Randy Couture believes his conditioning will give him the advantage over Brock Lesnar when the two meet to challenge for the UFC heavyweight title on Saturday night.

Couture believes that a five-round fight will work to his advantage and that he will use his conditioning as a tool to help him overcome the former WWE star.

The pair meet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night in a fight for Couture’s UFC heavyweight belt, with the winner going on to face the winner of UFC 92’s Antonio Nogueira vs. Frank Mir bout, for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship.

Lesnar has had less than eight minutes of competitive action in his short MMA career to date and 45-year-old Couture sees that as working in his favour.

“Brock is a good wrestler, no doubt about that,” Couture told Eurosport-Yahoo! “It’s going to be an interesting fight. If he takes me down and holds me, it’s going to be difficult for me because of his size.

“But I have put myself under guys a lot bigger and heavier than Brock in my training over the last few weeks and come up with some ideas of what to do in that situation. And don’t rule out me putting him on his back to see how he is going to cope.

“I’ve got plans for this fight, for sure. He is a big, musculy guy and those muscles need a lot of oxygen. The longer the fight goes on, the better for me. I anticipate him making an explosive start and me having a lot to deal with early, but as the fight goes on I will make him work and then try to take full advantage of the opportunities which will arise.

“Five-round fights are good for me. All but one of my fights in the UFC over the last seven years have been five-round title fights, so it is something I am used to. I have to use my conditioning as another tool and way to beat my opponent.”

iFight365.com will have live coverage of UFC 91 this Saturday night.

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com