Sherdog’s Top 10: Five-Round Fights

Randy Couture and Pedro Rizzo went at it for 25 minutes at UFC 31. | Photo: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com

10. Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo
UFC 31
May 4, 2001 | Atlantic City, N.J.
Couture made his name in the early UFC tournaments against the likes of Vitor Belfort and Maurice Smith and then left the promotion for greener pastures in Japan. That run did not go as planned, with Couture going 3-3 outside the UFC, and he returned for good with a title shot against Pedro Rizzo. The Brazilian kickboxer had knocked out the youthful Josh Barnett to stake his claim, and the fight profiled as one of the best in the history of the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Couture came out strong in the first round, working his punishing dirty boxing and then a late takedown. He nearly finished Rizzo with strikes from top position at the end of the round, but the Brazilian stormed back in the second with vicious counter combinations and low kicks while stuffing Couture’s takedowns with increasing ease. Both fighters slowed in the third, but the American managed to hit a double-leg 90 seconds into the round and rode it out to go up 2-1. Rizzo started the fourth round strong, hitting counter combinations and a few low kicks while stuffing takedowns and keeping it close in the clinch, but another late takedown from Couture secured the frame. Rizzo somehow found the reserves of energy to stuff all three of Couture’s takedown attempts in the fifth, but it was too little, too late, and the American took the decision.

Despite the 14 years that have passed since the fight took place, Couture-Rizzo still holds up as an example of why MMA at the highest level needs longer fights. In that sense, it was a harbinger of things to come, a shining example of what can happen when two elite fighters show up in shape and ready to go.

Number 9 » Cerrone vs. Henderson