FanHouse Randy Couture

The referee Big John McCarthy once described Randy Couture as the most mentally impressive athlete in the history of MMA. The way Couture talks about his preparation for his UFC 105 fight with Brandon Vera explains why Couture has always excelled at the mental aspect of the sport.

As he prepares to fight Randy Couture on November 14 at UFC 105, Brandon Vera says he's in the best shape of his career.

The latest UFC promotional video to hit YouTube, this one hyping UFC 105, contains a rather surprising suggestion from UFC announcer Joe Rogan: Could this be your last chance to see Randy Couture fight?

Lyoto Machida's unanimous decision victory over Shogun Rua at UFC 104 has been the talk of the MMA world this week, because hardly anyone who watched the fight agreed with the three judges that Machida won it. Count Randy Couture among those who think Shogun deserved to win.

"I thought Shogun came out with an interesting game plan, stuck to it, and it proved to be pretty effective," Couture said Wednesday in an interview with FanHouse. "I thought his leg kicks controlled the tempo and did the most damage. I was surprised by the judges' decision -- I thought it went the other way -- but it was a great fight."

Couture said he'd stop short of the cries of "robbery" or "outrage" that some fans have expressed, but he said he scored it 49-46 for Shogun, and he had a hard time seeing the fight as 48-47 for Machida, which is how all three judges scored it.

On Nov. 14, Brandon Vera will get another opportunity to prove he is an elite light heavyweight fighter when he faces Randy Couture in the main event at UFC 105.

FanHouse spoke to "The Truth" about what he needs to do to defeat Couture, fighting on the same day as his fellow Filipino fighter, Manny Pacquaio, and his thoughts on his wife, Kerry Vera, facing Couture's ex-wife, Kim Couture, six days later. Check out the video interview below.

If the Lyoto Machida-Shogun Rua fight at UFC 104 had gone the way everyone expected -- Machida handily defeating Shogun to retain his title -- the UFC would have faced a quandary with its light heavyweight division. Machida would be perceived as so dominant that there wouldn't be any particularly interesting fights for him, and the stacked UFC light heavyweight division might have started to feel a little stale.

That's why Machida's controversial unanimous decision victory on Saturday night was a great thing for the UFC: It sets up a Rua-Machida rematch that will be a bigger fight than the first one, and it buys time for the UFC to re-establish some of its other light heavyweights as contenders to take on the Rua-Machida 2 winner.

The best heavyweight in the history of mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko, will fight live on CBS on November 7, and on Wednesday the UFC announced that it will counter-program Fedor with the second- and third-best heavyweights in MMA history, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture.

Spike TV will re-play the classic Nogueira vs. Couture slugfest from UFC 102 at the same time that CBS is showing Fedor vs. Brett Rogers, meaning UFC fans who missed UFC 102 on pay-per-view will get a chance to watch it for the price of basic cable.

Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas is such a big MMA fan that he named his dog after Forrest Griffin. (Surprisingly, though, the dog's name is Griffin, not Forrest.) And after to talking to him about his love for all things MMA recently, it's probably safe to assume that few professional athletes enjoy watching the sport more than the veteran netminder.

The winner of the 2009 Vezina Trophy for the NHL's best goaltender discussed how he was drawn to MMA, why he thinks the fighters should get paid more and whether he would ever step into a cage or ring himself. The full interview is below.

ESPN The Magazine's "Body Issue" is making headlines all across the sports world, and two of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts are a part of it. Gina Carano's cover photo will certainly raise a lot of eyebrows for obvious reasons, and the close up of Randy Couture's cauliflower ear will definitely force some to look away. In many ways, the photos feature visual evidence of the pros and cons of training MMA, if you know what I mean.

The inaugural issue hits newsstands on Friday, but remember, Carano's cover is one of six, so don't be disappointed when you find Serena Williams in the buff gracing the cover of the magazine at your local book store. Anyhow, enjoy an early look at the Carano and Couture photos after the jump.

Former champ Randy Couture returns to light heavyweight at UFC 105 in a main event fight against Brandon Vera on Nov. 14 at the MEN Arena in England.

Also on the card, Mike Swick fights for a possible welterweight title shot taking on Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping looks to get back on the winning track in a middleweight bout against Denis Kang.

Below is the fight card.