Randy Couture

TRAINING: This camp is very typical of all my camps. 2 workouts a day, 6 days a week. Strength and conditioning in the morning with Jake Bonacci 3 days a week. Mitt work and technical work 3 mornings a week with striking coach Gil Martinez, and including Hiroshi and Cezar, my 2 Lyoto-style training partners. They have very similar styles and backgrounds to Machida and mimic him perfectly. Neil Melanson is my head trainer for this fight also. We’ve developed some more ground tactics and techniques for Machida when we put him there. Vitor Belfort and Joey Varner have been instrumental training partners and sources of info to help solve the interesting competitive puzzle that is Lyoto Machida. 

When and why did you start training for fighting? I hadn’t really seen the UFC until I saw Don Frye fight. Don Frye and I were pretty good friends in college, so it was something right away I thought was pretty interesting.  About nine months later I was in UFC 13. It was an interesting combination of fear and excitement competing in the UFC the first time.

What ranks and titles have you held? Three-time UFC World Heavyweight champion, Former 2 time UFC World Light Heavyweight champion. UFC Hall of Famer. Some of Randy’s wrestling accomplishments are: Four time World Team member, Placed 9th in the 1997 World Championship in Poland, Pan American Games champion, Four time National Champion in Greco-Roman, three time All-American in college, two time runner-up at NCAA National Championships. Alternate for the Olympic team 4 times.

Do you have any heroes? As a kid, my childhood heroes were skiers.  I was an avid skier, and aspired to be an Olympic skier.  Oddly enough, I ended up in wrestling and pursued Olympic wrestling.  In college, I looked up to Kenny Monday.  I aspired to wrestle and compete like Kenny Monday, the Olympic champion from 1988.  But, I have a lot of respect for all athletes who do the things we do and make the sacrifices we have to make to compete at a high level.

What is your favorite technique? Takedowns and the clinch.

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It’s an accomplishment that I’m proud of and I’m happy to have been able to be a part of and be involved in. All the things you get to do as fighters, it’s a great experience.

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? Randy attended Oklahoma State University and earned a degree in German.

What was your job before you started fighting? Randy was in the US Army for 6 years where wrestled and did a little boxing.

•    Illustrious, Hall of Fame career ended with UFC 129 loss to Lyoto Machida

•    Age-defying: When fighters name their hero in the sport, Couture’s name is mentioned perhaps more than anyone other than Royce Gracie

•    Combining age and success, arguably has no equal in professional sports that rely heavily on physical conditioning. A decade ago, when Couture was in his upper 30s, he started fielding retirement questions and every year those questions grew louder and louder. People have always wondered when Couture would “get old” in the cage and retire, and he always proved them wrong, even two months shy of 48! Simply amazing.

•    Only UFC fighter to ever win the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight straps (three-times at HWT, twice at Light Hwt – oldest man to ever win UFC title, age 43 over Tim Sylvia — at a sold-out arena in Columbus, Ohio, with Dana White dubbing it one of the loudest, most deafening arenas he’s ever been in throughout the five-round Couture fight)

•    Accomplished actor; played in “The Expendables” alongside Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, etc…

•    Served in U.S. Army for six years; graduated from Oklahoma State University with degree in German (he speaks German)

•    Growing up, he actually aspired to be an Olympic skier. Was an avid skier. Went on to be a champion wrestler (Olympic alternate, Greco-Roman national champion, Two-time NCAA Division I finalist at OSU)