Thread: Top 10 Randy Couture Moments

Reflections of a Legend: Couture’s Top 10

October 12, 2007
by Mike Sloan (msloan@sherdog.com)

If Randy Couture (Pictures) never fights in the UFC again, I'm fairly certain that the fight world would forgive him.

Couture is without question one of the greatest fighters to ever step foot into a cage or a ring, a man revered for his unfathomable victories when everything was stacked against him.

He has toppled -- handily, I might add -- a who's who of mixed martial artists, and he's done it repeatedly on the greatest stages in the sport. He's claimed and reclaimed world titles multiple times at both heavyweight and light heavyweight, and his accomplishments will never be questioned.

In the wake of Thursday's shocking news that Couture notified the UFC he no longer had an interest in holding their belt and also stepped down from commentating and ambassador roles in the company, let's take a look back at what I consider to be the 10 greatest fights of his career in the UFC, all of which helped create the legend that is Randy Couture (Pictures).

10) Couture vs. Vitor Belfort (Pictures) III, UFC 49
When Randy Couture (Pictures) climbed into the Octagon on the smoldering night of Aug. 21, 2004, "The Natural" was again trying to reclaim his lost title. In his previous outing, Couture had lost his light heavyweight belt to Belfort after a glancing punch and the threading of Belfort's glove lacerated his eye.

In the rubber match and main event of UFC 49, a large number of MMA "experts" figured that Couture had finally reached his peak and was about to become a steppingstone. Wow, were these experts just a little off target.

Couture dominated his younger, quicker and more athletic opponent and wound up pummeling Belfort so badly, so savagely that "The Phenom" had to be rescued by his corner after the third round. A battered, bloody and beleaguered Belfort had never before been so brutally punished.

The loss was so devastating that the Brazilian never regained the nightmarish fighting prowess that had made him such a dangerous fighter. In the end, Couture recaptured his 205-pound title and in essence ended Belfort's career as a legitimate threat.

9) Couture vs. Chuck Liddell (Pictures) II, UFC 52
This fight was a devastating loss on Couture's résumé and the first time he was knocked out. Of all the murderous strikers that he locked horns with, nobody had come close to snatching away his consciousness. For the first time in his career, Couture was a heavy favorite, not an underdog. After handling Liddell easily in their first encounter, most assumed he'd replicate that feat.

Unfortunately for Couture, that didn't occur. He was stopped in the first round, giving Liddell the light heavyweight title. The fight is memorable because it showed that after a remarkable string of inhuman accomplishments inside the Octagon, Couture was, after all, a human being.

The loss also allowed Couture the luxury of becoming "too old" and "too worn out" as a fighter. As everybody knows, this defeat let Couture prove us "experts" wrong again and again in the years to come. The bout was supposed to end Couture's reign as the king, but that never came close to reality.

8) Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures), UFC 74
This was the last time the world saw the living legend inside the Octagon. As always Couture was picked by many to lose to the cliché. You know: younger, stronger, more powerful, quicker, blah, blah, blah.

Gonzaga was the sexy pick for media and fans everywhere solely because he had nearly decapitated the vaunted Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic with a crippling head kick. He was also known primarily as a Couture-type fighter in that nobody expected this sort of striking ability, especially against one of the greatest pure strikers in MMA.

Couture willingly accepted the challenge and whipped Gonzaga from start to finish. He badly hurt the larger heavyweight, scored numerous takedowns and bombarded him with the trademark Couture ground-and-pound en route to a third-round stoppage.

At 44, Couture held onto his heavyweight title and walked out as arguably the greatest fighter to ever step foot into the Octagon. What makes this fight so special is that Gonzaga will probably become a heavyweight champion. On this night, however, he was owned by a man almost old enough to qualify for a senior discount.

7) Couture vs. Vitor Belfort (Pictures) I, UFC 15
Couture had only fought twice professionally and was basically a pure wrestler. Sure he could land some strikes on the ground, and he seemed like a competent contender, but Vitor Belfort (Pictures) was regarded as the future. He was a young kid without a ceiling, and he had destroyed every man thrown in front of him. Tank Abbott, Scott Ferrozzo, Jon Hess and Tra Telligman (Pictures) were all obliterated, with the longest fight lasting a mere 77 seconds. Belfort seemed absolutely invincible.

As it turned out, the monumental underdog thwarted everything Belfort threw his way and systematically dismantled the Brazilian in just over eight minutes.

Couture smothered him. He battered him. He slammed him and rained down vicious elbows. It looked like a man versus a boy. Never before had a fighter so deadly as Belfort been handled so easily, and the win marked the first time in his career that Couture had proved the so-called pundits wrong. In reality, this was the dawn of Couture's legacy.

6) Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo (Pictures) II, UFC 34
After their torrid first encounter in which some insiders felt Rizzo deserved the victory, Couture slightly retooled his game plan and punished "The Rock" for just over two full rounds.

Rizzo couldn't land his legendary leg kicks for fear of being slammed onto his back. He also couldn't reel off his lethal punches, either, because Couture's defense and angles were giving the Brazilian knockout artist fits. Rizzo had never been beaten so soundly and so emphatically, and many wondered why their initial meeting was as close as it was.

Couture had figured out Rizzo and worn him down in his greatest masterpiece to date. He scored takedowns almost at will and delivered vicious elbows and punches from within Rizzo's guard, from side-control and from full-mount. Early in the third round, Rizzo was an exhausted and bludgeoned shell of the dangerous title challenger that had entered the cage.

In victory Couture erased any doubt as to who the best heavyweight in the sport was, at least in the UFC. Additionally, considering how poor Zuffa's previous card had been, he capped off an event that desperately needed his performance.

5) Couture vs. Kevin Randleman (Pictures), UFC 28
"The Monster" was supposed to be a fighter just like Couture -- except twice as explosive and twice as powerful. Couture seemed slow in comparison to Randleman, and though "The Natural" had earlier pummeled Belfort, he had also lost to opponents like Valentijn Overeem (Pictures), Enson Inoue and Mikhail Illoukhine (Pictures). Plus, those fights weren't even in the UFC, and many believed that Couture had already seen his best days.

Randleman was the prototypical killing machine, a disciple of Mark "The Hammer" Coleman, who was expected to be even better than his mentor. Of course Couture prevailed and left the taste of shoe soles in many a mouth.

Couture out-muscled and out-wrestled Randleman and when he needed to, he administered a Hammer-esque beating that The Monster, himself a former UFC champion, had little answer for. It seemed as though every time Randleman tried something, Couture had the perfect response. He scored takedowns, blocked strikes and smothered his muscular opponent from start to finish.

Along with his triumph over Belfort, Couture had squashed another young opponent expected to be a future star.

They missed one... when Randy schooled these guys on Pro vs Joes. It was hilarious.