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13/11/09 - Randy rested and ready to go
Randy Couture is well-rested, well-conditioned and eager to make a statement to the light-heavyweight division with his performance against Brandon Vera at UFC 105 tomorrow night. That was the message the UFC Hall of Fame icon gave as Fighters Only joined him for a closed-door training session in Manchester, England.
Couture worked a few rounds of drills and light sparring at the Straight Blast Gym and looked very sharp. Afterwards he said he was happy with how his body felt during the training.
“My weight is real good, fitness feels good. I was a little sluggish at the beginning but I eased into it and buy the second, third round I felt strong. But I am still trying to get that [transatlantic] trip out of my system and get on track, but my weight is great,” he told us.
“I am feeling good, feeling sharp. Footwork is good, countering… I am finding those cues to close the distance and get my hands on him, run him into the fence, check the kicks, make him miss , make him pay. Get my hands on him, grind him up.”
Travelling brings many difficulties for the fighter, but the most potentially debilitating is probably jet lag. Rest is very important and Couture has travelled across eight different time zones for this fight. Is he feeling the ill-effects?
“I think that first night is the most important. We got here late enough in the day that it wasn’t hard to stay awake and keep from taking that huge nap that throws you off for the rest of the week. I went to bed last night about midnight, woke up in the morning and felt great all day. I took a little bit of a nap in the afternoon, just an hour and a half, which was perfect,” he revealed.
A former champion in the heavyweight and light-heavyweight divisions, Couture’s return to 205lbs has prompted speculation that he could be getting on another title run. He has competed in 15 title bouts - a UFC record - and held champion status five times. But the gold belt is not his main motivation at this stage of his career.
“Titles… the title is whatever, I want to fight those best guys. Shogun, Machida, those are the best guys right now. They are the top guys in this division and there are a lot of tough guys in this division, there’s a lot of interesting fights,” he says.
Before those interesting fights can take place, Couture has to get past Brandon Vera. He faces the Muay Thai expert in the headline bout of UFC 105, which goes down tomorrow night in Manchester. UK fans can watch on ESPN, while in the US the event is being aired on ESPN.
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