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View Full Version : Interessant artikel over Rulon Gardner



Nicky
04-12-2004, 00:31
An Olympic legend will make his mixed martial arts debut New Year’s Eve, with local hero Randy Couture in his corner.
Couture, recognized as the all-time great of Ultimate Fighting Championship, will be there to support Rulon Gardner on Dec. 31 in Japan when the big man faces Japanese judo star Hidehiko Yoshida in an event sanctioned by Pride Fighting Championships.
Gardner won international fame in the 2000 Olympic Games when he upset previously unbeaten Russian Alexandr Karelin in an epic Greco-Roman gold-medal match. Gardner took a bronze in the 2004 Games before retiring.
Gardner has been training in San Diego under Dan Henderson, a partner of Couture and Matt Lindland in Team Quest, a Gresham-based fight club and management company. Gardner, represented by Team Quest, signed a three-year deal with Pride for about $600,000. “He’s working a lot on his stand-up (fighting), which I think is smart,� says Couture, the UFC light heavyweight champion who is going to Southern California this week to appear in a Steven Seagal movie and might train with Gardner. “He’ll be difficult to take down and put on the ground, which is where Yoshida would obviously be strongest as a judo player. With a good takedown defense and effective striking, it could be an effective fight for Rulon. We’ll see what happens.�
Couture says UFC tried to woo Gardner, but the native of Afton, Wyo., probably wants to make some big bucks quickly in Japan, and get out.
“He could be the next big thing. Could be bigger than Bob Sapp over there,� says Couture, referring to the ex-University of Washington football player who became a megastar in Japan combat sports. “It’s up to him, and how he takes to fighting technically and competitively.�
Lindland, Gardner’s teammate at the University of Nebraska and on the 2000 U.S. Olympic wrestling team, says he never would have pegged Gardner to be in mixed martial arts.
“Doesn’t seem like punching somebody in the face fits his personality,� Lindland says.