Randy Couture: Natural Born Fighter

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Just as Couture had defied the odds and beaten Liddell at his own game, he did the same with Ortiz. Out grounding and out pounding Ortiz, Couture won a lopsided five-round decision to become the undisputed champion. "That guy is my hero!" exclaimed Rogan after Couture had reduced the cocky Ortiz to tears in defeat and literally spanked his butt during the one-sided affair. "Unbelievable. Forty years young. Captain America ladies and gentlemen. That's the baddest dude on the planet."

During Couture's magical and memorable run - the only speed bump came with a loss to Belfort due to an incidental cut just 49 seconds into the fight - he defied critics and age, as he was the headliner for a sport that was growing and growing, just like his fan base. He knocked out Liddell, humbled Ortiz and stopped Belfort in a second rematch. "Amazing," says White of the run. "He looked unstoppable."

Liddell would stop him, however. On the heels of the breakout first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" on SpikeTV, Couture defended his title against Liddell at a sold-out MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It concluded a whirlwind stanza in UFC history, featuring the emergence of "The Ultimate Fighter" with Couture and Liddell as coaches, the first live fight card with the show's finale and the mega fight that was "The Natural" and "The Iceman" II. A Liddell straight right, placed perfectly on Couture's jaw, set up a rubber match.

The oddest thing about the rivalry was that it was anything but. The combatants dished out respect and punches in equal amounts. It was fueled by their abilities and their individual charisma. There was no underlying bad blood, no heated words nor feuding. "When you talk to Randy, he had nothing but respect for Chuck, and Chuck had nothing but respect for Randy," White says. "That trilogy proved a fight could sell without two guys hating each other."

It's an aspect that has been commonplace with Couture, however. His fights were always about competition, his career was always about being the best. "I've never really had the situation going into a fight [where I'm] disliking the person I'm about to fight," Couture says. "The fact that most of the fighters are nice guys surprises a lot of people. They think, 'You're fighting in a cage, you must be some wild animal.'"

And so, months before Liddell-Couture III, Couture broke the news of his retirement behind closed doors. Couture still vividly recalls White's reaction: "He said bullshit." "I still say bullshit," White jokes. Couture walked to the octagon that day knowing he would walk away no matter how it ended. It was a walk away that would last longer than the fight itself. "I think a lot of people were overwhelmed by the moment," he says. Couture was showered with affection as he made his way to the locker room, stopping for hugs, pictures, autographs, handshakes and congratulations on a brilliant career.

Now, when familiar foes Ortiz and Liddell fight for a second time, Couture will be there as a color commentator, just as he was the first time the two fought shortly after he'd disposed of them both. Only this time, he won't be defending his title against the victor. Fact is, he's far too busy. "I'm gonna have to come out of retirement just to get a break," Couture grins. "I retired from fighting, but I'm far from retired."

Since his retirement, Couture has taken the task of his post-octagon life head on, matching the tenacity he trained and fought with. According to White, it was a "no-brainer," that Couture became the fourth UFC Hall of Famer in the organization's annals. Couture remains a fixture in the UFC and MMA. He works for the UFC as a color commentator and an analyst for The Fight Network. He's involved in a new nutritional line of supplements. His Legends Training Center in Hollywood will soon be joined by facilities in Vancouver, Washington and Las Vegas. He continues to lend a helping hand to up-and-coming fighters already helping develop the likes of Karo Parisyan, Forrest Griffin and Chris Leben. And, perhaps most importantly, he is an ambassador for mixed-martial arts.

"I love this sport," says Couture, who finds himself speaking on behalf of the UFC in the hopes of getting the organization sanctioned in states still wary of the sport. "It's certainly important to me, with all the preconceived notions, to represent the sport in a good way. I constantly find myself in an educator's role."

Couture is a preconceived notion's worst nightmare, so he most certainly fits the job description. While most combatants are stereotyped as venomous brutes fueled by rage, Couture was always the foil to that typecast. "I get people saying all the time, 'You could be the guy next door,'" Couture remarks.

Hatred never fueled the fighter who spoke nothing but kind words and respect through an ever-present smile. Those who thought he was over the hill and too old for his craft never inspired him much, either. "Everyone else made a big deal about my age," Couture, 43, says. "Now, since I've retired, it's, 'When are you coming back?'"

In the frazzled society of sports, Couture was indeed an oddity. An NCAA All-American in wrestling with Olympic aspirations, he didn't begin his UFC career until the age of 32. He ended it in a main-event title bout at a spry 42 years old. Competition and only competition inspired him to be the best. "It's a form of competition that's very physical, that's what I love about it," says Couture, who shunned sickness on Nov. 17 to take part in a grappling match at a small show in Culver City, California.

It's that drive which lay stagnant. His legacy established, Couture's grin is still always there, and his involvement in MMA is just as evident as ever, but that nagging thirst is unquenched. "It does kind of tickle that little bit of competition that's in me," says Couture of his UFC commentating duties. "Truth is, I probably could [comeback] in the right situation, [with] the right opponent - I would consider it."

With blood splattered across his face and arms raised, he was a warrior in victorious glory. With a far-away gaze in his eyes and uncertainty in his head, he was a fallen hero. Through it all though - four championships, a slew of the main events, the upsets and upsetting defeats - he remained Randy Couture. Hard-working. Humble. Respectful. A smile.

Fellow UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock once said of Couture: "You want kids to watch people like Randy Couture, who, when they win they have nothing bad to say, but before they win have every intention of hurting you."

And so Couture evolved right along with the sport he loves so much. He was a world-class wrestler who became the world's best mixed-martial arts fighter. For now, he remains resigned to retirement as it relates to competing in the mixed-martial arts arena. Instead, he has more time to represent the sport with the class and pride that he always did.

He knows many will still doubt, but stacked odds have never bothered him. "I think we'll have that fight to fight for a few more years," Couture says. "But I think we'll continue to win over more fans."

That's a fight "The Natural" never lost.