UFC expects a huge hit

Couture-Lesnar may be ultimate on PPV

Brock Lesnar's career in mixed martial arts only began about 18 months ago. Randy Couture stepped away from the sport around the same time, fed up with contract squabbles and his inability to land the big fights he really craved.

Their unlikely meeting tonight in Las Vegas for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title might be the most-watched event in the history of their sport. Yet it's more than a clever publicity grab by Mixed Martial Art's dominant company, which seized the chance to match its 45-year-old champion against the sport's fast-rising new star.

It's also a tantalizing contrast of styles, temperaments and résumés, matching a respected pioneer of the sport against a crowd-pleasing former pro wrestler who brought a leather coat and a lasso to the octagon last time out.

When it's all added up, UFC president Dana White expects his canny matchmaking will create the biggest pay-per-view audience in the still-nascent sport's history, exceeding the 1.05 million buys from Chuck Liddell's fight with Tito Ortiz in December 2006.

"I thought it was a little odd matchup, because I just didn't see him as being one of the top contenders yet," said Couture, who hasn't fought since last year. "But I wasn't opposed to it at all. I'm not one to ever turn down a fight, and I understand why they thought people would love to see us fight."

Lesnar, 31, also realizes he's on this stage after just three pro fights because of his accomplishments in NCAA wrestling, his showmanship in the WWE and even his attempt to make the Minnesota Vikings. Each step in his path through the various legal outlets of aggression has built the fan base that followed the South Dakota native into the UFC.

"You can see the evolution of the monster," said the thick-necked wrestler with a mean streak. "We just try to make him more scary and make him more threatening, polish him in just about every angle that we can polish."

But Lesnar knows he still hasn't convinced everyone he's a serious athlete, so he spent eight weeks in a training camp in rural western Minnesota.

"All we had was Randy Couture fights to watch and Randy Couture books to read, so we got to know Randy pretty well," Lesnar said. "Isolation was a huge aspect, and definitely a good thing. We didn't even have cellphones. I had big guys to train with, and guys that have wrestled Randy before. I'm a sharpened blade right now, just waiting to cut something."

The fight also is more than a mere title defense to Couture (16-8), who proudly counts himself among the growing list of athletes still excelling in their 40s, from boxer Bernard Hopkins and swimmer Dara Torres to pitcher Jamie Moyer and hockey player Chris Chelios.

Couture and the 43-year-old Hopkins, who embarrassed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik last month in Atlantic City, have a healthy mutual respect, often citing each other as inspiration.

"The science of sports has taken us a long way," Couture said. "We're getting more out of our bodies than at any period of time, but people are never going to stop talking about what you can't do when you get older. I just don't think people should get hung up on it . . . and I'm a little different. During the time I've had off, I haven't just been sitting around. I've been learning and getting new skills."

Few experts have strong opinions about the outcome of a fight with so many variables.

Nobody is sure whether Couture's experience can trump Lesnar's brute force or whether Couture's age will catch up with him. Lesnar poses unique challenges as an oversized wrestler who probably will outweigh Couture by more than 50 pounds by fight night, yet Couture has done well against that type of fighter.

Lesnar's eight weeks in the Minnesota wilds taught him to embrace patience and endurance, and he thinks he'll need both to turn an eye-catching matchup into a memorable fight.

"After what you put your body through in a training camp, especially the one I just got done going through, you're just a different human being," Lesnar said. "You think differently, you approach things differently. He's never seen what I'm going to be in that octagon."