Couture Walks Home

LAS VEGAS –- Randy Couture spent 327 days on the outside looking in. Days usually spent sparring, grappling and strategizing were replaced with lawyers, depositions, and court dates as the runaway UFC champion attempted to free himself from a contract he felt was unfair and a promotion he believed lacked respect for him.

The hardest days were the ones where the Xtreme Couture patriarch accompanied his fighters to UFC events. And while it’s doubtful Couture regrets his decision to leave the UFC at the time –- it’s obvious both sides have learned the value of one another in their time apart –- it didn’t make those days any easier because each one reminded him what he was missing.

“It wasn’t one. It was every single one, sitting on the sidelines, being at those UFCs and sometimes feeling like a leper at some of those shows,” said Couture at a UFC 91 press conference Thursday inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. “But at the same time, wanting to compete and feeling like I could still compete every single time I went to corner one of my guys. It was where I wanted to be.”

Luckily, fences were mended in enough time for the UFC Hall-of-Famer to end his career where it began. On Saturday, Couture takes his 19th walk to the Octagon for his 15th title bout, the first of three more fights he has signed on for under a renegotiated contract.

“Walking up that first time [at UFC 13] and being overwhelmed by a thousand fans that are screaming and hanging over the fence trying to grab your clothes and smack hands with you, it’s lot different now,” said Couture. “Now, I think walking in there Saturday night is going to feel a lot like walking home.”

While many things about Couture have changed over the years -- including his training habits, home base, and gym partners -- some things remain the same.

On Saturday night, Couture will be the underdog. It’s where the fans feel most comfortable with him and it’s where the four-time Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling alternate relishes in his job. On Thursday, the MGM’s Sports book had the 45-year-old at +105. That number will rise exponentially by fight time.

Opponent Brock Lesnar, who is seen as a younger, sleeker version of Couture in many ways, is the greenest fighter to ever vie for a UFC title in the Zuffa era, with only three previous fights to his name. That doesn’t mean Lesnar’s desire to win will be any fainter than Couture’s. Many recognize already that Lesnar, a NCAA wrestling champion before his brush with WWE pro wrestling stardom, has just as much potential to do great things in the Octagon like Couture already has.

“It goes back to just seeing it one time. I watched a Randy Couture fight many years ago, and here I am,” said the 31-year-old Lesnar. “There wasn’t really one specific time. I always wanted to be a fighter. I just chose a different path and took a different avenue to get here.”

UFC President Dana White said he knew Lesnar could challenge for the belt following the 270-pound wrestler’s steady three-round handling of Heath Herring last August.

“After seeing the Herring fight, a lot of people are interested in seeing if at 2-1, could this guy possibly go down as one of the greatest heavyweights ever?” said White.

And therein lies probably the biggest appeal of this main event –- getting the opportunity to watch two of the UFC’s biggest personalities pass one another as they head in different directions. Couture is at the finish line, just inches away from the ribbon, while Lesnar is poised in the starting blocks.

In other notes:

• A grateful UFC president White revealed that things weren’t as rock-solid for the promotion as the mainstream yarns proclaiming overnight sensation suggest: “No, we didn’t know till ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ One of the things that we were very lucky [with] at the time when we were losing all that money when we first started, the one thing that we did was sell tickets,” said White. “We did pretty decent on the gates. We sold tickets; we were just having trouble getting the mainstream exposure and letting people know that the fights were on so we could pull some pay-per-views. I didn’t know until it really started to tip over. Believe me. That’s how I lost my hair. I had a pretty good head of hair when we started this thing and I thought we were going out of business every weekend.”

• On getting his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt just in time to face the equally ranked Kenny Florian, lightweight co-headliner Joe Stevenson said wouldn’t push for the submission: “That was the culmination of 13 years, and I cried in the bathroom like a little girl,” said Stevenson of his graduation. “I already have enough motivation [for the fight].”