching win bonus. Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, however, since the UFC does not detail all its bonuses.
Marquardt came into his fight a 5-1 favourite but Sonnen, a former NCAA wrestling champion and U.S. Olympic team alternate, went on the attack from the get-go. He took Marquardt down early and hurt him with elbows and punches. It was more of the same in the second although Sonnen, taking a Marquardt elbow from the bottom, suffered a gash on the forehead that bled profusely.
"I was scared that was going to stop the fight," Sonnen said later.
Sonnen, who manhandled Yushin Okami last time out, escaped a tight guillotine choke late in the third round. Marquardt finished the fight on top, but it was too little too late.
Sonnen (26-10-1) made $124,000 including a $32,000 win bonus and $60,000 for fight of the night. Marquardt (32-9-2) earned $105,000, including the fight of the night bonus.
Sonnen earned every penny. After the fight, he dabbed a bloody towel on a battered face that sported stitches on his forehead and nose, and a cut inner lip.
Sonnen will face the winner of the UFC 112 bout in April between 185-pound title-holder Anderson Silva and Vitor (The Phenom) Belfort.
Former welterweight champion Matt (The Terror) Serra made short work of Frank Trigg, knocking him out at 2:23 of the first round
Serra crumpled the 37-year-old Trigg with a big overhand right and then hit him three more times on the ground.
"I believe in my standup," said Serra. "It’s not pretty but I land it, it hurts."
The 35-year-old Serra, who came out to the theme from "Rocky," collected $210,000, including a $75,000 win bonus and $60,000 for knockout of the night, and celebrated with a cartwheel in the cage. Trigg (19-8) made $30,000 and may be headed out of the UFC after a second straight quick finish.
"No disrespect but when he hit me, I didn’t feel it," said Serra.
Serra (17-6) had lost his two previous fights, to Matt Hughes and Canadian Georges St-Pierre.
The Serra KO ended a string of five decisions on a card that was drab more than a few times.
Welterweight Paulo Thiago finished off Mike (Quick) Swick in devastating fashion at 1:54 of the second round, flooring him with a right-left combination and then finishing him with a nasty D’arce choke that left Swick briefly unconscious. The finish earned him the $60,000 bonus for submission of the night.
Thiago (13-1), a Brazilian special forces police officer, is now 2-1 against American Kickboxing Academy fighters, having beaten Swick and Josh Koscheck and lost to Jon Fitch.
Swick (14-4) was coming off a decision loss to England’s Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy. He went into the Thiago fight a 2-1 favourite.
Middleweight Demian Maia bounced back from a knockout loss to Marquardt last time out by winning a unanimous decision over Dan Miller. The two jiu-jitsu black belts contested the fight almost entirely on the feet with Maia (12-1) showing improved standup.
There was ground action in the third, with Maia taking Miller (11-3 with one no contest) down several times. The crowd was unimpressed and there were several rounds of boos.
"I wanted to show people that I can also fight standing up," said Maia, one of the most decorated jiu-jitsu fighters in the UFC. "It was my choice to fight standup the first two rounds."
Canadian heavyweight Tim (The Thrashing Machine) Hague came on strong in the third round but lost a majority decision to Chris (The Crowbar) Tuchscherer.
After two lacklustre rounds, Hague came out swinging in the third and hurt Tuchscherer. Stuffing a takedown, he put an exhausted Tuchscherer down. The round was one-way traffic but Hague was unable to finish his man off.
The judges scored it 29-28, 29-28 and 28-28 for Tuchscherer (18-2 with one no contest) with one judge giving Hague a 10-8 advantage in the third for the tie score. The crowd at the Mandalay Bay booed the verdict.
"I think it was a fair decision. I won the first two rounds," said Tuchscherer.
The fight was the first for Hague, a 26-year-old former kindergarten teacher from Edmonton, since he was knocked out in a UFC-record seven seconds by Todd Duffee at UFC 102 in August.
Hague (10-3) made $7,000 for his night’s work.
Former NCAA wrestling champion Phil (Mr. Wonderful) Davis looked poised and promising in his UFC debut, dominating (The All-American) Brian Stann on the ground en route to a unanimous 30-26, 30-26, 30-27 decision.
"Today was Day 1 on the job," said Davis. "I have so much more to learn."
Lightweight Rob (The Saint) Emerson used his strength and wrestling skills to grind out a unanimous decision over Phillipe (The Filipino Assassin) Nover.
Emerson (11-8 with one no contest) took a kick to the groin in the third that was audible cageside. Nover (6-3-1) is now 0-2 since losing the final of Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter."
Lightweight Melvin (The Young Assassin) Guillard (42-9-3 with one no contest) won a close decision over Ronys (Jungle Boy) Torres of Brazil. Torres (18-2) can probably feel hard done by in his UFC debut.
Lightweight Mac Danzig won a decision over a game Justin Buchholz (9-5) in a spirited scrap. The win snapped a three-fight losing streak for Danzig (20-7-1), winner of Season 6 of "The Ultimate Fighter."
Heavyweight Joey (The Mexecutioner) Beltran (11-3) battered a disappointing Rolles Gracie (3-1) to win by TKO at 1:31 of the second round in a matchup of UFC debutantes.
Beltran was a late replacement for Britain’s Mostapha Al Turk, who had visa issues.
