On Saturday night, August 25, 2007, one of the biggest bouts in MMA history will take place between UFC’s World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Couture, and challenger, Gabriel Gonzaga.

And this match will be fought on a number of levels:

·        First and foremost, it will be a personal showdown between Randy “The Natural” Couture and Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga for the UFC Heavyweight Title.

·        Secondly, this fight may be seen as a contest between American Wrestling (and miscellaneous skills) and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (and miscellaneous skills).

·        Thirdly, many MMA fans have questioned the ability of UFC heavyweights to hold their own against PRIDE’s. And as Gonzaga KO’d one of PRIDE’S most feared big men, Mirko Cro Cop, at UFC 70: Nations Collide, it earned him the right to take on UFC’s current and most successful heavyweight, Couture.

·        Fourthly, it will be a contest between generations, with Gonzaga being 28 and Couture stepping up to the plate at 44 years of age.

And fans of The Natural have plenty of reason to believe he can do it again. From the moment Randy stepped into the Octagon at UFC 13:The Ultimate Force, he has fought many of his 23 MMA battles as a huge underdog – despite winning 15 of those encounters, and being the only man to hold titles in two weight categories (heavyweight and light heavyweight). He is also one of only two athletes to win back the UFC heavyweight title (the other being Tim Sylvia who Randy defeated for his return to the throne at UFC 68.)

Somehow, Couture always seems to have a way of analyzing an opponent and finding his Achilles heel, then driving nails into it whilst imposing his will and game plan. If Randy does win this contest, it will definitely separate this UFC Hall of Fame gladiator from all other MMA competitors.

At the time of this interview, Randy is at home in Las Vegas. He has just finished talking with a newspaper in Philadelphia and we’re next on the long list of interviews scheduled for Randy today.

Randy, will this be a training-free week, leading up to your title defense?

“Yeah: Wednesday was my last hard fight day, and Friday was my last hard training day. Now I’m training once a day – just in the evenings. It’s short and sweet, and I’m out of there in less than an hour.”

Before the Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop bout, you said you’d prefer to fight Mirko because he’s more of a striker than a grappler. Are you confident your ground game will match Gabriel’s?

“Yeah, I’m not concerned about Gabriel – just given the choice, I think Mirko would be an easier fight. Also, it would make it a bigger marquee fight: He’s a devastating striker, but he doesn’t bring a whole lot else to the dance after that… Just like Gabe, when you neutralize that and put him on the ground, he’s got some serious problems, so… I’m ready for Gabe. I expected him to come through that fight – I don’t think I expected him to kick Mirko in the head, but I expected him to win. And my training camp has been fantastic. I’m definitely ready to deal with Gabe.”

You said Gabriel was a big, strong guy on the ground. But Mirko is not known for his ground game. Were you impressed by Gabriel’s groundwork against Mirko?

“Well, had he been in there with a very good grappler and done what he did, that probably would have been impressive, but I kinda expected him to do what he did against Mirko on the ground. The takedown was nice; as soon as Mirko picked up his foot to kick him, he took him down and landed some nice elbows; and he did a good job of fighting from Mirko’s guard.”

Are you glad that he revealed some of his striking skills – particularly his high kicks – against Cro Cop, so they won’t be like an ace up his sleeve against you?

“I’d seen several of his fights, and although he didn’t throw any high kicks, he did throw a lot of kicks in those other fights. But I think I present a little bit of a different style and issue for him: Every time he picks up his foot – just like Mirko – he’s going to risk getting taken down, so I suspect he’s going to be a lot less willing to throw many kicks – at least early on.”

Do you think Mirko started too slowly and gave Gabriel too much opportunity to impose his game plan?

“I think Gabe jumped out and started controlling the tempo of the fight right from the opening: He circled to the left and threw a lot of straight right hands. He didn’t let Mirko get set to get anything off effectively, and I think that was a smart approach against a guy like Mirko. If you let him come in and control the tempo and range, he’s going to start picking you apart. I’m not sure if it was a function of Mirko starting slowly or Gabe having a good game plan and he got to it.”

Will you be out to dictate the play and ‘impose your will’, as you say?

“Absolutely. I’ve got to push the pace… I think in all of Gabe’s other fights, he likes a slower pace and chooses his punches and kicks. He doesn’t really like to get in and mix it up in flurries at all, so I’ve got to force him to do that – especially in a five-round fight. I’ve got to test his conditioning and see what he’s got.”

How will your hand speed compare with his?

“I think I’m every bit as fast if not faster than he is. And I’ll be putting together combinations – he’s used to throwing one punch or one kick, so I want to try to put some combinations together.”

You said before you were ‘playing around with kettlebells’ in your training. Do you still use them?

