Mark Coleman and Randy Couture have 91 years between them when they step into the octagon for the main event of UFC 109 this Saturday. But the former champions are in two completely different places in career arc. Couture (17-10 MMA, 14-7 UFC), 46, is a five-time UFC champion and a promotional institution. He’s seen more big-time fights than anyone, and he’s been at the highest levels of the sport longer than anyone else. He’s not going anywhere unless he says otherwise.

Coleman (16-9 MMA, 7-4 UFC), 45, is a three-time UFC champion from the “human cockfighting” days of the promotion and the author of a once-dominant style. He’s admittedly let the sport pass him by to raise a family. He hasn’t truly beaten a top-name opponent in 10 years. A victory over Couture could give him his 10th life in the fight game.

“Personally, there’s a lot on the line for me,” Coleman said. “[It's] just by far the biggest fight ever.”The event takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and it marks the first time two UFC Hall of Fame inductees meet inside the octagon.

The bout is significant because Coleman and Couture are anomalies in MMA; most fighters expire, so to speak, in their mid-to-late 30s. This past August, Couture signed a new seven-fight deal that could conceivably take him into his 50s. He’s done anything but take it slow; instead, he booked three fights in six months. Coleman returned to the UFC this past January at UFC 93 after a nearly two-year absence and looked every bit his age. But he delivered a stunning rebound – the product, he said, of a focused training camp – at UFC 100 when he defeated Stephan Bonnar in an upset victory.

They are both comeback kids.But Couture fights more out of enjoyment than necessity. He has leveraged his celebrity into a variety of successful side businesses. Coleman, on the other hand, said he is only able to focus on one thing and needs a paycheck. “The Hammer” has a lot more to lose – and a lot more to win.

The two were supposed to meet 12 years ago at UFC 17 on May 15, 1998, when Couture rode high after stealing the heavyweight belt from Maurice Smith five months prior. Smith had broken the aura of ground and pound by taking Coleman’s belt in July 1997.

Couture, as it turned out, was in the infancy of his development; Coleman was at the apex of his.In all likelihood, the fight would have been a simple question of whom could get top position and pound the other out.But the showdown was not to be. Couture had to pull out of the fight when he popped a rib preparing for an international wrestling competition and flew the UFC coop 10 months later when the promotion refused to honor his contracted pay. He then served a two-year stint in Japan.

Coleman became a huge star in the MMA-obsessed country at the turn of the millennium and later lost ground to the well-rounded fighters of modern MMA. Couture returned to the UFC and became one of its biggest stars while winning and defending heavyweight and light heavyweight titles eight more times. Along the way, he picked up striking skills to complement his wrestling background. He’s had 23 fights to Coleman’s 17 since the missed meeting.

Will this fight be any different than the predictions issued 12 years ago?”It’s always interesting and intriguing for me to face another wrestler, a guy with a similar background with a similar style,” Couture said. “If you put your wrestling to the side when you’re facing a guy like Mark Coleman, you’ve made a mistake. There’s no doubt Mark’s used his wrestling very diligently and won a lot of fights with his wrestling. He uses that as a tool to win fights.”

Couture has brought in several collegiate wrestlers to help him prepare for Coleman’s style and has rededicated himself to jiu jitsu, particularly his game on the bottom and in transitions, with coach Neil Melanson. Coleman, meanwhile, has recruited Couture’s former striking coach, Shawn Tompkins, to beef up his striking attack and monitor his overall game. Coleman and Couture insist there’s no fodder for controversy in Tompkins’ move.

There’s been talk about the Couture-Coleman winner facing the winner of UFC 113’s rematch between light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Coleman does not promise to pull a rabbit out of his hat on Saturday. Coming in shape and ready to go is enough.

“I want to go out there and perform and put on a good show for the fans, and that’s critical for the sport and important to me to please the fans because they’re the ones paying [for] tickets to watch the fight,” Coleman said. “Of course I want to win, but most importantly, I want it to be a good competitive fight, and I hope there are some good bruises on both of us.” And whoever gets that top position will have a lot of them.