Randy Couture

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Randy Couture
Statistics
Nickname	The Natural, Captain America
Height	6 ft 2 in (186 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Born	June 22, 1963
Fighting out of	Las Vegas, Nevada.
Town of birth	Lynnwood, Washington
Fighting style	Greco-Roman wrestling
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	14
By knockout	6
By submission	2
Losses	8
Draws	0
No contests

Randy Duane Couture (born June 22, 1963, Lynnwood, Washington|Lynnwood, Washington, U.S.) is a retired Greco-Roman wrestler and mixed martial arts competitor. He is the only athlete to have held championship titles in both the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, earning him the nicknames "The Natural" and, later, "Captain America". He, along with Robert Follis, also once headed Team Quest, a stable of fighters based out of Portland, Oregon. In 2005, Couture moved to Las Vegas, where he still resides.

Couture's preferred method of offense in mixed martial arts competition was what is commonly referred to as 'Ground and Pound', in which a fighter utilizes his wrestling ability by taking his opponent down to the mat, establishing top position, and launching down a series of blows upon his opponent. However, in addition to his wrestling background, Couture has displayed a variety of skills in both boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has submitted two opponents using different chokeholds.

1 Career
2 MMA Record
3 See also
4 External links

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Career

Before entering the UFC, Randy Couture served in the U.S. Army from 1982–1988. Upon discharge, he was a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association D-I All-American; and a two-time NCAA finalist.[1]

Randy Couture debuted in the UFC on May 30th, 1997 as part of UFC 13: The Ultimate Force. At the time, the event consisted of two four-man tournaments: one in the lightweight (under 200 lb) division and one in the heavyweight (200 lb and over) division. Couture fought in the heavyweight tournament, defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham to win it. His next match was an elimination bout for the heavyweight title against the young Brazilian "Phenom", Vitor Belfort. Randy scored a TKO victory.

Couture won his first Heavyweight title via decision in a 1997 match against kickboxer Maurice Smith. Couture was afterwards stripped of the title when he could not come to contractual terms with the UFC and its parent company at the time, Semaphore Entertainment Group. He returned to the UFC in 2000, where he recaptured the Heavyweight title from Kevin Randleman on November 17 of that year.

After two consecutive losses in the heavyweight division to larger opponents, including a title loss to Josh Barnett, Couture moved down a weight class to fight at 205 lb in the UFC's light-heavyweight division where he stayed for the remainder of his fighting career. In his light-heavyweight debut, Couture took on long-time number one contender Chuck Liddell for the Interim Light-Heavyweight Championship. Couture emerged victorious by TKO in the third round, and became the only competitor to win championship titles in two weight classes. His next bout was billed as a "Champion Vs. Champion" fight in order to settle who was the rightful, undisputed champion of the division; Couture faced the five-time defending champion Tito Ortiz for the Undisputed Light-Heavyweight title. He controlled the younger Ortiz throughout the five rounds of the fight, scoring a unanimous decision and becoming UFC's Undisputed Light-Heavyweight Champion at age 40.

On April 16, 2005, Couture lost his title and suffered the first knockout-loss of his career in a rematch with Chuck Liddell. Couture came back in August with a win over Mike van Arsdale to reestablish himself as a top contender. He faced Liddell again for the third and final time in a title match on February 4, 2006 at UFC 57; he did not succeed, however, and once again suffered a knockout-loss. Immediately after the match, he announced his retirement from the sport.

[edit]

MMA Record

14 wins (6 TKOs, 2 submissions, 4 decisions), 8 losses (2 KO, 2 TKOs, 4 submissions), 0 draw.

02/04/2006	Loss	Chuck Liddell	UFC 57	TKO (Punches)
08/20/2005	Win	Mike Van Arsdale	UFC 54	Submission (Anaconda choke)
04/16/2005	Loss	Chuck Liddell	UFC 52	KO (Punches)
08/21/2004	Win	Vitor Belfort	UFC 49	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)
01/31/2004	Loss	Vitor Belfort	UFC 46	TKO (Cut)
09/26/2003	Win	Tito Ortiz	UFC 44	Decision (Unanimous)
06/06/2003	Win	Chuck Liddell	UFC 43	TKO (Punches)
09/27/2002	Loss	Ricco Rodriguez	UFC 39	Submission (Strikes)
03/22/2002	Loss	Josh Barnett	UFC 36	TKO (Strikes)
11/02/2001	Win	Pedro Rizzo	UFC 34	TKO (Strikes)
05/04/2001	Win	Pedro Rizzo	UFC 31	Decision (Unanimous)
02/24/2001	Loss	Valentijn Overeem	Rings-King of Kings 2000 Final	Submission (Guillotine Choke)
02/24/2001	Win	Tsuyoshi Kohsaka	Rings-King of Kings 2000 Final	Decision (Unanimous)
11/17/2001	Win	Kevin Randleman	UFC 28	TKO (Strikes)
10/09/2000	Win	Ryushi Yanagisawa	Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block A	Decision (Majority)
10/09/2000	Win	Jeremy Horn	Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block A	Decision (Unanimous)
03/20/1999	Loss	Mikhail Illoukhine	Rings-Rise 1st	Submission (Kimura)
10/25/1998	Loss	Enson Inoue	VTJ 1998	Submission (Armbar)
12/21/1997	Win	Maurice Smith	UFC Japan 1	Decision
10/17/1997	Win	Vitor Belfort	UFC 15	TKO (Strikes)
05/30/1997	Win	Steven Graham	UFC 13	TKO (Strikes)
05/30/1997	Win	Tony Halme	UFC 13	Submission (Rear Choke)