Randy Couture attempting to lure Hatton into MMA?

[DatsiK]

Read this on a MMA forum.

Ricky Hatton is best known as a heavy hitting boxer who suffered two high profile losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. And now, Randy Couture hopes that the two-time IBF and IBO light welterweight champion will try his hand at MMA, and is willing to train the British professional boxer in ground game if he comes to the UFC.

"I am a big fan of Ricky Hatton,” Couture told the Manchester Evening News. “He is a fantastic fighter. I could get him up to speed on the ground wrestling part of it, while he could take advantage of his boxing talent. He could make a big difference in the lighter categories.”

Couture says that if Hatton could learn the “ways of the UFC,” he could go far in the sport.

“He is a tremendous fighter and has a lot of heart. There is no doubt he could make a tremendous impact with his heart and determination in the ring,” Couture stated.

Hatton said that he may consider the move from boxing to MMA, since the momentum behind the MMA sport is growing.

"It is all action, proper fighting. [The UFC] are going the right away about it to get people interested. There is a concern in boxing that UFC is taking its place. People seem to get more value for money,” Hatton stated. “UFC would be right up my street, I used to kick box so maybe I would be all right."

Source http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/20...re/index.shtml

Very interesting..

[HattonTheHammer]

wonder if dana has a spare $15million lying around that he`d need for hatton to even consider entering your "frat boy" loving gayfest

[ElTerribleMorales]

Read this on a MMA forum.

Ricky Hatton is best known as a heavy hitting boxer who suffered two high profile losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. And now, Randy Couture hopes that the two-time IBF and IBO light welterweight champion will try his hand at MMA, and is willing to train the British professional boxer in ground game if he comes to the UFC.

"I am a big fan of Ricky Hatton,” Couture told the Manchester Evening News. “He is a fantastic fighter. I could get him up to speed on the ground wrestling part of it, while he could take advantage of his boxing talent. He could make a big difference in the lighter categories.”

Couture says that if Hatton could learn the “ways of the UFC,” he could go far in the sport.

“He is a tremendous fighter and has a lot of heart. There is no doubt he could make a tremendous impact with his heart and determination in the ring,” Couture stated.

Hatton said that he may consider the move from boxing to MMA, since the momentum behind the MMA sport is growing.

"It is all action, proper fighting. [The UFC] are going the right away about it to get people interested. There is a concern in boxing that UFC is taking its place. People seem to get more value for money,” Hatton stated. “UFC would be right up my street, I used to kick box so maybe I would be all right."

Source http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/20...re/index.shtml

Very interesting..

if Hatton enjoys any level of success in MMA it proves how weak of a sport it really is lol

[rjj tszyu]

Read this on a MMA forum.

Ricky Hatton is best known as a heavy hitting boxer who suffered two high profile losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. And now, Randy Couture hopes that the two-time IBF and IBO light welterweight champion will try his hand at MMA, and is willing to train the British professional boxer in ground game if he comes to the UFC.

"I am a big fan of Ricky Hatton,” Couture told the Manchester Evening News. “He is a fantastic fighter. I could get him up to speed on the ground wrestling part of it, while he could take advantage of his boxing talent. He could make a big difference in the lighter categories.”

Couture says that if Hatton could learn the “ways of the UFC,” he could go far in the sport.

“He is a tremendous fighter and has a lot of heart. There is no doubt he could make a tremendous impact with his heart and determination in the ring,” Couture stated.

Hatton said that he may consider the move from boxing to MMA, since the momentum behind the MMA sport is growing.

"It is all action, proper fighting. [The UFC] are going the right away about it to get people interested. There is a concern in boxing that UFC is taking its place. People seem to get more value for money,” Hatton stated. “UFC would be right up my street, I used to kick box so maybe I would be all right."

Source http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/20...re/index.shtml

Very interesting..

if Hatton enjoys any level of success in MMA it proves how weak of a sport it really is lol

UFC have 2 ex boxers who faced each other not so long back. They were both bums in boxing but have made a decent living in MMA. Just shows the difference in natural talent between the 2 sports when these 2 dweebs can make it to the top 10-15 in the world in MMA in their division which is basically the level of fighter you need to be to make UFC rather than the other bum organisations.

Marcus Davis

Chris Lytle

Hatton is too expensive for the $200,000 max fighters of MMA anyway.

[Kev]

Read this on a MMA forum.



