Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture - Tale of the Tape

On Saturday night, former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will look to add the UFC Heavyweight Championship to his resume. He won his first WWE Championship by beating the star of The Scorpion King, The Rock. Brock hopes that history will repeat itself as his first chance to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship will be against one of the stars of The Scorpion King 2, Randy Couture.

Brock Lesnar
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 265 lbs.
Age: 31
Mixed Martial Arts Record: 2-1
Notable Facts: Prior to entering the WWE, Brock won the NCAA Wrestling Heavyweight Championship in 2000. He entered the WWE in 2002. The highlights of his wrestling career include winning the WWE Championship three times and being part of the main event of WrestleMania XIX. Since leaving the WWE in 2004, Brock participated in a training camp with the Minnesota Vikings and married former WWE Diva Sable. He made his MMA debut last June and beat Min Soo Kim via submission (strikes) in 69 seconds. He made his UFC debut in February. He lost that match to former champion Frank Mir via submission (knee bar) in 90 seconds. In August, he found redemption in the Octagon and beat Heath Herring via unanimous decision.

Randy “The Natural” Couture
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 220 lbs.
Age: 45
Mixed Martial Arts Record: 16-8
Notable Facts: After winning and losing the UFC Heavyweight Championship twice, Randy moved down in weight class and won the Light Heavyweight Championship twice. In that class, he had a classic trilogy of fights against "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell. After losing the rubber match of that series, Randy announced his retirement from the sport. In 2006, he was inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Retirement didn't last long for Randy and he won the UFC Heavyweight Championship for a third time. In October 2007, the champion announced he was leaving UFC and became embroiled in a legal battle with the company. Almost a year later, the two sides settled their differences and Randy signed a three-fight deal with the company.

What is next for the winner of this match?
If you thought that the split championships in boxing and pro wrestling were confusing, they are nothing compared to the current UFC Heavyweight Championship situation. Since Randy never lost the championship in the ring, he is considered by the UFC to be the UFC Heavyweight Champion. However, due to the legal situation they were involved with against Randy, in February the UFC held a match to determine the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia in that match. On December 27, Noguiera will be defending his title against Frank Mir, the man that beat Lesnar earlier this year. The plan is for the winner of the Lesnar-Couture match to face the winner of the Mir-Noguiera match in a unification match for the Undisputed World Championship early next year.

_{Photo of Brock Lesnar: © 2008 ZUFFA, LLC.}