UFC 129 Fight Card: Randy Couture Retrospective His UFC Debut and Early Years

By now I'm pretty sure everyone has heard that UFC 129 will be the last time we see Randy Couture fight (again). In celebration of his storied career, it's only appropriate to take a look back at the high and low points of his storied MMA career. While most enter MMA today in their 20s, Randy Couture entered his first UFC tournament at the ripe age of 38, an age when most fighters retire. Couture brought World Class (a term I hate using) Greco Wrestling as well as under rated boxing he learned while serving in the United States Army. 

Entering the UFC 13 tournament, he was the dark horse of the field which included former WWE wrestler Tony Halme and Steven Graham. The field was pretty underwhelming and it was Couture's world class Greco-Roman wrestling that shone through that evening. SEG (the owners of the UFC at the time) saw Couture has a competent but beatable opponent for Vitor Belfort, the young exciting Brazilian fighter they hoped to build their promotion on. Belfort was not only a fantastic boxer with a Carlson Gracie Jiu Jitsu pedigree, he also was good looking and 20 years old, everything the promotion wanted in a fighter.

Couture would be the underdog coming into the fight as he didn't display an ability to box proficiently in his UFC debut. What the fans were treated to surprised everyone at UFC 15 in Biloxi, Mississippi that October evening. With a shot at Maurice Smith's Heavyweight belt on the line, Couture came out and straight up bullied Belfort for eight minutes. Couture was able to utilize dirty boxing techniques and wrestling from the clinch to bring the rise of the Phenom to an abrupt halt. While his ability to finish the fight were still relatively basic, Couture displayed a strong clinch that has been his strongest attribute in his career. His ability to game plan for Belfort also showed that the young Brazilian fighter had massive deficiencies that could be exploited. 

The win at UFC 15 would hurt the growth of the UFC at the time but would be a launching point for Couture's career. The UFC was counting on Belfort to defeat Couture and challenge Smith for the title; when Couture came out victorious, the plans for the Heavyweight title were halted. Couture would challenge Maurice Smith at UFC Japan at the Yokohama Arena. The fight wasn't exciting and neither fighter wanted to commit to damaging the other. It was Couture who would come away victorious due to his ability to get the fight to the ground and maintain positional control to win a majority decision and the UFC Heavyweight belt. It wasn't the passing the torch moment that Smith/Belfort could have been but furthered the recognition of Couture's game planning ability.

SEG couldn't see a future with Couture as the face of the organization and made an attempt to match Randy up with Bas Rutten in hopes that Rutten would become the new Heavyweight champion. Couture instead, opted to sign with Vale Tudo Japan and was stripped of his belt. The UFC would match Bas up with Kevin Randleman for the new newly vacated title and Couture would instead face Enson Inoue at Vale Tudo Japan 1998. Couture quickly got the fight to the ground and was forced to tap out to an armbar just 90 seconds into the fight. It would be the first loss in Couture's career and the last time he'd fight for Vale Tudo Japan. Couture would attempt to bounce back against Mikhail Illoukhine at RINGS: Rise 1. It is a controversial fight that ended with Randy tapping to a kimura. Couture would take a leave from MMA to focus on making the U.S. Olympic team for the 2000 Summer Games. 

Come back tomorrow for part 2 of Randy Couture's career with the King of Kings tournament and his return to the UFC...

SBN coverage of UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields