Randy Couture

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 MMA Debut and First Heavyweight Championship
3 RINGS
4 Early UFC Heavyweight Career
5 UFC Light Heavyweight Career
6 UFC Hall of Fame
7 Return to the Heavyweight Division
8 Resignation from the UFC
9 Return to the UFC
10 Mixed Martial Arts Record
11 Gallery
12 External links

Profile

Randy "The Natural" Couture (born June 22, 1963) is an American professional mixed martial artist and member of the UFC Hall of Fame.

He stands 6 ft 1in (185cm) and currently fights in the heavyweight division at approximately 220 lbs.

He fights out of the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, Nevada and is a three time UFC heavyweight champion and a two time UFC light heavyweight champion. He currently fights as a heavyweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

MMA Debut and First Heavyweight Championship

Randy Couture made his professional mixed martial arts debut at UFC 13 on May 30, 1997. He entered MMA with an extensive and highly decorated wrestling background which included being a three time Olympic alternate as well as a three time NCAA Division 1 All-American runner-up.

Couture participated in the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament where he first defeated Tony Halme via rear naked choke submission in 56 seconds. He followed that victory up with a 3.13 TKO over Steven Graham in the final to be crowned the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament champion.

At UFC 15, the consensus opinion was that Couture was being fed to the wolves when he was assigned to fight Vitor Belfort. Belfort had looked unstoppable in his previous UFC bouts, showing tremendous speed and knock out power. Couture used his Greco Roman clinch and dirty boxing to wear Belfort down however en route to a TKO stoppage 8.16 into the first round.

Couture was given the oppurtunity to fight for the UFC heavyweight championship as a result of the Belfort victory. He faced champion, Maurice Smith at Ultimate Japan in December of 1997. Couture's superior wrestling proved to be the deciding factor as he took a decision a victory and his first UFC heavyweight championship.

Following a contractual dispute with the UFC owners, Couture chose to vacate the belt and fight elsewhere.

RINGS

After he left the UFC, Couture first chose to fight in a Vale Tudo Japan event against Hawaiian grappler, Enson Inoue. Couture suffered his first professional loss to Inoue as he was armbarred 1.39 into the bout.

Following the Inoue loss, Couture made his debut in the Japanese promotion, Rings. In his Rings debut he suffered his second professional and consecutive loss to Mikhail Illoukhine via Kimura submission 7.43 into the first round.

Couture fought on however, as he entered the Rings - King of Kings 2000 32 man tournament. The tournament was spread over three events, with the first two events featuring 16 fighters apiece who fought twice in one night in order to wittle the number down to four fighters from each "block". The remaining 8 fighters would fight in one night to determine the Rings - Kings of Kings 2000 tournament champion.

In the first two rounds Couture faced and defeated Jeremy Horn and Ryushi Yanagisawa via decision to move onto the final 8-man tournament which would be held a little over four months later.

In the time between the opening two rounds and the finals of the Rings tournament, Couture returned to the UFC where he defeated Kevin Randleman to regain his UFC heavyweight championship. He defeated Randleman via TKO 4.13 into round 3. The win made Couture the first ever two time UFC heavyweight champion.

Couture returned to Rings however to fulfill his obligations to the tournament. In the quarter finals he faced Tsuyoshi Kohsaka who defeated Fedor Emelianenko via cut stoppage (albeit illegally) in the earlier rounds. Couture defeated Kohsaka via unanimous decision to move onto the semi finals. He would progress no further however as his opponent, Valentijn Overeem submitted Couture with a guillotine choke .56 into round 1.

Early UFC Heavyweight Career

As mentioned earlier, Couture was again UFC heavyweight champion and after losing to Valentijn Overeem he returned exclusively to the UFC.

In his first title defense he faced hard hitting muay thai striker, Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31. In an epic battle, Couture came close to stopping Rizzo in the first with a ground onslaught. His first round efforts were matched by Rizzo in the second who almost knocked Couture out with punches and leg kicks. The final three rounds were slower as both fighters had sustained a lot of punishment and were tiring. At the end of the fifth the judges decided Couture had the edge and awarded him the unanimous decision victor.

A rematch between the two was quickly set up for UFC 34. This time there was no doubting the result as Couture crushed Rizzo with his ground and pound en route to a third round TKO stoppage.

At UFC 36, Couture faced Josh Barnett in the third defense of his title. Couture got the better of the first round but Barnett overwhelmed the champion in the second round. Barnett controlled Couture on the mat while landing unanswered blows that caused the referee to stop the bout. A post-fight drug test found that Barnett tested positive for anabolic steroids. Barnett was stripped of the title but the win still stands.

Barnett left the organization after the steroids incident and Couture was given the oppurtunity to fight for the vacant heavyweight championship against Ricco Rodriguez.

Couture controlled the early going of the bout, taking the first two and a bit rounds before Rodriguez began to take over. For the majority of the third round and for all of the fourth and fifth round, Rodriguez took Couture down and battered him. In the fifth, Rodriguez hit Couture in the eye with an elbow which caused Couture to verbally submit, awarding Rodriguez the fight and the championship.

