So, just how does Randy Couture think he's going to deal with Brock Lesnar
this Saturday night in the main event of UFC 91?
"I think I have the ability to put him in a whole bunch of places. Punch him
in the face, kick him in his legs, kick him in his body. Take him down, put him
on his back and see how he deals with it," Couture commented yesterday during a
media workout.
"Randy Couture will test him," added Couture trainer Shawn Tompkins, "He'll
hurt him, he'll hit him and he won't be there when Brock wants to hit him."
Lesnar, on the other hand, feels differently, of course. "By the looks of it,
to me, Randy looks like he took a year off," Lesnar quipped, "But we're not
underestimating Randy Couture. Not at all. He's a pioneer, he's the man. He's
got something I dearly want."
While Couture has avoided any trash-talking, trainer Tompkins took a chance
to take a shot at Lesnar on Wednesday, stating "We respect him, we respect that
he's big, we respect that he's athletic. But we don't respect the fact that he's
getting a (UFC Heavyweight Championship) shot. He's not at this level yet. He
doesn't deserve to be here. Maybe one day he will, but not today."
The mammoth Lesnar expressed his own thoughts, saying "I respect
Randy and I like Randy, you know, but Saturday night I don't have any respect
for him, nor do I like him. It just has to be that way. This is business and
he's got something I want. That's the bottom line."
Couture did, however say "I think in a lot of ways that brash kind of bravado
is covering up a little of the insecurities that he's carrying into this fight
because he knows he doesn't have all the skills that he needs."
Tompkins added, "A lot of guys would have broke already, just thinking
about fighting a guy like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture won't break mentally. He's
been in there before with bigger guys. This is his game. So I think Brock's in
for a world of trouble."
Size won't matter, Tompkins adds, if the bigger man is losing."
But Lesnar also insisted the pressure is all on Couture.
"I've got nothing to lose. I'm not the title-holder - yet. I'm not feeling
any pressure at all, honest to God, I'm not."
Saturday's winner will take on the winner of the Dec. 27 bout between Mir and
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who won what the UFC called the interim heavyweight
title while Couture was at odds with the organization.
The match between the UFC Champion anf the Interim Champion will take place
sometime next year.