Two Legends retire, one leaves a much stronger Legacy.

After Couture retired I was thinking about how he will be remembered and how he will stack up to his biggest Rival Chuck Liddell. For most of us on here I would say they were the faces of MMA around the time we really got into it and they are probabally still the 2 MMA fighters the average Joe on the street would recognise

Arguements could be made for either man being the better fighter, Fans of Couture normall make the case that he held more titles in different weights and thats where their case ends I think...

Now Randy being in so many Title fights, you would assume he fought higher level of competition? Turns out he didnt.

I looked at every fighters record at the time they fought Couture or Liddell. I added them up and got an average record of the fighters they faced during their carrers and it Turns out

Liddells works out at 17/5/1
Coutures Works out at 13/4/1

So on average Liddell fought the more experienced fighters with better Records.

Given that he finished his career 21/8/0 to Coutures 19/11/0, He did considerabally better against better opposition and was 2-1 against Couture.

Should Titles mean much seeing as there isnt an official ranking system for title shots? I dont see it making up for Liddell better record on paper and the face Liddell was number 1 or 2 Lhw for years on end, were as Randy was never number 1 in any devision.

Anyone still got Randy as better after seeing the opponents records?

When chuck was in his prime he looked amazing ko after ko,
He had the xfactor the ko power Randy never had that he was like the working mans fighter always seemed to pull of a win when you didn't see it, Tim Sylvia was a shock to me at the time, both doneva lot for mma ufc helped it grow to what it is today, I'm split like them both shame chuck lost his chin

Yeah Randy is always going to be remembered so fondly because he looked like the underdog so many time but got the win. Gonzaga was a fight I excpected him to loose, more than the Sylvia fight. A 260lbs BJJ BB Who just Headkick KO'd Crocop. I was scared for Coutures safety going into that one

I didnt mean to say Randy is any less of a legend, but as with Boxing when fighters retire people often debate the legneds of the sport and who was the best. (Was Joe Louis better than Ali etc..)

Liddell had the better W/L record (as well as a higher % Stoppages)

Liddell beat better competition

Liddell was number 1 ranked where as Couture peaked at 3 (I think 3rd at Heavy was his highest wasnt it?)

Would you not think Liddell edges it on that basis? Being a multiple time champ is all well and good but Titles are sometimes about being in the right place at the right time, your record of how you did against other greats is what it is all about IMO.

Liddell every time for me. More exciting fighter, bigger draw, better record, more title defences despite only 1 reign as champ, was unbeaten for years which Randy can never claim, faced better competition, went out swinging. If he'd had Couture's dedication he would have been a lot better though.

Yeah mate for sure,Liddell didnt have the dedication of Couture, when Couture was having a protein shake Liddell was having a beer, when Couture was getting "hormone treatment" Liddell was doing coke off strippers asses! They couldnt be more different in some ways...

When I saw the difference in opposition today theres no doubt in my head Liddell was the better man.

Love Randy to bits,but for me,Chuck was the better fighter,who fought the overall better compitition throughout his career.(though to be fair to Randy,even though he is slightly smaller than chuck,he did step up to fight some of the top HW's at the time aswell as fighting alot of the top LHW's)

Randy's legacy has never been about him being the best,his record of 19-11 shows he wasn't,he's not fondly remembered because of his knock out power,his slick dynamic skills,the exciting high pace his fights were fought,his win streaks or how many title defences he was successful in.

Randy's legacy is based on his overall story,and the fact that he actually managed to win any of his Titles in the first place,the fact that he won 7 titles at two wieghts in the UFC,is what makes his story all that more impressive.

Randy has won over many a fan by his work ethic,his I'll fight any of the best fighters,LHW or HW attitude,his great personality,his incredible passion towards the sport,his fantastic gameplanning,his age defying feats,and the fact that for his whole entire fighting career,he was considered the underdog in nearly all his fights,yet even though he was counted out countless times,he still managed to get the important wins and keep fighting at the very top end of the UFC,up untill the age of 47,he fought 24 times for the UFC,15 of them Title fights and he won a HW tourney,the HW belt 3 times and the LHW belt twice,aswell as an interim LHW belt.

not bad for an old man who alot of people thought should of retired in 2002.

Randy was just the ultimate over achiever that you couldn't help but like or respect,he became the true Rocky underdog story that fans love.

this is just a personal view but randy takes it for me. chuck i expected to ko people whie randy was always dubbed old and small yet still grounded out a win.

Anfields5thKing wrote:Liddell every time for me. More exciting fighter, bigger draw, better record, more title defences despite only 1 reign as champ, was unbeaten for years which Randy can never claim, faced better competition, went out swinging. If he'd had Couture's dedication he would have been a lot better though.

Absolutley true Couture is retardedly overrated it is scary I'll give him all the credit in the world for still going at it at the age of 107 that incredible but he was never anything special.

Bear this in mind as well, although Chuck has always been Dana's bum chum he repeatadly got paid far more per fight than Randy.

Bigger draw, more entertaining fights, bigger KO's, better oposition = paid more!!!!!