Exclusive: Couture Reflects on Loss
Even a “master strategist” doesn’t think of everything from time to time.
Though UFC President Dana White fittingly hyped Randy Couture’s reputation for coming up with odds-defying game plans in the days leading up to UFC 91, the 45-year-old veteran says there was one overlooked detail of Brock Lesnar’s game Couture wished he’d thought of before they entered the Octagon last Saturday in Las Vegas.
“I think the thing that surprised me the most and I don’t think I was prepared for, which is always an issue with any fighter, is figuring out that range,” said Couture. “He’s got ten inches of reach on me and I didn’t anticipate that. I didn’t think of that. I didn’t know that little tidbit of information that his reach is what it was.”
In his first exclusive one-on-one video interview captured by Loretta Hunt and Mike Sloan just a couple of hours after his second-round defeat to Lesnar, Couture described how the monstrous Lesnar felt in the clinch and named who he thought was stronger from his 25 fights over 11 years. The UFC Hall of Famer also revealed a few tricks he had waiting up his sleeves that fans never got to see, which included front headlocks and taking back control at every available turn.
Relaxed and resting in his hotel room, Couture offered some pointers to those that will face the mountain of a man next, and what the six-time champion will set his sights on now –- including early chatter of the 220-pound fighter’s return to the light heavyweight division.
