Death Clutch - Brock Lesnar [57]
Randy is the Godfather of MMA, a living, breathing legend who is still one tough old bastard. Randy was upset with the UFC when negotiations for a match with Fedor Emelianenko fell apart, and Randy’s people told him he could “retire” from the UFC while he was still champion, and then go fight for another organization. From what I understand, the whole idea was for Randy to go elsewhere and get a piece of the action and a bigger payday. The UFC and Randy ended up exactly like me and WWE. Everyone was suing everyone else, which means a lot of time and money was being spent, with no return on that investment.
The UFC made the decision to create an “interim title,” which I liked to call the “fake title,” since to win that championship, all you had to do was beat another contender. If you want to rule over a kingdom, you have to dethrone the reigning king. Randy was the king of the heavyweight division, but the UFC had grown tired of waiting for him to defend his crown, so they wised up and decided to take a page right out of Vince McMahon’s playbook and turn a bad situation into a moneymaker.
The plan was to first settle the lawsuit with Randy. The UFC’s lawyers had him up against the cage, because there was no way he was going to be able to jump to another organization while he was still under contract to the UFC. No judge was going to buy the “retirement” ploy and then allow Randy to “come out of retirement” just so he could get a piece of his fight with Fedor.
As things stood now, Randy was going to defend the title against me. In the meantime, two other heavyweights would battle it out for the fake title . . . I mean the interim title . . . and then the two champions would meet for the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship of the World. The decision was an example of marketing genius, a win-win for everybody.
Couture settled his lawsuit with the UFC and agreed to defend his title at UFC 91 on November 15, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. I could not ask for a bigger or better opportunity in life.
A lot of hard-core UFC fans resented the fact that I was being given a title shot in only my third UFC fight, my fourth MMA fight overall, but my attitude was very simple.
Screw them.
Only a fool would turn down a chance to fight Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas. What was I supposed to do? Say “no thank you”?
“Oh gee, Mr. White, I’m not worthy”?
“I need a few more fights before I earn the public’s acceptance to become the number one contender for Randy Couture’s heavyweight title!”?
I took the opportunity that was presented to me, and I made the most of it. That’s what a fighter does. That’s what any businessman would do. Wouldn’t YOU do that for YOUR family?
So many guys going into a big fight will screw themselves up in the head by listening to the critics and the so-called experts. Everyone was saying I didn’t belong in that fight. That I didn’t earn it. Randy has too much experience, I kept hearing. I, meanwhile, have no skills. But I never buy into the hype, the advertising, or the marketing. I ignore it all. When you step into the Octagon, hype means nothing. Reputations mean nothing. Nothing else matters but what happens when they lock that cage door.
It’s just so pure. Two gladiators. One wins. One loses.
When the referee instructs the two warriors to “fight,” the truth about a man is going to be revealed. Twenty thousand screaming fans. A worldwide pay-per-view audience. Everyone watching your every movement. Everyone wanting that spotlight to be on them at that moment.
If your instinct is to psych yourself out, you’re only setting yourself up for a loss. You either believe in yourself, and your camp, and your trainers, and who you are . . . and what you can do . . . or you don’t.
By the time I was offered the title fight with Randy, I had moved up to Alexandria, Minnesota, which is about three hours northwest of Minneapolis. I set up my own training facility, the DeathClutch