The UFC officially announced today, Randy Couture (17-10) will be fighting Mark Coleman (16-9) in the main event of UFC 109: Relentless. The event will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 6, 2010 and will air live on pay-per-view. At 44 years old Mark Coleman will be facing the only fighter that is older than him on the UFC roster, Randy “The Natural” Couture. Both Coleman and Couture are coming off victories, Coleman via decision at UFC 100 against Stephan Bonnar and Couture with a decision of his own against Brandon Vera in November. Coleman made his debut winning the UFC 10 tournament while Couture debuted with a win of UFC 13, but somehow these two have never fought before. “Couture vs. Coleman is one of those dream matchups that fans have always talked about,” said UFC President Dana White. “And when you consider that these are two of the greatest wrestlers turned mixed martial artists ever, and it’s the first time that two guys who have already earned their way into the UFC Hall of Fame are fighting each other, this is not only an intriguing matchup, but a historic one.
Josh Koscheck (18-4) versus Paulo Thiago (13-1) was also announced by the UFC in a re-match from their fight at UFC 95. Koscheck defeated Frank Trigg and Anthony Johnson since the fight against Thiago and is looking for redemption from the knockout loss. “I am training super hard right now,” Koscheck said. “This is a big fight for me because I lost the first time. I fought him last February and I’m fighting him again this February but this time I am going to be the one knocking him out. I promise you this fight will not go out of the first round.”Paulo Thiago suffered his first career loss to Koscheck’s American Kickboxing Academy teammate Jon Fitch at UFC 100.
Matt Serra (15-6) and Frank Trigg (26-7) will also be fighting on the card in a battle of veteran welterweights looking to bounce back from tough losses. Trigg suffered a first round TKO loss to Josh Koscheck in his last bout while Matt Serra lost a much anticipated fight with Matt Hughes via decision. Another loss for either fighter could raise questions to the future of their MMA careers.
After losing a highly debated three round decision to Randy Couture, Brandon Vera (11-4) will have another tough fight on his hands with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3). “Little Nog” made his UFC debut in impressive fashion with a two-minute KO of Luiz Cane at UFC 106 and holds notable wins over Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem.
Nate Marquardt (29-8) will be facing Chael Sonnen (24-10) in a battle of some of the best middleweights in the UFC. Marquardt is riding a 3 fight win streak with a knockout victory over then-undefeated Demian Maia in his last fight in August. Sonnen was submitted by Maia in February of this year but rebounded with decision wins over Dan Miller and Yushin Okami. A victory for Marquardt brings him one step closer to a rematch with Anderson Silva while a win for Sonnen could rocket him up the UFC’S middleweight ranks.
(quotes courtesy of UFC 109: Relentless press release)
