Randy Couture has long been known as an ambassador for MMA fighting and is regarded as one of the best fighters in the early era of the sport. He's had many memorable moments and intense matches, so let's take a look at the top five moments of "The Naturals" career.
Chuck Liddell had been cruising through the UFC's Heavyweight division winning ten in a row and destined for a title match with the UFC Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz, but the match that UFC fans were hoping for just wasn't destined to happen.
Instead of defending his title against Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz left the UFC as the title holder to take on a Hollywood movie role. This left a void in the heavyweight division, one that would soon be filled by a match between Couture and Liddell.
Everything about this match pointed to a cakewalk for Chuck Liddell. Liddell was on a big winning streak and coming off a dominant knockout victory while an aging Couture was approaching 40 and coming off of two consecutive losses. On paper, Liddell was the obvious favorite. Unfortunately for Liddell, nobody told Randy Couture he wasn't supposed to win the fight. Couture frustrated Liddell by winning the grappling game and beat him strike for strike until Randy "The Natural" Couture unleashed an onslaught in the third round that led to victory.
In a match that many fans considered the match that secured Randy Couture's spot as one of the greatest of all time, "The Natural" was set to take on Tito Ortiz, one of the most hated fighters in the sport. This was also a match that would see the UFC unite its light-heavyweight belt as Couture was coming in as the interim champion due to Ortiz temporarily vacating the title to act in a Hollywood movie.
Just like in his previous fight, Randy Couture was coming into the match as an overwhelming underdog, and many experts expected Ortiz to claim the reunited title. Once again, "The Natural" showed the grit and determination to prove the experts wrong. After five grueling rounds, the judges unanimously gave Couture the win via decision.
Along with Couture's competitive nature, this bout featured a moment that showed his ability to irritate his opponents as Couture gave Ortiz a quick spanking after Ortiz failed to hold on to a leg lock submission.
We've already highlighted a couple of Randy Couture's biggest upsets, but his win over Kevin Randleman was probably his first major upset.
In the first UFC fight sanctioned in New Jersey, Couture was set to fight Randleman in an attempt to reclaim the UFC Heavyweight title he vacated in 1998. Randleman went right after Couture, dominating the fight for two rounds as many experts had predicted. However, none of the experts foresaw the comeback mounted by Couture. "The Natural" played the defensive game before switching gears to completely confuse Randleman in the third.
After cranking up his ground game, Couture unleased his signature ground-and-pound style to reclaim the title he had once held but never lost.
Many UFC fans consider Couture's fight against Pedro Rizzo to be one of his most exciting bouts. Fresh off his title victory against Chuck Liddell, Couture was set for his first defense against Rizzo in a match that would make several top-100 matches of all-time list, and many experts ranked this bout as the best UFC match of 2001.
Couture came out with an aggressive onslaught of ground and pound, and it didn't look like Rizzo would survive the first round, but the ringing of the bell saved Rizzo and extended the fight.
Rizzo recovered and dominated the middle portion of the fight, succeeding with a strategy that involved taking out Couture's legs. As the fight wore on, "The Natural's" pure stamina proved to be the difference as Couture held out for the win via unanimous decision in a legendary UFC fight.
Coming off another hiatus, Randy Couture returned to the ring to face well-respected UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Once again, Couture came to the fight as the underdog against the 6' 8" giant of a UFC fighter, and, once again, Randy Couture didn't care that he wasn't supposed to be the victor in this match.
Mere seconds into the bout, Randy Couture landed a heavy punch across Sylvia's chin that set the tone for the rest of the match. After that, Couture never let up, dominating Sylvia for the remainder of the five-round bout. In the end, Couture walked away as a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion and the oldest athlete to hold a UFC title.
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