Source http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/20...re/index.shtml

Very interesting..

if Hatton enjoys any level of success in MMA it proves how weak of a sport it really is lol

UFC have 2 ex boxers who faced each other not so long back. They were both bums in boxing but have made a decent living in MMA. Just shows the difference in natural talent between the 2 sports when these 2 dweebs can make it to the top 10-15 in the world in MMA in their division which is basically the level of fighter you need to be to make UFC rather than the other bum organisations.

Marcus Davis

Chris Lytle

Hatton is too expensive for the $200,000 max fighters of MMA anyway.

There is more strength in depth in MMA sure, but the reason it's easier for an athlete to cross over into MMA with a better chance of success than in boxing is that, with more ways to fight, there is a greater possibility for an athlete to make use of their particular physical gifts.

Take Brock Lesnar for example. He would likely struggle to make an impact in boxing as his greatest stengths would be of relatively little use in boxing. He would be unable to make use of his great physical size in bullrushing and charging people to the ground like a rhino.

If Hatton has decent kickboxing fundamentals, that coupled with the fact that he has top boxing, and excellent wrestling skills would likely make him pretty handy in their lightweight division, although he would duller to watch than Sean Sherk.

There is no doubt though that the top MMA guys like Anderson Silva, Machida, Shogun, BJ Penn and St Pierre are comparable in terms of talent to anyone in boxing.

[rjj tszyu]

if Hatton enjoys any level of success in MMA it proves how weak of a sport it really is lol

UFC have 2 ex boxers who faced each other not so long back. They were both bums in boxing but have made a decent living in MMA. Just shows the difference in natural talent between the 2 sports when these 2 dweebs can make it to the top 10-15 in the world in MMA in their division which is basically the level of fighter you need to be to make UFC rather than the other bum organisations.

Marcus Davis

Chris Lytle

Hatton is too expensive for the $200,000 max fighters of MMA anyway.

There is more strength in depth in MMA sure, but the reason it's easier for an athlete to cross over into MMA with a better chance of success than in boxing is that, with more ways to fight, there is a greater possibility for an athlete to make use of their particular physical gifts.

Take Brock Lesnar for example. He would likely struggle to make an impact in boxing as his greatest stengths would be of relatively little use in boxing. He would be unable to make use of his great physical size in bullrushing and charging people to the ground like a rhino.

If Hatton has decent kickboxing fundamentals, that coupled with the fact that he has top boxing, and excellent wrestling skills would likely make him pretty handy in their lightweight division, although he would duller to watch than Sean Sherk.

There is no doubt though that the top MMA guys like Anderson Silva, Machida, Shogun, BJ Penn and St Pierre are comparable in terms of talent to anyone in boxing.

Anderson Silva got KO'd off a total bum in boxing. In his last MMA fight all he did was box and won by a first round KO against Forrest Griffin (I think). Boxing has elite athletes, MMA as of yet does not. As for Brock Lesnar, Vitali Klitschko would KO him quick if he came charging in head first the way he does in the UFC fights. There is very little lateral movement in MMA and the likes of Vitali would just use simple movement to position himself for a KO blow.

[DatsiK]

I disagree with alot of what's been said.. I think to say that 'MMA fighters aren't as good athletes as boxers' is pretty stupid and comes across quite fanboyish. The top MMA athletes have been pouring their life into their chosen martial arts, and alot of them train in 3,4,5 different martial arts..

On the topic of Hatton, if he developed a good ground game defense he could potentially do well in MMA, I can't think of anyone who hits harder to the body in the UFC than Hatton does, especially in the lower divisions. Personally I don't see this happening, but I would be pretty excited if it did. Maybe it's just a bit of promotion seeing as Couture is fighting in Manchester on the 14th.

[Kev]

UFC have 2 ex boxers who faced each other not so long back. They were both bums in boxing but have made a decent living in MMA. Just shows the difference in natural talent between the 2 sports when these 2 dweebs can make it to the top 10-15 in the world in MMA in their division which is basically the level of fighter you need to be to make UFC rather than the other bum organisations.

Marcus Davis

Chris Lytle

Hatton is too expensive for the $200,000 max fighters of MMA anyway.

There is more strength in depth in MMA sure, but the reason it's easier for an athlete to cross over into MMA with a better chance of success than in boxing is that, with more ways to fight, there is a greater possibility for an athlete to make use of their particular physical gifts.

