Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar thoughts…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, you might know that there happens to be a pretty big UFC fight next weekend b/w UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture and No. 1 contender, Brock Lesnar.
Thursday was the conference call with the two superstars. I won’t go in-depth with just quote after quote, but here were some of the interesting things I found from the hour-plus call.
- Brock was not nearly as angry/tense as he’s been in the past. This is a good thing. In the first conference call in September when this fight was announced, he came off not cocky as much as ignorant and arrogant.
This time around, much more respect from Brock but still painted with that bravado. He got things rolling when the first question was what concerns he had about The Natural: “I have none.” Brock can say things like that and no one bats an eye.
- Randy spent a good time talking about how many big guys he brought in to help train, and how he has fought other big guys before. He wanted to make sure people realize he feels rust won’t be an issue.
It’s weird because even he answered the question, I don’t feel he did. To me, the answer is obvious: there is no one in the world like Brock Lesnar. You just train as hard as you can, but you can’t really prepare for the athletic freak Brock is.
- Couture gave some love to boxing legend Bernard Hopkins. B-Hop, 43, had that magical performance a couple weeks ago against a young pup like Kelly Pavlik. Couture, 45, is actually older than Hopkins. He’s met Bernard a couple of times.
Interesting thing Couture said is as the science of sports evolves, guys are getting more out of their bodies for a lot longer time than in the past. So true and that doesn’t mean they’re doing it illegally.
- Some thoughts from Brock on professional wrestling: He is not representing the WWE in this fight. He represents amateur wrestling. He said right now, no pro wrestlers could make the transition he has made right now.
On the other hand, he said being in the WWE has helped him for the big stage. He’s wrestled in front of 70,000 fans before. It may just only be entertainment, but you learn what it’s like being the man on the marquee for a huge event. You sink or swim fast.
- Brock put himself over pretty good. He said Randy may have fought big guys before, but none that know how to wrestle. “I know how to wrestle. The guys he’s fought that are big aren’t half the athlete I am.”
He’s right, I’m not arguing this point. Even in WWE, I was amazed at how such a big man could do the things he was doing. It was nuts. He had the stamina to go a strong 20-25 minutes like nobody else who was that big.
- Randy is not bulking up at all for this fight. I found that interesting and a little refreshing. Nothing like seeing some tiny guy trying to work his way up to being the sort of big guy. Couture is a natural at 225, let him be it. He said he would try to find a way to make his size an advantage, not a disadvantage. He also said he wants to test Lesnar’s chin. Now that would be a first.
- Both are itching to fight, duh. Both were pretty respectful today. I thought it might get a little hostile, but it was very cool. Both men gave respect without coming off weak or arrogant.
- While Brock is at peace, he still gave the line of the call: “Speed + mass = Destruction.” We’ll find out in nine days.
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