Randy "The Natural" Couture

Randy Duane Couture is a Greco-Roman wrestler, folkstyle wrestler, and professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He is the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Champion and a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. He is the only athlete to have held championship titles in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions of the UFC, as well as the only five-time champion in UFC history, earning him the nicknames "The Natural" and, later, "Captain America". Randy served 6 years in the Army after graduating high school, where he took up boxing to offset the standard Army physical training.Having over 25 years of training in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, Couture’s preferred method of offense in mixed martial arts competition was what is commonly referred to as “Ground and Pound”. This technique involves a fighter using his wrestling ability to take down his opponent, establishing top position on the mat, and then launching a series of blows against his rival. Although this method was Randy’s strength he also demonstrated a variety of skills in both boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.Couture served as an assistant wrestling and strength conditioning coach at Oregon State University. While coaching, Couture lived in Corvallis, Oregon for 6 1/2 years. He then spent most of his professional fighting career living in Gresham, Oregon.In 1997, at the age of 33, Randy made his debut into the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) where he defeated Tony Halme and Steven Graham in the Heavyweight class. Randy then scored a TKO victory against Brazilian “Phenom” Vitor Belfort. This is where Randy's nickname “The Natural” came to be.Randy earned his first Heavyweight title fight in December, 1997 after his match against kickboxer Maurice Smith.On November 17th, 2000 Randy took the Heavyweight title a second time from Kevin Randleman. Randy was then victorious in both classic battles against Brazilian fighter Pedro Rizzo in 2001.He then found himself with two consecutive losses to larger opponents in the Heavyweight division, which convinced Randy to move down a weight class to Light-Heavyweight, where he would spend the remainder of his career.Randy TKO’d long-time number one contender Chuck Liddell in his debut into the Light-Heavyweight class, leaving Randy as the only competitor to hold titles in both the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight divisions of the UFC. This earned Randy his nickname “Captain America”.Randy’s next bout was against five-time defending champion Tito Ortiz for the Undisputed Light-Heavyweight title. After 5 rounds, at the age of 40, “The Natural” scored a unanimous decision and became the UFC’s Undisputed Light-Heavyweight Champion, literally spanking Tito in the octagon.On June 24, 2006 Randy was the fourth fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall Of Fame, alongside Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock.He, along with Robert Follis, who once headed Team Quest, a camp of fighters based out of Gresham, Oregon. In 2005, Couture moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he currently resides. He moved out of Team Quest recently and opened new gyms called Xtreme Couture, located in Las Vegas, Vancouver, Washington, and Wellington, Florida. He trains at his Las Vegas gym.Although he is more generally recognized as a clinch-fighter, Couture's preferred method of offense in mixed martial arts competition is what is commonly referred to as 'ground and pound', in which a fighter uses his wrestling ability to take his opponent down to the mat, establishing top position, and successively striking the opponent. In addition to his wrestling background, Couture has displayed a variety of skills in both Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has submitted two opponents using different chokeholds. He holds notable wins over Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Pedro Rizzo, Kevin Randleman, Jeremy Horn, Gabriel Gonzaga and Tim Sylvia.He is also the only athlete in UFC history to win a championship after becoming a Hall of Fame member.