Take Brock Lesnar for example. He would likely struggle to make an impact in boxing as his greatest stengths would be of relatively little use in boxing. He would be unable to make use of his great physical size in bullrushing and charging people to the ground like a rhino.

If Hatton has decent kickboxing fundamentals, that coupled with the fact that he has top boxing, and excellent wrestling skills would likely make him pretty handy in their lightweight division, although he would duller to watch than Sean Sherk.

There is no doubt though that the top MMA guys like Anderson Silva, Machida, Shogun, BJ Penn and St Pierre are comparable in terms of talent to anyone in boxing.

Anderson Silva got KO'd off a total bum in boxing. In his last MMA fight all he did was box and won by a first round KO against Forrest Griffin (I think). Boxing has elite athletes, MMA as of yet does not. As for Brock Lesnar, Vitali Klitschko would KO him quick if he came charging in head first the way he does in the UFC fights. There is very little lateral movement in MMA and the likes of Vitali would just use simple movement to position himself for a KO blow.

A nice little boxrec internet warrior rant.

He got tko'd over 10 years ago the same year that Manny Pacquaio was ko'd by Singsurat ( I have boxrec and google too) what relavence does that have to anything now exactly?

I'm guessing he's probably improved a little bit as a fighter between now and then, and his skills extend well beyond just boxing.

If you fight Silva in a boxing ring, you are fighting him minus 80 percent of his skills. It's like an infantryman boasting he took out a fighter jet with a bazooka but then you find out the fighter jet was still on the runway, not quite such an heroic act as you thought........

[mnmc10]

As for Brock Lesnar, Vitali Klitschko would KO him quick if he came charging in head first the way he does in the UFC fights. There is very little lateral movement in MMA and the likes of Vitali would just use simple movement to position himself for a KO blow.

and if vitali misses that one punch ko, he would be tackled down to the ground for sure. vitalis punches will have little effect if he is lying down. i wonder also how can vitali defend against an arm bar?

boxers are best at.. boxing. mma fighters are best in submissions, wrestlling and kicking.

[J_Undisputed]

Taking those lead left hooks that Mayweather and Pac landed on him and subtract all but 4 ounces of padding and things could get very ugly and dangerous for Hatton. Also his tendencies to clinch could see him getting thown or taken down a lot. He's need more than a few ground work cram sessions with Couture.

[Myk_Myk]

By necessity MMA fighters are more or less "Jacks of All Trades, Masters of None". Time and again you see champion Judo fighters, Muay Thai fighers, or Jujitsu fighters do well up to a point, only to run into someone strong in an opposing skill take them out. So, inevitably they have to start spending time on their weak skill sets to be competitive in MMA; which of course lessons their proficiency at their specialty to some degree.

I'm sure it would be the same if an elite boxer in their prime switched over. With some minimal take down defense they might do well up to a certain point. Then they would reach a limit, and would have to start shifting their concentration. RJJ or Vitali would be no exception, because sooner of later a strong wrestler would get them to the ground, maybe even if they were knocked down with a punch first

Taking those lead left hooks that Mayweather and Pac landed on him and subtract all but 4 ounces of padding and things could get very ugly and dangerous for Hatton. Also his tendencies to clinch could see him getting thown or taken down a lot. He's need more than a few ground work cram sessions with Couture.

I agree with this. I think another aspect that would enable a boxer to be successful in MMA is if they wrestled in HS or college.

I agree that the top MMA fighters are extremely talented. However I'm not sure the talent pool is as deep as it is in boxing... yet.

[Snakey]

Am i the only one that finds it funny that a great wreslter like randy cotoure is a fan of ricky hatton? Is he a fan of hattons boxing or his wrestling?

[TheMacMagician]

Without even reading everyones response to this, this surely is Couture trying to gain some fans from Hatton. Hatton is absolutely not an MMA fighter. End of.

[blegit]

I think it is a nonsensical argument to think a boxer will be a very successful MMA fighter just because he/she has nice hands. And I think it is equally nonsensical to think an MMA fighter would be very successful in boxing just because he/she is a well rounded fighter. The sports are quite different. Boxing calls for specializing and MMA calls for many trades. Roy Jones is not equipped to have equal success in MMA and Anderson Silva is not equipped to have equal success in boxing. MMA guys are better all around fighters so of course they are better suited to win a street fight where all trades are game.