We have brought back the popular MMATorch Roundtable feature. Most days we will publish a question followed by several staff members' answers. We will run several batches of staff responses to the following question over the next several days, and then introduce a new topic after that.
TODAY'S NEW TOPIC:
-If Mark Coleman beats Randy Couture convincing, what's your pick for Coleman's next fight? And Couture?
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SHAWN ENNIS, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Should Coleman win, it would be his biggest victory since he beat Igor Vovchanchyn ten years ago to win the Pride Grand Prix. Just throwing that out there. I say he wouldn't be as close to a title shot as Couture, but in reality if the UFC wanted to see Coleman vie for a title, he'd have to do it soon.
So if he were to take Couture out, and if the goal is a title shot, a fight between Coleman and the winner of Griffin-Lil Nog would make sense. You could also go with the loser of Rashad-Rampage, but the former makes more sense as a possible title eliminator (at first glance). As for Couture if he loses, well... how about Tito Ortiz? Okay, so my answers are the same for both scenarios. I can't help it if they both make sense, right?
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GREG ROWLAND, MMATORCH AUDIO HOST
If Coleman wins, keep him on the retirement circut. Let him fight the winner or Tito vs. Liddell. Hell, let him fight one of those two even if he loses.
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WESLEY WALKER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
If Coleman were to win at UFC 109 a lot of avenues open up for the former heavyweight champion. Even with an impressive win, he is not in line for a title shot in my mind unless Shogun win the title that way we can end another trilogy. Another opponent with a win at UFC 109 could be his original opponent at UFC 106, Tito Ortiz, or if Chuck Liddell wins and still decides to fight, he could be an opponent for Mark Coleman in another hall of famer matchup.
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AIDAN LEAHY, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
If Coleman wins convincingly I would like to see him go against fellow wrestler Matt Hamill or even the winner of Chuck and Tito. A loss for Randy against Coleman would have people questioning him fighting on, but a match up of former champions with Rich Franklin would interest me.
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BJORN HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
If Mark Coleman destroys Couture it’ll be his biggest victory in over a decade, and would put him right in to the mix of things in the light heavyweight division.
Instead of waiting for Tito, I could see the UFC pushing him to wait for Chuck, if he wins. I think the UFC wants Chuck in fights that he doesn’t risk getting knocked unconscious in, while still fighting a big name. It would mark the second time two UFC Hall of Famers entered the Octagon to battle (with UFC 109 obviously being the first.)
If Couture’s chin does indeed shatter into a million pieces like precious broken china, I would HAVE to see him against Rich Franklin. They’re both at the twilight of their careers, and have both voiced their desires to have "interesting fights." It’s easily Main Event or Co-Main Event status.
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ROBERT TEAL, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
If Coleman were to pull off the upset and beat Randy, I think his situation would not be too different from Randy’s. I believe he would be a fight away and that both of these warriors are fighting for a spot to face either Rampage or Rashad for the number one contender position.
I do think that if Randy were to lose he would get slightly more favorable treatment as far as opponents go. I think it would be likely we would get a matchup of Randy versus whoever loses the Machida Shogun title fight. At the very least he gets the loser of Evans vs. Rampage.
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LANE BRADFORD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
If Coleman wins, like most people, I would like to see him fight Tito. It's a matchup that has to happen for the same Rampage-Evans reason - too much talk. Coleman regardless will never get a title push and Tito would probably be the biggest name he gets. If not Ortiz, I would take a fight between him and Hamill. It would be a passing of the guard essentially, even though I believe Hamill is more well-rounded than Coleman ever was. All their abilties and success come from pure wrestling.
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JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Coleman won't get the title shot that Couture would with a dominating victory, but I'd give him a top tier challenger, that's for sure. We've got some major fights ahead on the light heavyweight landscape, most notable Forrest Griffin vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Rashad Evans vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Should Coleman pick up a major victory over Couture I'd toss him the winner of Griffin-Nogueira, as the Evans-Rampage winner may get the next title shot then. For Couture, a dominating loss may lead to a second retirement, but at the same time he's stated he feels better now than at other times in his career and he could choose to continue fighting.
Because he's Randy Couture, it would mean only bigger named fights going forward, and, with a loss to Coleman, I would not be surprised if he took some time off and returned to face the loser of the Liddell-Ortiz III fight from this summer in a rematch of their past light heavyweight clashes.
Our next batch of Roundtable Topics to be addressed over the next week or two are as follows (so keep coming back to MMATorch every day for this and more exclusive features):
-Who are the two or three current Strikeforce fighters (other than Fedor) you'd be most intrigued to see acquired by UFC. What match-ups would you make from those acquisitions?
-Who are the two or three current UFC fighters you'd be most intrigued to see leave UFC for whatever reason (perhaps not being given a fair shake, already fought everyone, hit a ceiling, etc.) and be acquired by Strikeforce. What match-ups would you make from those acquisitions?
-Would you prefer Strikeforce in two years was out of business, close to UFC's equal (in revenue, ratings, buyrates, talent roster), or had surpassed UFC (assuming UFC stays static in the mean time)? Why?
-Should UFC add a women's fighting division?
-What would you do to try to make WEC successful on PPV, even if in general you disagree with WEC going on PPV? In other words, what advice would you give to Zuffa assuming they were open to some outside-the-box or aggressive marketing ideas?
[Mark Coleman photo credit Mike Lano (c) MMATorch]
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