Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: UFC 74 Title Match Analysis

We touched yesterday on Randy Couture’s TKO of Gabriel Gonzaga (-135) at UFC 74. This could very well be a watershed moment in MMA betting, and it has to do with the recent UFC takeover of PRIDE.

Gonzaga was made the No. 1 contender to Couture’s heavyweight title after knocking out Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 70. That monumental upset whipped bettors into a frenzy to fade the eternally underrated Couture in last week’s title defense.

Mistake. Couture did benefit from a clash of heads that left Gonzaga with a broken nose, but otherwise had little trouble dispatching the inexperienced challenger in the third round.

It appears the level of competition in the heavyweight ranks at PRIDE has been overvalued stateside. At the very least, the transition to the octagon is an obstacle for fighters coming over from Japan. Either way, as Couture proved yet again, experience counts in MMA.