The 5 Best & 5 Worst Moments in the MMA Career of Randy Couture
Some three days later, I’m still not sure if it makes it better or worse that Randy Couture’s MMA career ended via insane, never-before-seen crane kick knockout. On one hand, it was certainly sad to see the legend’s body slump lifelessly to the canvas after the UFC’s resident Karate Kid blasted him in the face just a minute into the second round of their bout in Toronto. On the other hand, maybe the kick really just saved us nine more minutes of watching Couture take potshots to the face at the hands of notorious counterpuncher Lyoto Machida. It had taken just a few moments after all to realize this bout wasn’t going to go Couture’s way. All 47 of his hard-earned years were apparent as we watched “The Natural” hopelessly chase Machida around the Octagon like a dog trying to hunt down its own tail for the full extent of the first round. Granted, he didn’t look Chuck Liddell-bad or anything, but the performance was enough to confirm that it’s high time for Couture to walk away – and this time to stay gone.
It got us thinking. When you’re in the game for 14 years, compile a 19-11 career record, essentially shepherd a sport from its dark ages into the white hot light of mainstream acceptance – when you are arguably the most important athlete ever to compete in your chosen field – there are going to be a few ups and downs. In light of that and by way of career retrospective for a guy who absolutely deserves one, after the jump we give you our picks for the five greatest and five worst moments in the MMA career of Randy Couture, presented here in chronological order …
THE BEST:
Couture kills The Phenom at UFC 15 (10/17/97)
It’s still pretty hilarious to think that among the attributes the UFC flashed on the screen to describe a 20-year-old (and in retrospect obviously roided-to-the-gills) Vitor Belfort leading up to this fight was the phrase “No Known Weaknesses.” The kid’s previous four fights in the Octagon had lasted a combined 3:04 and it was clear the company was grooming him for whatever limited stardom the sport could muster at the time. Unfortunately, for the first of many occasions, Randy Couture screwed all that up.
Couture took Belfort into what 1997 considered to be very deep water, exposing his pathetically deficient cardio and a crippling personality flaw that essentially went on to define the rest of “The Phenom’s” career – if Belfort can’t beat you during the first five minutes, he can’t beat you. In reality, this fight lasted just 8:16 (less than two full rounds in 2011 time) but it launched Couture on his first step to superstardom while putting Belfort on the fast track to mediocrity. Since Couture (rightly) felt the UFC brought him in to lose to its golden boy, it also sowed the seeds for his future distrust of the bosses.
In his next fight Couture won the UFC heavyweight title from Maurice Smith and then promptly signed with Vale Tudo Japan. He didn’t fight in the Octagon again until 2000.
Couture vs. Liddell I at UFC 43 (6/6/03)
Once again, it was easy to get the impression the UFC brought Couture in to lose to the guy it really wanted as champ. You have to wonder what Randy was thinking after his no frills entrance to the cage gave way to “The Iceman’s” minutes-long video introduction where the UFC blasted the metal version of “Ice Ice Baby” and flashed a number of adjectives up on the big screen it apparently felt described Liddell … one of which was the word “intolerant.” Yeah, pretty sure that word doesn’t mean what they thought it meant.
Once again, Couture screwed up the UFC’s plans, pretty much beating Liddell from pillar to post both on the feet and on the ground. At one point he jacked Liddell’s hips up higher than the top of the cage (in what stands as one of the best takedowns in UFC history) and ultimately made Chuck look like he didn’t want any more en route to a third-round TKO. In doing so, Couture won the interim light heavyweight championship, became the first UFC fighter to win a title in two different weight classes and served notice that he should probably not be underestimated again.
Couture snaps Tito Ortiz’s streak of five consecutive light heavyweight title defenses at UFC 44 (9/26/03)
After a bout between frienemies Liddell and Ortiz failed to materialize in early 2003, Ortiz spent nearly a year away from the cage while still officially holding onto his status as UFC 205-pound champion (not to mention all-around badass). When the UFC finally coaxed him back into the Octagon it was for a “champion vs. champion” unification bout with Couture. Who knows why he thought that was a better idea. At UFC 44, Couture thoroughly dominated him over five rounds, which ended with Couture standing over Ortiz, literally spanking his a** to become undisputed champion.
The loss broke Ortiz’s three-and-a-half year undefeated streak, for all intents and purposes signaled the end of his career as a relevant fighter and caused Joe Rogan to provide the UFC with one of its most overused sound bites when he shrieked, “That guy is my hero!” as Couture emerged victorious.
Couture participates in “The Ultimate Fighter,” season 1 (2005)
While Couture was busy losing, then reclaiming the 205-pound title from Belfort in 2004, Liddell went 1-1 in the Pride middleweight grand prix and then came back stateside to defeat Ortiz and Vernon “Tiger” White. This, the UFC assured everyone, obviously made him the No. 1 contender. As quickly as it could, it booked Couture and Liddell as coaches on the inaugural season of “TUF,” which at the time was just a crazy scheme that every exec in TV Land passed on at least once.
As you know, the show was a breakout hit, spawning season after season of tiresome do-overs and launching both Couture and Liddell into the full thrust of their mainstream stardom. It also paved the way for the final two bouts of their trilogy. Even though Couture went on to lose both future bouts to Liddell, it is still perhaps MMA’s defining feud.
