When it comes to the history of mixed martial arts, there are few fighters with more impressive resumes than “The Natural” Randy Couture.
Couture was truly a natural when it came to fighting. He was a true pioneer of the sport having started his career in 1997, less than four years after the first UFC event. He was one of the first fighters to be a true mixed martial artist.
He had the ability to outwrestle his opponents for the entirety of a fight, while also having the ability to finish his opponents at any time whether it be by knockout or submission. With his skill and tough grit, Couture went on to have a legendary MMA career.
10 14 Year UFC Career
Couture competed in the UFC for 14 years. His first fights took place at UFC 13 in 1997. On the same night, Couture defeated two opponents to win the heavyweight tournament that took place at the event.
In his first fight, Couture submitted Tony Halme, who wrestled for the WWE in the early 90s as Ludvig Borga.
Couture would go on to fight for the UFC until 2011. In his final fight, he suffered a knockout loss to former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 129.
9 UFC Heavyweight Champion
Throughout his UFC tenure, Couture won many UFC titles. His first championship win was in the heavyweight division.
During his rookie year as a professional, Couture won the heavyweight title in late 1997 by defeating Maurice Smith. He later vacated the title after a contract dispute but regained the title after defeating Kevin Randleman at UFC 28 in 2000.
Couture defended the title twice before losing it to Josh Barnett. In 2007, at UFC 68, Couture won the title for a third time by defeating Tim Sylvia. He would go on to defend the title only once before losing the championship to Brock Lesnar in 2008.
8 UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Couture was the first UFC fighter to win championships in different weight classes. Following two losses in the heavyweight division in 2002, Couture dropped down to the 205-pound division.
In his light-heavyweight debut, Couture won an interim light heavyweight title by defeating UFC legend Chuck Liddell. In his next fight, he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship after defeating Tito Ortiz. In his third title fight, Couture lost the championship to Vitor Belfort, but he regained the title in a rematch. In 2005, Couture lost the light heavyweight title after being knocked out by Liddell.
7 Vitor Belfort Trilogy
Throughout his illustrious career, Couture had many rivalries and some led to iconic trilogy fights. In the UFC, Couture fought Vitor Belfort on three different occasions.
In just his third fight, at UFC 15, Couture defeated Belfort by technical knockout in a heavyweight fight. The two would meet again at UFC 46 in 2004. This time they fought for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Belfort won the fight after Couture suffered a cut that stopped the fight. At UFC 49, Couture won the third fight of the trilogy and regained his title by defeating Belfort by TKO.
6 Chuck Liddell Trilogy
Couture also fought UFC Hall-of-Famer Chuck Liddell on three separate occasions. The two MMA legends competed three times for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
In their first meeting, Couture defeated Liddell by TKO at UFC 43 in 2003. On that night, Couture won an interim title at 205-pounds. After coaching against each other on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Liddell knocked out Couture to win the light heavyweight title. The two last fought in 2006, at UFC 57, where once again Couture lost by knockout.
5 UFC Contract Disputes
Throughout his UFC tenure, Couture was riddled with contract disputes. As mentioned earlier, Couture vacated the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 1998 due to a contract dispute. Couture’s contract dispute after his first title win was not the only time he and the UFC struggled to come to an agreement. During his third UFC heavyweight title reign, Couture did not fight for over a year after a disagreement with the promotion.
However, the two sides did not take too long to come up with a new deal. The UFC never stripped Couture of the title, nor did he vacate the championship, but he did lose the title in his next fight against Brock Lesnar.
4 Hall of Fame Fight
In 2010, Couture competed in the first UFC fight to feature two fighters that had been inducted into the promotion's hall of fame.
At UFC 109, Couture fought Mark Coleman, who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008. Couture won the fight by submission. After the fight, Coleman retired from the sport. Coleman was the inaugural UFC heavyweight champion. During his legendary career, he competed regularly in both the UFC and PRIDE Fighting Championship.
3 Defended The Sport Against Boxing
Before Conor McGregor fought Floyd “Money” Mayweather in a boxing match, Couture defended the sport of MMA from boxing purists.
Unlike McGregor, Couture fought a professional boxer inside the UFC cage. At UFC 118, Couture fought former boxing champion James “Lights Out” Toney. In the ring, Toney earned a 77-10 record. Among his biggest wins was a TKO victory over Evander Holyfield. However, his boxing experience did not come into play in his MMA debut. In the first round of the fight, Couture submitted Toney with an arm-triangle.
2 Acting
Outside the cage, Couture has found success as an actor. While some of his movies have been straight-to-DVD releases, his biggest claim-to-fame on the big screen is his role in The Expendables franchise. Couture has had a recurring role in all three Expendables movies. In 2010, The Expendables was released and featured an all-star cast including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and Sylvester Stallone.
The sequel came out two years later and added the likes of Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the film. In 2014, the third installment of the franchise was released and featured fellow UFC legend Ronda Rousey.
1 Extreme Couture
Couture’s legacy in the sport of MMA continues to this day with the success of his gym, Extreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts. Couture’s gym in Las Vegas has hosted some of the best fighters to compete in the octagon.
UFC legends such as Frank Trigg, Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin, and former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate made Extreme Couture their training base. Today, UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou trains at the gym made famous by Couture.