Sherdog’s Top 10: Inside Fighters
Number 3
3. Randy Couture
While the Olympic alternate eventually developed a passable striking game and did good work on the ground, from the very beginning of his career Couture’s strong suit was always his work in the tie-ups. His strong background in Greco-Roman wrestling lent him a unique ability to control his opponent in the clinch, as Vitor Belfort found out when they met at UFC 15 in 1997. Even looking back today, Couture’s performance was a masterpiece in the inside-fighting genre he helped to define.
Belfort was, then as now, a vicious puncher and skilled grappler. Couture ate a few shots, but whenever Belfort got close, the American wrapped him up with a body lock, over-unders or a collar tie and set to work with punches and knees. This kind of dirty boxing had never been seen to the extent that Couture utilized it at UFC 15, and it formed the basis of his approach for years to follow.
Although he was never a puncher like Dan Henderson and he lacked the sheer takedown ability of Matt Lindland, Couture was nevertheless able to find just as much if not more success at the highest levels of MMA due to his strength, willingness to grind, constant pressure and technical mastery. More than anything, however, Couture deserves credit for introducing a skill set that is now standard for every fighter who hopes to compete against the best of the best.
Number 2 » Simply put, he has forgotten more about the complexities of kneeing and elbowing and controlling people than most great clinch fighters ever learn. He is a master of using the vice-like pressure from his elbows to completely control his opponents’ heads and therefore their entire bodies from the double-collar tie, and nobody has done it with more skill or against higher-quality opposition.
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