Sherdog’s Top 10: Heavyweights of All-Time

6. Randy Couture

“The Natural” enjoyed three reigns as UFC heavyweight champion and remains one of three men -- Conor McGregor and B.J. Penn are the others -- to lay claim to Ultimate Fighting Championship gold in two weight classes. Couture was a three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University before gracing the Octagon for the first time at UFC 13 in 1997. By the end of the year, he was the heavyweight champion. Couture later vacated the title and spent a few years competing in Japan before returning to the UFC on a permanent basis in 2001. Victories over Pedro Rizzo (twice), Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Tim Sylvia, Gabriel Gonzaga and Mark Coleman followed, as he became one of the most decorated and beloved competitors in MMA history. The Everett, Washington, native was the fourth fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on June 24, 2006, when he joined Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock in the organization’s pantheon of immortals. Couture retired in 2011 at the age of 47 following his knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in Toronto. A staggering 15 of his 24 career appearances inside the Octagon came in title bouts, and he still holds the UFC’s all-time lead in events headlined.

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