Sometimes in life we need to take a step back, ignore our hearts and go with our heads. UFC 68 on March 3rd, in Columbus Ohio is one of those times. The main event on the UFC 68 card is Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia vs Randy "The Natural" Couture. Tim Sylvia stands 6'8" and weighs in around 265 pounds and is 30 years old. Randy Couture is 6'1", 205 pounds (probably 10 or 15 heavier for this fight and is 43 years old. Almost everyone I know wants Randy to defeat Tim Sylvia, but they are thinking with their hearts, not their heads.



I am also guilty of wanting a couture victory. Sure, Randy, do it for us old guys. Show those big young lads that there is still a little steam left in the over 40 crowd. Recapture your glory and go out on top as champion of the UFC heavyweight division. I'm positive that Randy thinks he can do this and he certainly has the background for it. Randy is a 3 time Olympic wrestling alternate. He's won the UFC heavyweight title on two seperate occasions and also won the UFC light heavyweight title defeating Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfor along the way.

Here's my best 5 reasons why I don't think Randy Couture will be able to win (despite my intense desire for a Couture victory).

5) Striking - As much as I hate to admit it, Tim Sylvia is a great striker. He's shown this by defeating Ricco Rodriguez, Tre Telligman and Andrei Arlovski twice. You can talk about lucky punches all you want, but when these things happen over and over again, you've gotta give Tim Syliva his due.

4) Weight - At 270 pounds, Tim Sylvia will likely out weight Randy by 50 pounds or more on fight night. If Randy attempts to come in heavier to counter this advantage he might find his timing off and speed advantage reduced. Randy Couture will have a hard time pushing Tim Sylvia around the ring and if Tim gets on top of Randy, it's going to be tough work to get him off.

3) Strength - Tim Sylvia is an animal, a mountain of a man and he's incredibly strong. This is the strength that comes both naturally and from his intense training program at the Miletich camp, run by UFC great Pat Miletich. While Randy is strong for his size, and very talented, Tim Sylvia should be able to out muscle Randy Couture in most situations.

2) Height - Tim Sylvia is too big for Randy. Jeff Monson is a good wrestler and an excellent ground fighter, but he had a lot of trouble taking down Tim Sylvia, and when he did get Tim to the ground, he basically could not reach Tim's head to punch while he was in Tim's guard. It's anyone's guess why Jeff didn't lean back and attempt a leg lock or heel hook, especially as Tim Silva's been caught before in one of those by former heavyweight champ, Andrei Arlovski.

1) Age - It's a simple as that, over time we all slow down, even Randy Couture. Muscle doesn't recover as well in training and putting on new muscle gets harder with each passing year. Sure Randy is pretty much super human, entering the eco-challenge and competing at the top level of mixed martial arts and wrestling for most of his life. However, we all slow down.

The Randy Couture fans out there, of which I am one, will tell you that Randy's superior conditioning, wrestling ability and take downs will be more than enough to counter and physical advantages that Tim Sylvia has. That's wishful thinking. On fight night, I'll be rooting for Randy Couture, cheering on the old guy, but in my head I know that's just a dream.

Take it easy, and keep watching the fights!