UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture came on Submission Radio this week for a wide-ranging interview. Couture and BJ Penn are the only two fighters in UFC history to hold two belts simultaneously; Couture discusses whether Conor McGregor can be the third. And Couture fought the best male boxer in UFC history, winning without a single punch being thrown; Couture discusses how Ronda Rousey can win a rematch vs. best female boxer in UFC history.
On McGregor holding two belts at the same time.
I think it’s possible. I certainly think it’s possible. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility for other guys to talk about doing it. Obviously nobody’s pulled that off and maintained two title belts at the same time. I suspect it would be a little easier in the lighter weights because those weight classes are so much closer together. But they are very deep. Both those weight classes are terribly deep with talent. And sometimes styles, as you know, make the fight. So it will be interesting to see how that progresses and if that’s where he ends up.”
Would the UFC co-promote an event with Conor McGregor.
Well I know that was a huge stumbling block with Fedor and trying to sign Fedor, back when I was pursuing that fight specifically as a contracted fighter with the UFC and that was the fight that I told them that I wanted. I was ranked number two in the world; he was ranked number one in the world at the time. I know they negotiated with him for a long time, but M-1 Global wanted to do co-promotion, and they were kind of handling and managing, representing Fedor. And that was a stumbling block. They were like, ‘no we’re not going to put anybody else over. We don’t need another promotion, we don’t need a co-promotion, we’re the UFC and that’s it’. So I would be very surprised if that happens. I would be interested to hear that conversation and how that would get by.
Can Ronda Rousey make changes sufficient to beat Holly Holm by UFC 200 this summer.
Yes, I think she can make the adjustments she needs to make. And it’s purely a function of focus and game plan. I think after knocking her last opponent out, I think she was maybe a little over-confident with her striking, didn’t give Holly the credit that Holly deserved as a world-class boxer and kickboxer, and went out and kind of tried to strike with her, and paid the price with a southpaw that had a great jab and great footwork and was elusive and just kept tagging her. So I think those are things that can be fixed. Change your footwork, change your approach to closing the distance and getting her hands on Holly, and then making Holly operate where she’s strongest. How many Judo medallists do we have in the sport, grapplers at that level, do we have in that sport? Time and time again, that’s where she’s won her fights. And it looked to me like she thought she’d be able to go out there and strike with a world class boxer, and that’s always a bad idea. Would have been a bad idea for me to do it with James Toney, I think was a bad idea for her to do it with Holly Holm.
