When it comes to breaking down the career of Randy Couture, the numbers (all UFC records) are undeniable – 14 championship fights, 42 championship rounds, 9 championship fight wins, and 5 knockout wins in title fights.
But as ‘The Natural’ prepares to defend his heavyweight crown against Brock Lesnar a week from today in the main event of UFC 91 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the two numbers most observers are discussing are “45” and “265” – 45 being Couture’s age, and 265 being the weight of the 6-3 ½ Lesnar.
Couture is unbothered by either his age or the size of the challenger though. Maybe it’s because he’s been down this road before, continually upsetting the oddsmakers by beating both bigger and younger opponents. For Couture, this is about as business as usual as you’ll get.
“None of that stuff matters to me,” said Couture during a recent media teleconference. “What’s important is getting in the gym, training, learning new skills, refining the tactics and techniques that I’ve developed over the last 12 years and going in there on Saturday night and showcasing those and having a good performance. I focus on those things because those things I can control; the rest of the stuff is out of my control so I don’t spend any time worrying about it.”
And if anything, Couture has looked even sharper as he’s gotten older, the prime examples being his back-to-back 2007 wins over Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga, the last two fights before a contract dispute put him on the sidelines for over a year. It brings to mind the resurgence of future boxing hall of famer Bernard Hopkins, who bounced back from two disappointing losses to Jermain Taylor to beat Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, and most recently Kelly Pavlik. All of this and ‘The Executioner’ is 43 years old. Not surprisingly, the two have compared notes before.
“I was in his camp a little bit when he trained for Winky Wright and us old guys, we stick together,” laughed Couture. “The science of sports these days, I think we’ve seen a lot more guys get a lot more out of their bodies for a lot longer, and I’m no different in that regard. Bernard and some of the other ballplayers in other sports are the same way.”
The real secret to the success of both Couture and Hopkins may be in the fact that neither fighter ever gets out of shape. Unlike some of the younger athletes in combat sports, there is no layoff from the gym after a big fight. Couture and Hopkins are in the gym all year round, and it’s kept them a step ahead of their competition. It’s also allowed Couture to disregard any questions regarding ring rust as he prepares for Lesnar.
“Everybody asks about ring rust, but I don’t think it’s the same for a mixed martial artist as it is for boxing,” said Couture. “The sparring that we do and the training that we do is just about as real as the fights, so I’m not worried about that at all. (While I was out) I fought every week. I may not have had a fight in the cage, but I’ve got a cage right here in my gym and every week somebody’s trying to put knots on my head. (Laughs) I hang out with a really rough crew.”
For this fight, that crew includes his usual Xtreme Couture training partners, UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin and Mike Whitehead, along with fighters like Josh Hendricks (who makes his UFC debut against Gonzaga on November 15th) and John Juarez, who were brought in to simulate Lesnar’s size and wrestling ability, though that’s not always a simple task.
“You gotta go out and find guys who are that size, who come from that same wrestling background and who are gonna approach the workouts and sparring sessions with that mindset,” said Couture. “That’s not always easy to do, but we’ve managed to find some pretty good guys and a lot of the guys are actually a lot bigger than Brock, so I think it’s been a great camp. They’ve been ganging up on me pretty good for the last ten weeks.”
History has also shown that after struggles early in his career against bigger foes like Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett, Couture has learned to adapt to being the smaller man in the Octagon with his dominant wins over Sylvia and Gonzaga.
“I have to find a way to make that (being the smaller fighter) an advantage,” he admits. “Brock’s a big, strong and explosive guy, and I certainly don’t want to stand in front of him, but there are two sides to every coin. I’m a pretty fair athlete myself and I move fairly well.”
Plus, he’s got a host of intangibles no numbers can ever explain – experience, heart, and a genius ability to break down opponents. That’s why when championship fight number 15 rolls around on November 15th, it will be very hard for any fight fan to count out the champion. And if you do, don’t say you weren’t warned.
Tickets for UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar, are still on sale. To order tickets, click here.
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