As has been the case so many times in his career, Randy Couture will be entering the Octagon on Saturday night at UFC 129 in Toronto as the underdog with the betting lines heavily favoring his opponent, Lyoto Machida. It’s not an assessment that Dan Henderson, Couture’s longtime friend and the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, agrees with.
“Randy’s style is a great style to be able to beat Machida,” the two-weight world champion Henderson said.
Henderson explains that despite Couture’s advanced age of 47, he’s made the adjustments necessary to compete at an elite level in the UFC.
“I’m sure he’s not quite as fast as he used to be and it’s tougher to keep your conditioning up at that age, but he’s adapted some things and really focused on conditioning and speed drills,” Henderson said.
Henderson believes that the key to defeating the illusive karate master Machida is to deny him space.
“Guys that smother Machida and don’t let him run around do well,” said Henderson, who believes Couture has the skills to do just that. “(Couture is) as smart as ever and all the experience he’s had definitely helps. He cuts off the ring well and will be able to put him up against the cage and control in the clinch.”
Such is Henderson’s confidence in Couture’s ability to defeat in Machida, a man who has lost only twice in 18 fights, that he tells Inside Fights, in his mind, “Randy beats Machida nine out of 10 times.”
However, Henderson does see one cause for concern, namely the possibility that Couture’s chin could cost him the victory.
“I’m just a little worried about his chin, as he’s been dropped a few times and that takes its toll,” Henderson said. “With how much his chin has taken over the years, can it really sustain getting hit on?”
Whatever the result, Couture has signaled that UFC 129 will be the last fight of a storied career. The news didn’t come as a surprise to Henderson, who confirmed that Couture had been openly discussing the possibility of retirement for some time. Despite this, Henderson isn’t convinced that this Saturday will be the last time fans see “The Natural” fight, partly because it’s not the first time Couture has called time on his Hall of Fame-caliber career.
“He thought he was done once or twice in his career,” Henderson said. “If Randy goes out and beats Machida up, he might reconsider that, as well.”
He also points out that Couture doesn’t like to walk away from fresh challenges and that a victory potentially would set up some huge matches for Couture down the line.
“It’s in his nature to really test himself and see how far he can push things,” Henderson said. “It would mean a pretty good payday for him to come out and fight for the title again.”
Should Couture manage to follow through on his pledge to retire, it will make Henderson the elder statesman of mixed martial arts. Both men made the transition from the upper echelon of Greco-Roman wrestling to mixed martial arts within a couple of months of each other in 1997, and both managed to have championship success across two weight classes as well after turning 40.
Looking back, Henderson believes he and Couture supported each other as they made the transition.
“We influenced and pushed each other while learning a lot of new stuff and sharing it with each other,” said Henderson, who said he and Couture share the same mentality, with a shared willingness to learn and mental toughness.
Henderson is adamant that the sport of MMA has evolved rapidly since he and Couture started fighting, and that even 14 years later he’s still learning new things. To him the key is to make sure you’re “open to learning from everybody.” Like Couture, Henderson runs his own gym, but both have always made sure to seek out fresh perspectives and ideas from those outside their own camp.
“Everybody works together,” Henderson said. “If you’re above that, then you’re not going to progress and learn in a sport which has so much to offer. It takes so much time to learn everything that’s involved in MMA.”
When it comes to mental toughness, Henderson believes that for both him and Couture it comes from their experience in wrestling.
“Experience of competing at that level is just invaluable,” Henderson said, “and most of these guys come into the sport without competing in anything and so don’t know how to do it really well.”
Henderson said his wrestling career helped him know how to mentally prepare for fights.
“There’s so much mental training involved in what we grew up doing,” he said. “I never had any problems focusing or being there mentally.”
As Couture nears the end of his long career, Henderson believes the key to longevity is intelligence. He explains it’s important to avoid “killing your body during training” and that by “coming out with a good game plan in fights” you can avoid the wild brawls that will “wear on you.”
And while Dan Henderson feels good and ready to fight for a few more years, he doubts that he will be able to surpass Couture’s achievement of successfully defending a world title at the age of 44.
“No, I would be happy to let him hold that record,” Henderson said. “Probably would be a tough one to beat.”
To find out more about Dan Henderson visit www.danhenderson.com or to see the latest products from his apparel line visit www.clinchgear.com.
