Issue 078

August 2011

DANA WHITE, UFC President, on the Natural.

Randy Couture is an amazing human being. One of the craziest things about Randy, and my best example of this is Jon Jones, look at how young and talented Jones is, an incredible athlete, he gets a fight and he gets a little tear in his hand. Randy Couture is 47, and he never gets hurt. NEVER. 

To still be training with young guys at his age, and fighting a guy like Lyoto Machida for seven minutes in Toronto… he’s an amazing human being. It would be tough to see another like Randy.

One of the things that made Randy so special, and I said this to Lorenzo [Fertitta] when he was walking into the Octagon in Toronto, ‘Did you ever think you would see a guy with a record of 19 wins and 10 losses get a standing ovation from 55,000 people in a stadium?’ But there’s a reason he is so revered. It’s about all the things he has overcome. All these obstacles that he finds a way of combating – against the odds.

Look at the fights in Randy’s career. Look at the fights with Pedro Rizzo. His legs got busted up so bad he had to go through therapy. Then he comes right back and destroys Rizzo in the second fight. Rizzo was never the same after that fight. It was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. Him and Rizzo was insane.

So then, when we thought he was going to retire, he moves to light heavyweight and he beats Chuck Liddell. Nobody thought he could beat Chuck Liddell. He was supposed to lose to Chuck, but he literally shocked the world. Then he beats Tito Ortiz. And if that isn’t enough, he then goes back up to heavyweight and beats Tim Sylvia. He’s always wanted to step up and fight anyone. He has the stuff of legend in him, he’s a fearless human being and he is at the top of the food chain in the mould of these guys we have in the UFC. 

He fought the best, and he even fought some of them multiple times, like Chuck. That’s the thing about the UFC: these guys want to fight the best. If you suggest it, they want the challenge. When there’s a fight to be made, all these guys step up. The Matt Hugheses, the Chuck Liddells… that’s why these guys are special, because the fans get to see the fights they want to see.

It could happen that as nutrition and sports science gets better and better, that we may see others who stay in the sport as long as Randy did. But I always say that we don’t celebrate Randy Couture enough. Everyone makes such a big deal about when George Foreman beat Michael Moorer to become the oldest boxing heavyweight champion of the world, but Randy is that age and still around in the UFC heavyweight division.

I do socialize with him, and everybody knows that Randy and I have had our ups and downs. He’s a guy I respect and I will have a long-term friendship with him, I’m sure. He’s a gentleman within the sport, too, and never disrespectful to anybody. You can gauge how highly he is thought of in the sport when you hear young fighters, old fighters, and the fans, speak about him. That’s probably what says the most about him. Everyone respects him; everyone would like to learn from him. Anybody who meets Randy Couture usually likes him.

I go back to the fact that as a human being, this guy is just so tough, and so talented, and a classy guy for the sport who is hard not to like. I reckon the worst scenario for most fans is when your favorite fighter was up against Randy. You don’t want Randy to lose, but at the same time, you don’t want him to take it away from your favorite fighter. 

When we bought the company 10 years ago, Randy was heavyweight champion of the UFC at the time, so he was already a big deal. The incredible thing about him for me is that he came from one style. He was one of those guys who came from wrestling and learned everything else, and because he stayed in the game so long he was always learning, always evolving. That’s one of the most interesting things about him athletically. But he’s a very smart guy, he has always kept his head together, and for me, was a great representative for the sport throughout his career.