Randy Couture: Captain Comeback

Los Angeles, California

"Not bad for an old man."

With those now famous words, Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Randy Couture penned another remarkable chapter in what has become an implausible career. At 43 years old, "The Natural" emerged from retirement with nothing to prove, slaying the giant Tim Sylvia - 13 years younger, six inches taller and 40 pounds heavier - with five rounds of brilliant dominance to regain the UFC heavyweight title.

Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Randy Couture. They are an exclusive group that makes up the UFC Hall of Fame. In the infant sport that is mixed-martial arts, all four have made their way back to competition after their inductions, but only Couture has revisited the level that made him a Hall of Famer in the first place. "I'm still here, I'm still as fast and as strong and as technically good a fighter as I've ever been," Couture says.

On the evening of May 3 in Columbus, Ohio, the man known as "Captain America" proved he had more than enough super hero left in him. With more than a year away from the octagon adding on to the supposed disadvantages presented him by time and genes, Couture brought the fight to the then-champion and brought it to him from the start. A left-leg kick, followed by a devastating overhand right floored Sylvia and brought the frenzied, capacity crowd of 19,000 to its feet just eight seconds into the bout.

Millions of fight fans around the world watched Randy "The Natural" Couture as he dominated Tim Sylvia for five straight rounds to become the only man ever to wear the UFC World Heavyweight title three times.

"The whole place was electric," remembers Marc Ratner, the UFC's Vice Pres. of Government and Regulatory Affairs. "It was surreal." It was an epic moment that will forever live in UFC lore. It was a moment that proved to be the stunning genesis of another shocking upset in a current run of upsets that has shown anything can happen in the sport of mixed martial arts. Of course, Couture has been the king of anything-can-happen.

Whether it was Vitor Belfort in 1997 or Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz in 2003 or Sylvia in 2007, Couture has made a career out of proving anything can happen inside the octagon. And while quick submissions and one-punch knockouts are abundant in the sport, Couture has left no doubt or sign of a fluke, as his fights were all multi-round masterpieces ending with brutal ground-and-pound stoppages or one-sided decisions.

"It's always satisfying when that happens," says Couture of proving doubters wrong. "I guess I'm one of those guys. You tell me I can't do it, I'm gonna train harder to prove to you that I can do it." Training hard is one thing, though. Couture, 15-8 over his career, has made history over and over again by beating his opponents at their own game, defying all the critics and defying everything else from age, lack of size and anything in between. "He's a freak of nature – he seriously is," UFC President Dana White says. "He doesn't go out partying and drinking. He's a guy who's always stayed in shape, even when he retired, he was training."

After a second defeat at the hand of Liddell, Couture announced his retirement in February of 2006. But when the opportunity to fight Sylvia for the title came to be, Couture couldn't resist the challenge. "I think we're all kind of striving to be the best - titles go along with that," he says. "It's kind of the icing on the cake. It's just about maintaining that competitive edge." So Couture began doing what he does as well, if not better than, anyone else in combat sports. He began training and began devising a game plan.

"What was surprising was you knew the game plan," White says. That game plan was to take down the mammoth Sylvia, neutralize his size advantage on the ground and avoid his knockout power. "And Randy goes out, and out strikes him and took him down, too," White recalls. Indeed, Couture out struck a striker once again, just as he'd done against Liddell some four years earlier, all the while taking Sylvia to the mat and pounding out points on the canvas. "He's great at making game plans," White says. "He's great at going at his opponents' weaknesses."

Whether it's Jimi Hendrix or AC/DC or Aerosmith, Couture's entrance always seems to be classic rock – classic, just like him. His wife Kim chose Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" to usher Couture to his latest awe-inspiring performance against the aforementioned Sylvia. And, indeed, Couture is back – back and bigger, maybe even better, than ever.