“Yeah, we’re still using them at the gym and I like them a lot. We’ve incorporated them into some of the circuit training I’ve been doing. I now have a strength and conditioning coach, Jake, who’s doing an internship for his Master’s degree at our school, so I’ve had him put me through strength and conditioning workouts, and it’s been fantastic.”

When does your Xtreme Couture gym with Dean Lister open in San Diego?

“Probably in September for the grand opening in San Diego and in Chicago. And we’re opening in Toronto in three or four months.”

Will you be doing any coaching in those three gyms?

“I will make appearances at least once a year at those gyms. Dean Lister and I work together a lot and we’re working on a webcast, where we can coach and train guys from our Vegas headquarters through the computer at the other franchises.”

As well as Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, you also have the Legends training facility in conjunction with Bas Rutten in Hollywood. Do you tend to do most of your training at Xtreme in Las Vegas?

“I spend a little bit of time at Legends – mostly instructing and helping guys out there, but I do all my training at the headquarters here in Vegas.”

Gabriel was 243lbs when he fought Mirko, and you were 220lbs when you fought Tim Sylvia (UFC 68: The Uprising). Do you expect to be about the same for UFC 74?

“I’ll be around 225 and I expect Gabe to be around 245, so we will be close.”

At least this time you’ll be pretty much the same height at 6’2”. Will that be a pleasant change for you?

“Compared to Tim, absolutely. I had to use the stepladder.”

It should be easier for you to handle his body size and weight on the ground than Tim’s, shouldn’t it?

“With regard to his physicality, yes. But technically, I think he’s a much better grappler and submission guy than Tim, so I’ve got to be aware, and I have some ideas of what he’s going to be trying to do. I’ve been focusing a lot on that, because I suspect I’ll be taking him down, and I watched some of his grappling matches and I know what he’ll be looking to do.”

It’s just that with Tim Sylvia, he was a whopping big guy for you to deal with even on the ground, wasn’t he?

“Yeah, absolutely – even from his guard you can’t reach his head, he’s so long.”

Is it true that you’re going to look for a quick knockout against Gabe so you can get back to ringside and do the commentating of your own fight?

“Yeah, right.”

Do you expect most of your fight to take place standing or on the mats?

“I think it’s really up to me: I don’t see it going to the ground unless I want to put it there… or unless I get out of position or off balance; I’m going to try to stop any takedown intention he has, simply because it will frustrate him and take a lot of energy out of him. So I don’t see it going down unless I want it to.”

Do you still expect your mobility and athleticism to be the key to your wearing Gabriel down?

“Yes. I think I’m going to use the high pace and keep it very active – force him to work a lot and keep pressure on him… not allow him to coast it out and pick his shots.”

Randy, your sponsors?

“Couture Nutrition, Volant, Axis Shavers, Resurrect, Xtreme Couture, Throwdown, Oakley, Monarch Promotions, MMAWorldwide.com, Fightlab, and HCK.”

Randy told UFC: “I wanna have another good competition and go out and beat the dog crap out of Gabriel Gonzaga – that’s what it’s all about.”

Gonzaga came out looking very focused and intense. This was his debut at the UFC championship level. By comparison, as Joe Rogan pointed out, “Ten of his (Couture’s) last 12 fights have been title fights.”

The first bars of Angus Young’s intro to the Acca Dacca classic Back in Black barked through the speakers as Couture casually entered the arena. Wearing a baseball cap and grey long-sleeved T-shirt under a black and grey Affliction T-shirt, Randy looked like he’d just strolled out of the cornfield to play ball in Field of Dreams.

The totally professional Herb Dean gave last-minute instructions, whilst Gabriel tried to stare down Randy, who looked down, choosing to save the aggro for the fight.

• Scored a jab in the opening seconds that shook Gabriel’s legs.
• Landed a left hook that wobbled Gabriel and enable Randy to take Gonzaga’s back.
• Took Gabriel down three times, including the huge slam that resulted in a head clash where Gonzaga’s nose was broken.
• Controlled the clinching.
• Dished out knees, elbows and heavy hands.
• Absorbed a high kick, knees and heavy hands.

• Absorbed big elbows and hands.
• Dished out big elbows, shoulder shrugs, dominated the clinches, and displayed superb fitness.
• Dodged a high kick to clinch and take control.
• Unleashed vicious uppercuts.
• Pounded, big time, whilst standing and on the ground.
• Displayed outstanding boxing skills.
• Fulfilled his prediction of determining where the battle would be fought and when it would go to ground.
• Ate two enormous high kicks like they were candy.
• Won as only The Natural could.

Randy said of Gabriel Gonzaga, “He’s a tough guy… Man, he rocked me a couple of times.”