UFC Light Heavyweight Career

Many thought Couture would retire following the loss to Rodriguez. He was now 39 years old, and looked to be slowing. However, the UFC offered Couture an oppurtunity in the light heavyweight division (205 lbs.) if he were to drop down. Couture agreed and he faced Chuck Liddell for the interim light heavyweight title at UFC 43, in June of 2003.

The interim title was created after UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz's apparent refusual to fight Liddell.

Little chance was given to Couture in the bout, as Liddell was on a streak of highlight reel KO's. Randy shocked everyone though as he outstruck Liddell on the feet, while scoring valuable takedowns. In the third round, Couture secured a final takedown and moved to mount where he beat Liddell until the referee stepped in. After the bout Couture called out light heavyweight champ, Ortiz.

A little over three months later, Couture faced Ortiz for the light heavyweight title at UFC 44. Once again, Couture was given little hope in the fight as Ortiz had been a wrecking machine in his tenure as light heavyweight champion. Couture surprised everyone again though as he beat the younger fighter at his bread and butter, wrestling, and beat on him for five rounds. An exclamation point was added in the fifth round when a desperate Tito rolled for a leg lock while Couture was still standing only to have "Captain America" demean him by patting his ass, which eventually turned into a spank.

Couture had now added UFC light heavyweight champion to his growing list of achievements and was to defend his title against an old rival in Vitor Belfort. Belfort had looked to be back to his devastating ways but would once again have to prove himself against Couture. The bout ended in disappointment however as a bit of glove from a missed Belfort punch sliced Couture's eyeball and eye lid .49 into round 1. The bout was halted and Belfort was awarded the UFC light heavyweight title.

As soon as Couture recovered, the rematch was set-up. The bout took place at UFC 49 and looked like a more polished version of their UFC 15 clash with Couture working his dirty boxing and wrestling to pefection. Belfort's resistance eventually wilted at the end of the third as the fight was called and Couture was now a two time light heavyweight champion as well as a two time heavyweight champion.

Another rematch was setup for Couture in his next bout as Chuck Liddell had fought his way back into contention with knockout victories over Tito Ortiz and Vernon White. Before the fight however, both fighters would act as opposing coaches on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter. The ZUFFA produced, MMA reality show proved to be a hit and UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 was (at the time) the biggest PPV in UFC history.

The actual fight did not last long however as Couture was knocked down by a ferocious Liddell punch 2.06 into the first round.

Now 42 years old, Couture still fought on as he faced Mike Van Arsdale at UFC 54 in order to win another shot at Liddell. Couture submitted Van Arsdale with an anaconda choke 52 seconds into the third round to achieve his goal.

At UFC 57, Couture and Liddell faced off for the third time. The fight was much more competitive this time around as Couture achieved a takedown in the first round with round possibly going either way. The second round went much like the first fight however as Liddell landed another crushing punch that put Couture's lights out.

After the bout, Couture stated he would retire, saying, "this is the last time you will see these gloves and these shorts in this octagon, I am retiring.".

UFC Hall of Fame

At The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale, Couture was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. At the time he was the fourth inductee, with the other three members being, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn.

Currently there are five members with Mark Coleman having been inducted at UFC 82.

Return to the Heavyweight Division

Almost 13 months after he had decided to retire at UFC 57, Couture announced his intention to return to the UFC heavyweight division, at age 43, and take on heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia at UFC 68.

Couture was once again a heavy underdog going into the fight but for the countless time in his career he surprised everyone when he dismantled Sylvia from bell to bell for five rounds. The foundation was set about ten seconds into the fight when Couture landed an inside leg kick followed by an over hand right which dropped Sylvia. Sylvia never recovered from the blow and lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Randy Couture became the first ever three-time UFC heavyweight champion, and the first fighter to win a title after having been inducted into the hall of fame.

At UFC 74, Couture would make his first title defense against Gabriel Gonzaga. Couture was again the underdog as Gonzaga a Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion and had just knocked out Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic with a high kick.

Couture proved the majority wrong again as he outworked Gonzaga for the most part of three rounds before stopping him with strikes at 1.37 of round 3.

Resignation from the UFC

On October 11th, 2007, Couture announced he was "resigning" from the UFC due to what he percieved was a "lack of respect" shown to him by UFC management. Along with that their was also the failure by the UFC to sign consensus top heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko to a contract. A fight that Couture desperately wanted.

For almost a year, the Courts battled it out to decide whether Couture could be free to fight elsewhere while the UFC continued to label Couture as their heavyweight champion.

Return to the UFC

On September 2, 2008, a media conference call by UFC president Dana White announced that Couture had been signed to a new three fight deal and that he would fight Brock Lesnar on November 15th in Las Vegas, Nevada for the UFC heavyweight championship.

The bout would take place at UFC 91 and at 45 years of age, Couture would find himself as a significant underdog yet again.

The bout was labelled as the biggest fight in UFC history with a prediction of 1.2 million buys.

The bout failed to disappoint as the two fighters went back and forth with some great exchanges. Couture's gameplan appeared to be starting to work as Brock began to tire but a hellacious punch from Brock caught Couture behind the ear which was followed by Lesnar "donkey konging" Couture on the ground until Mario Yamasaki called an end to the bout 3.07 into the second round.

Couture vowed to continue to keep fighting after the bout, and is rumored to participate at June's UFC 99 which is rumored to be the UFC's first ever German event.