Randy Couture raises his arms as a farewell in his last fight. He announced his retirement from the sport he helped build after a 14 year career.

Written by

Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

The ending could not have been more dramatic.  Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida planted a quick front face kick, very similar to the crane style from the Karate Kid movie. The recipient was UFC legend Randy Couture and he fell like a sack of potatoes. The knock out, which came in at 1 minute 5 seconds mark of the second round, did not just end a fight but ended a storied career.

It was only the second front face kick that resulted in a KO. The first was Anderson Silva’s that ended Vitor Belfour’s night.

Joe Rogan asked Randy Couture at the post fight interview, “You’re the greatest in the history of the sport, are we going to see you again?” And Couture said, “This is it.  I’ve been coming to this decision for a while after beating James Toney. And they offered me Lyoto, it was a fight I wanted for quite a while. I think I had all my teeth punched while we had this discussion. He’s a tremendous fighter, I felt like I was standing still out there. He caught me with a good straight one. He’s a tremendous athlete.”

It was Machida’s dream to fight Couture whom he called a ‘hero.’

Machida raised Couture’s hand and said, “It is an honor for me to fight this guy. It was a dream, I’d like to fight this guy. He is a hero, this is the man.” Couture is considered as the most beloved fighter. He was both a Light Heavy weight and Heavyweight Champion on five separate occasions. His monikers are revealing: he is called, “The Natural” for his physical gifts of strength and solid chin. The “Captain America” nickname is also logical because of his iron will that never backs down. So much of Randy represents the classic American hero.

It was an even match up style wise.

Couture has been with the league from the very beginning. Rogan and Goldberg reminisced when the UFC was in an Alabama town and had fewer than 2,000 people watching. Fittingly, Randy’s last fight was now in a venue (Rogers Centre) that had 55,000 fans in Toronto, Canada the biggest attendance so far for a UFC event.

All UFC fans have their own favorite Randy Couture fights. The most memorable for me was one where he didn’t win but still was able to garner him even more acclaim: His fight against another UFC legend Antonio ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira. Both were already veterans at this point but somehow had never fought inside the octagon.

Antonio had a deep guillotine choke on Randy’s neck. Big Nog is a Jiu Jitsu expert, he submitted countless opponents this way. Any other fighter would have tapped or blacked out. You could see the Brazilian straining his arms, muscles and very being in choking Couture. The seconds ticked away in what seemed like an eternity. But in a display of sheer will and determination Couture not only resisted tapping but got up and out of the choke to the disbelief of everyone in the arena. The crowd gave Captain America an ovation for that ‘loss’. (For a review of ‘The Expendables’, a film Randy starred in with Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li etc. click on this link)

Other Quick KO Wins in UFC 129:

Vladimir Matyushenko over Jason Brilz

A quick uppercut by the former Belarusian and Soviet Wrestling champ put down Jason Brilz. The flailing arms trying to stop the powerful ground and pound suddenly went limp. That was the clear signal to ref Dan Miragliotta to stop the fight. It was all over in a matter of seconds. When Brilz recovered after the stoppage he was asking Dan why the fight was over. Everyone who saw the slomo replay didn’t have any doubt.

Moments after regaining his consciousness, Brilz asks ref Dan Miragliotta why the fight was stopped.

Garza locks in the triangle that taps out Jaobuin.

Pablo Garza over Yves Jaobuin

Jaobuin a full head shorter than Garza was impressing the crowd with his effective leg kicks. They were so strong that he was able to trip the taller Garza with the leg kicks twice. Jaobuin was winning the fight until the flying triangle by Garza. Yves’ head was locked between the leg and thighs in a split second. All Pablo had to do was pull the head tighter and it was a tap out.

Ivan Menjivar is an extremely aggressive bantamweight.

Ivan Menjivar over  Charlie Valencia

Menjivar ‘retired’ from the UFC when GSP made his debut. He’s back now as a vicious bantamweight. An elbow in the 1 minute 30 sec mark of the first round put down Charlie Valencia, broke his nose and ended the fight.

This is the elbow by Menjivar that broke Valencia’s nose and resulted in a KO.