Several years ago, Randy Couture was a high-profile UFC fighter. After signing with the Fighting Network, he made his professional mixed martial arts debut on March 20, 1999, against Mikhail Illoukhine.
The bout ended in a controversial decision involving a chokehold. After that fight, Couture took a break from MMA and refocused on his amateur wrestling career.
Randy Couture started out as a middle-school wrestler and won a State Championship for Lynnwood High School. In college, he served as an assistant wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach for Oregon State University.
During this time, he also founded the Team Quest training camp for fighters, based in Gresham, Oregon. In addition to his fighting career, he opened the Xtreme Couture gym chain in Las Vegas.
How Much Randy Couture Earn Per Fight
The UFC has never confirmed or denied the exact figure for Randy Couture’s pay, but sources say he earned an average of $3.5 million per fight. While this is significantly less than Liddell’s $4.4 million per fight, it’s close enough to make an educated guess.
Randy Couture fought in two UFC bouts. One was the lightweight championship. His second match against Tito Ortiz, a five-time champion, was billed as a “Champion vs. Champion” fight. In the end, Randy Couture won by unanimous decision. The win marked his return to the UFC and helped him establish himself as a top contender.
In addition to fighting, Randy Couture also starred in several movies. He worked with Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. He married his first wife, Sharon, in 1981, and divorced her in 1993. They had three children together. Randy Couture divorced Tricia in 2005 and married Kim in 2006. She later divorced him in May 2009.
Besides fighting, Randy Couture also made cameo appearances in movies and television shows. He starred in Redbelt and had a small role in Human Weapon on September 27, 2007. He later starred in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. He also starred in The Expendables franchise and was a guest star in the 2011 film Good Kids.
After his third title defense, Randy Couture lost to Josh Barnett. In this bout, the former champion mounted his opponent in the second round and landed several strikes to end the fight by TKO. As a result, the UFC dropped Barnett.
In his last fight, Randy Couture was a UFC Heavyweight Champion. During the fight, however, Couture’s performance began to deteriorate. He broke his orbital bone during the fight against Rodriguez, and his final score was a TKO.
After losing two of his last three fights, Randy Couture decided to switch to light heavyweight and fought top contender Chuck Liddell for the UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Championship. In this fight, he won by TKO. He became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes.
In the following fight, he fought former rival Vitor Belfort and won a unanimous decision. The UFC gave him a rematch, and Couture won the match by TKO in the third round.
