After his brief sidetrack into a sideshow bout at UFC 118 against James Toney, capped off with an expected first round submission, Randy Couture still has a few good fights left in him at 47 years old.
With Saturday's bout technically being a heavyweight bout due to Toney's inability to get down into a more reasonable weight than the 237 lbs. he came into Boston at, Couture is likely headed back to the light heavyweight division, and "The Natural" can still make one last title run before it's time to hang up the gloves for good.
The first step for that is a fight later this year in either November or December, and two names come to mind as perfect matchups to both point Couture or his opponent towards a title shot and sell well to a pay-per-view audience: Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin.
I've written previously about wanting to see Griffin and Franklin against one another - as well as wanting to see Jon Jones against any of the three - but if those matchups don't come together, Couture against either of the returning light heavyweights would make for an easy sell and a legitimate fight.
A Couture vs. Griffin fight likely wouldn't be ideal for either fighter, due to their affiliation at Xtreme Couture and the time they've spent working together over the years. But at the same time, with their ties from the first season of the Ultimate Fighter - where Forrest fought on Chuck Liddell's team - and the fact that they're two of the more popular fighters in the organization, the fight would be a very big one for the UFC.
A better option would be Franklin, who will be returning from injury sometime at the end of the year. After knocking out Chuck Liddell, Franklin set himself upright and is looking to make a run up the light heavyweight ladder. Couture, even though he's 47, has shown an unmatchable aptitude for competing at a high level despite his advancing age in the sport. A win over Couture would be huge for Franklin, and would put him a fight or two away from title contention himself.
As for Couture, with his years in the sport winding down, he's likely got time for one more title run. The UFC can justify giving him a title shot with a win over Franklin or Griffin for the simple fact that he's Randy Couture. They may make him win that fight plus one more to get a shot, but he could battle his way to the end of his career while making this title run.
The UFC can take care of him from that standpoint for every fight he's taken that's been to their benefit, including most recently taking the Brandon Vera, Mark Coleman and James Toney fights for the organization. Those were all more for the UFC than they were for Couture, and now, by winning a fight or two more, he can close his career out with one more title win and a defense or two, or if he comes up short he can finish off attempting to add to his legacy. If he loses, he loses, but if he does it against another big name it will be all for the best anyway.
Couture deserves nothing but the biggest fights possible to finish out his career, and if it starts with Forrest Griffin or Rich Franklin there won't be any opposition.
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