Does Randy Couture Deserve a UFC Title Shot Against Machida or Shogun?

Prior to Randy Couture's second-round rear-naked choke victory over fellow UFC Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman, it was speculated that the winner of the fight would be next in line for a light heavyweight title shot against the winner of Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's upcoming fight.

Now that 46-year-old legend Randy Couture has dispatched Coleman, many people anticipate that he will indeed get the title shot.

With a record of just 18-10, however, and considering the controversial nature of Couture's first win at light heavyweight sine dropping down again over Brandon Vera , many people believe that Couture doesn't deserve the shot as much as other contenders in the UFC's light heavyweight division.

And if you go purely by quantitative evidence, that faction seems to be correct. Couture's last three fights at light heavyweight included a loss to Chuck Liddell back in 2006 prior to these latest two not-so-impressive wins. The Coleman win was a good performance by Couture but Coleman looked about as old and slow-moving as any fighter we've seen in the Octagon in the past year.

The Vera performance was really a draw at best according to many fans as Couture did very little damage to Vera on the night. And Couture also has a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102 on his resume in which he was thoroughly dominated by the fellow legend.

While Couture doesn't deserve a title shot as much as the winner of Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson or even the winner of Forrest Griffin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, his presence in the next UFC light heavyweight title matchup will give the organization and the fans what they want.

Couture is old, but he is still seen as a threat to Machida and Shogun despite the huge age difference because his excellent wrestling is the great equalizer and something Machida for instance hasn't seen yet. A Shogun-Couture fight has a ton of appeal because it's another matchup of a UFC legend vs. a PRIDE legend.

And even if Couture happens to lose to either fighter, there's no question that has name alone will sell a ton of extra pay-per-views and tickets, as fans will flock to see if "The Natural" can beat the odds one last time and pull off an upset using his grit and intelligence.

Whether or not Couture deserves the title shot as much as others would take a backseat to results like those, and really, you can't blame the UFC for that strategy.

Source: "Couture's Next Stop: Title Shot," http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-couture020710&prov=yhoo&type=lgns