Issue 101
May 2013
Japanese MMA pioneer Enson Inoue was the first man to defeat ‘The Natural’ in a battle at Vale Tudo Japan 1998.
Despite watching from cageside as Randy Couture defeated an array of “huge monsters”
to win the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament, Japanese light heavyweight Enson Inoue jumped at the chance to face ‘The Natural’ 18 months later, and became the first man to blemish the slate of the future Hall of Fame legend.
What made you take the fight with Randy, after being impressed with him at UFC 13?
“Originally I was supposed to fight Dan Severn, but he was super busy back in the day. So apparently his schedule was filled and Randy was already pulling away from the company as they’d been having disputes. They asked me if I’d like to fight Randy and I was like, ‘Holy s**t, that’s a big fight.’ So I accepted it and that was that.”
What was your game plan for the fight?
“It was just to be aggressive the whole time, regardless of if I was laying on my back on the ground or not. I did a lot of Greco-Roman wrestling during my camp to try and stop what he brings to the table. I wasn’t worried about it going to the ground or standing and throwing punches with him. I was worried about his dirty boxing.
“If he could beat the s**t out of someone like Vitor Belfort he could probably beat the s**t out of someone like me (laughs). I just wanted to stay away from the dirty boxing, stand if we stand and go to the ground if we go to the ground.”
What did you think of his abilities during the fight?
“If we were having a Greco-Roman match, I think he’d kick my ass, but because there were punches in the fight there might have been problems with the way he used his Greco-Roman. I remember talking to Randy years after the fight and he said to me, ‘Enson, the way you come out at people in the beginning, you can watch it and try prepare for it but until you’re in the ring facing that, you’ll never know what it feels like. That’s your advantage.’
“I think he was flustered from the beginning, so it’s hard for me to say his Greco-Roman wasn’t that good in the fight because I think he was really flustered.”
What was it like to get the armbar finish?
“I remember he was there when I submitted Royce Alger, so I thought he’d be a little more careful with armbars.
If you watch the fight, when I went for the armbar I wasn’t even thinking about going for it straight away. I climbed my hips up high and waited, but then I noticed that he grabbed the back of my head to try and control me. I was like, ‘Holy s**t, this guy's grabbing the back of my head. All I need to do is put my leg past his face and I’ve got the armbar.’ I remember feeling his arm pop, feeling the ligaments stretch.
I remember him tapping against my leg and thinking, ‘Holy f**k, Randy Couture is tapping to my armbar.’ It was kind of surreal for about 10–15 seconds, but what made it even more surreal was that the arena was going nuts. It felt like I was standing on top of the world.”
How much did you get paid for that fight?
“I got paid $4,000 for that fight. It was pretty huge considering I was getting paid like $2,000 for my fights in Shooto. To me, that was a big payday.”
Did you follow his career after you beat him?
“Hell yeah, I’m a huge Randy Couture fan.”
How does it feel to see the amount of success he’s had knowing you were the first one to defeat him?
“There are two feelings that I have. I know realistically I beat him at the beginning of his game, but on the other hand it thrilled me with joy because every time he won, I know that I got merit for it too. Every time he won or did something crazy or incredible I felt like I did good about it too.”
If we put both of you in a cage today, do you think you could beat him?
“He’d beat my ass. Unless we were fighting for a jelly doughnut then I might win (laughs). Let’s put it this way, if we made it one-minute rounds I might beat him again, but anything after one minute I’ll gas. F**k that (laughs)!”
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