MANCHESTER, England -- The befuddled look on
Brandon Vera's face told the story.
Vera took everything UFC Hall of Famer
Randy Couture had to offer in the clinch, wounded him with several wicked body kicks and mounted him in the closing seconds, only to lose a unanimous decision in the "UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera" main event Saturday at the Manchester Evening News Arena.
Scores were 29-28 across the board for Couture, who narrowly avoided the first three-fight losing streak of his career. Labeled an underachiever by many, Vera fought well against a master strategist but went unrewarded by cage-side judges.
"I thought I won," Vera said. "I left it all out there." Couture, who had not won a fight as a light heavyweight since his 2005 submission victory over
Mike Van Arsdale, seemed to sense the brewing controversy. "You just don't know what the judges are looking at, how they see the fight," he said.
Vera wobbled Couture in the opening seconds but struggled to maintain distance between himself and the 46-year-old legend. Couture did his best work against the cage in the clinch, but he scored with only one takedown and failed to keep Vera on the ground for any appreciable amount of time.
Round 2 saw Vera establish his foothold. He landed a crushing left kick to Couture's ribs and followed up with well-placed punches that sent the former two-division champion to the canvas. The body blow did the damage. "It hurt," Couture said. "He stung me a good one with that body kick, and he did it again in the third round. It didn't get me quite as bad, but it was still bad."
The third round looked even until late, when Vera took down Couture and mounted him. Couture escaped to his feet soon after, however, and the fighters ended their showdown with a wild exchange in the center of the cage. Following his first appearance at light heavyweight in more than three years, Couture indicated he plans to stay at 205 pounds.
"I feel much better dealing with guys Brandon's size, my size," he said. "I don't have to worry so much about some of those situations I get in, like giving a guy the mount or giving a guy my back."
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