Randy Couture
Randy Couture, also known as ‘The Natural, Captain America’, is an American based Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, who was born on June 22, 1963 in the town of Lynnwood at Washington. Specializing in Greco-Roman wrestling, Couture has earned a name in the UFC Hall of Fame, thanks to his professional and skilled MMA wrestling techniques and success.
There is no other athlete other than Randy Couture in the entire wrestling industry to have held UFC championship titles in the heavyweight and light heavyweight category. Moreover, Randy is also the only 5 time champion in UFC history so far.
Randy Couture established a MMA gym soon after moving out of Team Quest, a camp for wrestlers based beyond Gresham, Oregon. The ‘LEGENDS Gym, which is the name of the MMA gym, is located at Hollywood in California State, and is jointly managed by Randy’s close associate Bas Rutten, another famous MMA fighter.
Previously, Randy Couture has been an assistant coach as well as strength and conditioning coach for the Oregon State University. Although commonly known as a clinch-fighter, Couture’s favored offense method in MMA was ‘Ground and Pound’, wherein a wrestler needs to use his combating skills in taking down his opponent to the mat, establish top-position, and then consecutively strike the challenger. With different fighting skills like the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, Couture has held distinguished wins over Kevin Randleman, Tim Sylvia, Tito Ortiz, Pedro Rizzo, Chuck Liddell, Jeremy Horn, and Vitor Belfort. As a matter of fact, Randy is one amongst the few athletes to gain a championship win after becoming a member of the Hall of Fame.
Randy Couture made his debut on May 30, 1997 in the UFC, as a contestant of UFC 13: The Ultimate Force. He combated in the heavyweight event, and defeated Tony Halme and Steven Graham to win the matches. The following match saw Couture winning over the Brazilian ‘phenom’ Vitor Belfort with a TKO move.
The first ever heavyweight won by Randy was against Maurice Smith in 1997. However, due to certain complexities in the contract agreement, he was stripped from the title, which made him leave UFC and join RINGS organization. Soon after, he made a comeback to UFC in the year 2000 and once again captured the Heavyweight title at UFC 28 on November 17, from Kevin Randleman.
Between 2000 and 2007, there have been several ups and downs in Randy Couture’s career. He was associated with some of the most crucial match ups with well-known names in the MMA industry, which saw him gain immense popularity through successful performances in various fighting competitions.
By Sherdog.com Staff
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