UFC 109 Preview

On Sunday morning, for the first time ever two UFC Hall of Famers will meet when Randy Couture takes on Mark Coleman.

In a fight originally scheduled to take place 12 years ago Randy Couture,46, is the clear favourite after defeating Brandon Vera at UFC 105 and many people will think that Coleman could be easily defeated.

However This fight could be seen as more important for Mark Coleman, aged 45 as he looks to build on the win against Stephan Bonnar and get back to the form that had him dominating the sport during the 1990’s.

Coleman, the first ever UFC heavyweight champion, said: “You live for these big matches. I really didn’t want to be on the undercard of the last fight. I like the main event, I like the spotlight, I like to challenge myself and see if I can rise to the occasion. That’s what I want to do this fight. I want to perform for the fans, and one way or the other I want it to be an exciting fight for them, one that they can walk away from and be happy that they were able to see it.”

Randy Couture suffered an injury 12 years ago and was forced to withdraw from the original fight.“I was looking forward to the fight and was disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to compete because of the injury, and then seeing Mark turn around and get knocked out by Pete Williams, I was like ‘damn. I probably could have won the fight,’” said Couture. “I’ve never been the knockout guy, so it wouldn’t have been like Pete beat him, but I think I had a chance of beating him.”

Another exciting fight on the main card is the middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen as they fight for the chance to challenge for the title.

MAIN CARD (live on ESPN)

• Mark Coleman vs. Randy Couture
• Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
• Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago
• Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
• Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Justin Buchholz vs. Mac Danzig
• Melvin Guillard vs. Ronnys Torres
• Rob Emerson vs. Phillipe Nover
• Phil Davis vs. Brian Stann
• Tim Hague vs. Chris Tuchscherer
• Joey Beltran vs. Rolles Gracie