The Natural: A Retrospective

---

Rodolfo Roman: Randy Couture exemplifies the heart of a champion. He is the perfect role model for an upcoming mixed martial artist or Average Joe. Despite any obstacle or outcome, Couture always steps inside the Octagon ready to perform to a maximum level.

John Evans: There is temptation to recount my most vivid Randy Couture moment as occurring in the Port Columbus International Airport at 7:23 a.m. on March 4, 2007. It involved some warm Diet Rockstar, a screaming geek from Iowa still wearing his press pass and the irony of Jeff Monson’s near-saintly patience with the Continental Airlines counter staff. However, there’s a reason why Randy Couture went on from the stigma of an Olympic alternate to become arguably the most revered figure in MMA today, and that reason has a lot to do with the universally euphoric atmosphere I witnessed that March morning four years ago. The next chapter in the story of Randy Couture might not be written in the cage, but it’s going to be a good one. We’ll be doing this again.

Mike Fridley: Couture shares a legacy with an elite and far more exclusive group than his hall of fame or championship credentials are able to boast. Nolan Ryan, George Blanda, Archie Moore, George Foreman and Randy Couture: athletes that peaked professionally years after their peers had faded away from active competition. Someday, when your grandchildren see highlights of Jack Nicklaus taming Augusta in his mid-40s, don’t forget to remind those young whippersnappers that their grandpappy saw “The Natural” perform superior feats in the Octagon’s early days.

Joe Myers: When I think of Randy Couture, his nickname of “Captain America” is the first thing that comes to mind. To a lot of fans of mixed martial arts, myself included, he was just that: a larger-than-life superhero who would defy the odds time after time and prevail in the end. Couture fought at a high level long past the time when most fighters have hung up their gloves, and the best way I can sum up my feelings about “The Natural” is to take a page from Joe Rogan’s quote book: “That guy is my hero.”

Sam Genovese: In the moments before Lyoto Machida channeled his inner-Steven Seagal to flatten Randy Couture for -- hopefully -- the last time, I was nervous. But as I watched Machida’s foot turn Randy’s lights out, I felt a sense of relief. I felt relieved because the knockout was a moment I never really wanted to come, but when it did, it was not as painful as I thought it would be. I had seen Randy get knocked out before and I had seen Randy pick himself up off the canvas and continue on. I reminded myself that Randy would, once more, pick himself up off the canvas and continue on. I thought to myself, the knockout did not kill Randy. It merely sent him on his way.

TJ De Santis: Upon returning home after Couture’s UFC 49 win over Vitor Belfort, I was fortunate to do an interview with Couture -- in transit -- with my co-hosts Caleb Quinn and Mike Reilly for InsideFighting.com’s “MMA Evolution.” During the interview, we could hear sirens, but we kept going. It was clear that the driver of the car was being pulled over. I could hear the officer asking the driver questions. When we asked Randy what was the matter, he responded, “There is apparently a problem with the tint of my friend’s windows.” When he said that, the officer must have noticed that Randy was on the phone and said something along the lines of, “Sir, you need to hang up the phone.” Randy kindly responded with, “I’m sorry officer. I’m doing a radio interview.” I don’t know if the patrolman recognized Randy or if it was just the Couture smile and charm that made the difference.

Tony Loiseleur: I was folding my laundry and watching UFC 44 a few days after it happened. Hearing Mike Goldberg’s and Joe Rogan’s genuine excitement for this old guy's round-by-round domination of Tito Ortiz, a guy that my grappling teacher claimed months earlier was the most dominant and “bad ass” champion in the world, made me stop doing the laundry. The takedowns, the dirty boxing and the incredible positional dominance were one thing, but the spanking Grandpa Couture gave Ortiz in the final moments sealed it for me. By the time the fight was over, Rogan summed up my own feeling best by saying, “That guy is my hero.” And he was. Randy Couture made me care about wrestling, about cages and about MMA in a different way. For someone who now works in and studies MMA for a living, that’s no small feat.

Mike Whitman: As a youngster, I was a big pro wrestling fan. Upon watching UFC 13 for the first time, I instantly recognized the Finnish hulk standing across from Couture as Ludwig Borga -- a real mean cat from the WWF who liked to jump off the top rope and decapitate people with his tree-trunk thighs. Borga -- whose real name was Tony Halme -- dwarfed Couture. Add to this the promo that Halme cut leading up to the fight wherein he discussed pulling off each of Couture’s limbs, and I honestly wasn’t sure what would happen when “Big” John McCarthy told them to get it on. Couture hit a double-leg instantly, and it became clear that it was all over. With Halme on his back, Couture landed some ground-and-pound before calmly transitioning to the back and sinking a rear-naked choke. Maybe I like to look at it through rose-colored glass, but to this day, I still think that was the fastest double-leg I’ve ever seen. Though Couture would go on to become a five-time champion and hall of famer, his first fight is still the most special to me.

Continue Reading » Perfectly Imperfect