From trading punches to trading hunting stories, former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture recently spent some quality time alongside current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in preparation for the former WWE superstar’s title defense against Shane Carwin at UFC 116.
In total, Couture spent five days at the Death Clutch gym in Alexandria, Minnesota in order to gauge Lesnar’s camp for Carwin. During that time the UFC Hall of Famer came away with a valuable inside look into the training methods of the biggest draw in the sport.
“I don’t think the year off has hurt him. He’s made the adjustments physically and dietarily,” said Couture to Sherdog.com in reference to Lesnar’s recent time away from MMA due to an intestinal infection. “He’s back to 100 percent full strength and I think that having the downtime wasn’t a huge issue for him. He was back pretty quickly to being able to train. Technically, he’s probably learned more and is a better fighter than he was a year ago.
“He’s had to make some dietary changes because of getting sick that has him leaner than he’s been, but he’s still in that 280-pound range. He probably won’t have to cut as much weight come fight time.”
According to Couture, for as skilled in the art of pummeling men as Brock currently is, the massive heavyweight champion is still a work in progress. In this bout with the fearsome undefeated knockout artist, Lesnar appears to be focusing on his opponent’s strong point in order to avoid being knocked senseless early, like all of Carwin’s previous opponents.
“He continues to learn very quickly. For this camp, he’s refining his striking tactics and technique, as that could be a component of this fight with Carwin,” said Couture. “There’s no secret there that Carwin’s going to try and come out and knock your head off.”
“I think the more Brock can make this a wrestling match, the less likely that Carwin is going to be able to have it his way and win the fight. I think Brock’s wrestling credentials are stronger and he’s a bigger, generally stronger, more athletic fighter than Carwin. If he can make it a wrestling match and keep it in those terms, he has a very good chance of winning the fight. If he gets sucked in the firefight, throwing four-ounce gloves at one another, anything can happen.”