Couture whips Tim Sylvia’s a** at UFC 68 (3/3/07)
Depending on which side you were on, this was either the most badass thing your ever saw or the most humiliating. Couture returned from his first retirement in the spring of ’07 and requested that the UFC move him back to heavyweight, assumedly because he thought Sylvia was such a sorry excuse for a champion. After 13 months away from the cage and fighting a man who outweighed him by 40.5 pounds at the official weigh-in, Couture began this fight with an inside leg kick-overhand right combo that floored Sylvia and pretty much kept his boot on the giant’s throat for the full 25 minutes. Just as he’d done with Liddell, Couture discombobulated the striker with takedowns and awkward stand-up combinations, sprouting a huge mouse over Sylvia’s left eye and – when you think about it – kind of ending the guy’s life. Big fella was never the same after.
“Not bad for an old man,” Couture quipped during his post fight interview. After that, UFC video editors’ jobs were done for the next four years.
Best honorable mention: That one time when he totally beat up James Toney? That was pretty good, too.
THE WORST:
Couture gets his eye-socket busted by Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 39 (9/27/02)
In between those weird pit-stops in Japan we talked about, Couture reclaimed the UFC heavyweight title with a third-round TKO over Kevin Randleman at UFC 28, then defended it with back-to-back bouts against Pedro Rizzo. Things were looking up for him, but it soon became apparent that the heavyweight division was rapidly outgrowing him. Like, painfully apparent.
First he lost to upstart challenger Josh Barnett at UFC 36, after which Barnett established an unfortunate benchmark of sorts by testing positive for performance enhancers for the first time in his career. That positive test (and Barnett’s ensuing embarrassment in front of the NSAC, which provided another dreadful signpost on MMA’s stumble toward mainstream acceptance) put everybody in kind of an awkward situation. The UFC settled it with bout between Rodriguez and Couture at UFC 39. The fight itself was actually going OK until Couture got trapped underneath the much larger fighter midway through the final round and Rodriguez broke his orbital bone with an elbow. As you might imagine, Couture tapped immediately and decided not to fight again at heavyweight for five years.
Couture gets his eyelid busted by Belfort at UFC 46 (1/31/04)
This happening stands as a testament of what terrible luck it is when the UFC names an entire pay-per-view after you. At “UFC 46: Supernatural” (Get it? Super Natural!) Couture was a heavy favorite headed into his second meeting with Belfort. Unfortunately this bout ended in one of more the bizarre and disappointing fashions in UFC history, when Belfort was declared the winner after a seam on his glove sliced through Couture’s eyelid on a missed punch just 40 seconds into the first.
Legend has it, Belfort stopped by Couture’s hotel room later that night to try to give the belt back to him, but Couture wouldn’t accept it. He took the strap by force with a proper three-round beatdown seven months later. The last image of Couture on the UFC 46 PPV was him leaving the arena headed for the hospital with his arm around his wife. So at least he still had his home life. Oh, wait …
Couture participates in “TUF,” season 1 (2005)
What, you say, “TUF 1” is on both the best and the worst lists? That’s right, friend. The historians in the crowd would be well served to think of Couture’s career as having two very distinct epochs: “Pre-TUF” and “Post-TUF.” Pre-TUF Randy showed up for his fights in an athletic grey Team Quest hoodie and a black Raw Team ballcap. Post-TUF Randy started dressing like a goddamned pirate, wearing ruffled shirts, a Middle Eastern scarf and a train engineer hat. Pre-TUF Randy was humble and unassuming. Post-TUF Randy started to believe he couldn’t be knocked out … until he did get knocked out – twice! – by Liddell, a dude who had no business beating Randy Couture in any kind of athletic competition
Post-TUF Randy left his wife for a blackjack dealer, then left the blackjack dealer for a newer version the first chance he got. Post-TUF Randy opened a string of middlingly successful gym franchises, endorsed a Body by Jake workout contraption, got it in his head he was an actor and at the age of like 45 got a giant fleur de lis tattoed on his arm. And what do we blame for all this? We blame “TUF,” y’all, we blame “TUF.” And also Kim Couture.
Oh yeah, that other retirement (10/11/07-9/2/08)
Two months after defeating Gabe Gonzaga (despite a broken arm) at UFC 74, Couture abruptly announced he was leaving the UFC with two fights left on his current contract and the UFC heavyweight championship at least figuratively in his possession. Couture cited unhappiness with his pay (Liddell was still being paid more) and a desire to fight consensus No.1-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko as his reasons for leaving.
Such began a protracted court battle that ended exactly as you might expect when a hot-headed professional fighter defaults on contract with a multimillion-dollar company that can hire as many lawyers in as many states as it wants. Especially when said athlete is 45 years old and working with an extremely limited window on his earning potential. Couture never fought Emelianenko, sat out 15 months and when he returned got booked straight into a title defense against Brock Lesnar. We all remember how that turned out.
Couture loses an ’80s karate tournament to Machida at UFC 129 (4/30/11)
Man, Randy just got those teeth fixed! You gotta have great teeth if you’re going to get heavy into acting, I guess. Anyway, as stated at top, this was kind of a sad way to watch Couture go out and it’s obviously even more disgusting that that gargoyle Seagal – at this point pretty much the official mascot of Team Black House – was there trying to take some measure of credit for the demise of one of martial arts’ legitimate all-time greats, but those are the breaks in the fight game. Nobody ever said it was easy. Or fair.
In closing, we’ll leave you with the following skin-deep, glass-half-full analysis: Couture’s first MMA bout (at UFC 13 on May 30, 1997) was contested at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia and in it he fought a former professional wrestler who threatened during his prefight interviews to rip off his arms, legs and head. His last went down at Rogers Centre, in front of 55,000 fans, against a fellow former champion who suspended the laws of time and space to defeat him. And damn it, we hope he got a cut of the PPV money.
Worst honorable mention: Remember that one time when his acting was so bad for the Scorpion King that they had to overdub his voice completely? That was pretty sucky too.