UFC Hall of famer and rock hipster Randy Couture stopped by Spike’s MMA Uncensored television program recently and discussed a wide range of topics. Our favorites were when he talked about his former teammate Chael Sonnen fighting Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title, Alistair Overeem getting a title shot when he returns from his failed drug test suspension and the future of Strikeforce and, specifically, one of their lightweight prospects Ryan Couture.
Randy said that he was “not terribly surprised,” that Chael got the TUF coaching gig opposite Jones and a promised title shot. “This is a business and Chael Sonnen is going to bring it and hype up any single fight that he’s in.”
Couture also believes that Chael has a fighting chance against Jones, if he can employ the right game plan.
“I think Chael has a great opportunity to win this fight, actually. Technically, I see [it as] a similar style fight as Anderson Silva. If he wades through him and makes Jon Jones wrestle him the entire fight, I think he can win that.”
As for Overeem, Randy didn’t seem to have much of a problem with the Dutch kickboxer being rewarded with title shot after failing drug tests. “I think that’s where he was at at, competitively. He beat Brock and he was right there. He deserves the shot at the title,” Couture said.
“The Natural” also weighed in on Strikeforce’s deathwatch saying, “I think you’re going to see the Strikeforce guys plucked and absorbed like they did the WEC.”
His son Ryan is a rising lightweight in Strikeforce. “So then the question is, is Ryan going to be one of those that they want to keep or is he going to be one of those guys that gets cut loose?”
Check out the full episode of MMA Uncensored with Randy. Its classic Couture – straight forward, earnest and analytic. Plus, he blows Luke Thomas’ beard out of the water – no easy task.