[xelance]

TORONTO

Mixed martial arts legend Randy Couture will retire from active competition after his bout with Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, Sky Sports reported Wednesday.




The 47-year-old, who made his mixed martial arts debut in 1997, will fight for the last time in front of 55,000 fans at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 30.
Couture is a three-time heavyweight champion in UFC and has also held the light-heavyweight title twice.
He has faced off against some of the biggest names in MMA history, including Chuck Liddell (three times), Vitor Belfort (three times), Tito Ortiz, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Mark Coleman and Pedro Rizzo (twice).
"I want to go out on my terms and decide when enough is enough," he said Tuesday.
"I've had a great camp, everything is spot on, I can't wait until next week," he went on. " It's a fight I've been looking forward to for a long time, and it's finally going to happen. But it's time to focus on the other things I've got going on in my life after this fight."
Couture feels that he is still able to compete at the very top level and has stated that his advancing years had nothing to do with his decision to quit the sport.


"That was one of the things that I struggled with because I am as healthy as ever," Couture said.
"The Natural" retired once before -- in 2006 -- but came back to regain the heavyweight title and is currently on a run of three consecutive victories.
He is determined to go out on a high by extending that run to four in defeating former light-heavyweight champion Machida. Overall, Couture has won five titles in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions.
Couture was a three-time wrestling All-American at Oklahoma State University, and has a career record of 19-10. Out of his 29 career fights, 15 have come with a belt on the line.




http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/stor...011/?GT1=39002




not a huge surprise here, best of luck to Randy after his retirement. I am sure there is a place for him in UFC management.

[Kav]

geez finally, but for how long...

[NickBaragona]

I wonder if my Topps 1/1 card of his will go up in value once he retires...

[jin2daj]

machida will clown him... i have a little money on randy though because i think theres a little value there.

[sideloaded]

machida will clown him... i have a little money on randy though because i think theres a little value there.

couture has never been "clowned"

[Ladle]

couture has never been "clowned"

He got clowned by Liddell in their second fight. Chuck dispatched of him with relative ease in the rubber match, too.

[ufcmma36]

I wonder if my Topps 1/1 card of his will go up in value once he retires...

I got a razor rob 1/1 but not half as good as that

[sideloaded]

He got clowned by Liddell in their second fight. Chuck dispatched of him with relative ease in the rubber match, too.

are you serious?

[Ladle]

are you serious?

Are you serious? If getting savagely knocked out in two minutes doesn't constitute getting clowned, then I don't know what does.

Also, I wouldn't recommend disagreeing with me regarding semantics. It won't end well for you.

[stefan084]

a bad ass English major--awesome,awesome

[Landscaper]

Are you serious? If getting savagely knocked out in two minutes doesn't constitute getting clowned, then I don't know what does.

Also, I wouldn't recommend disagreeing with me regarding semantics. It won't end well for you.

[Ladle]

a bad ass English major--awesome,awesome

FEAR ME.

[jin2daj]

im glad to see randy retire. dont want to see him go out like chuck.

[sideloaded]

Are you serious? If getting savagely knocked out in two minutes doesn't constitute getting clowned, then I don't know what does.

Also, I wouldn't recommend disagreeing with me regarding semantics. It won't end well for you.

Getting ko'd by a stiker in a fight is not getting clowned. Was overeem clowned when badr hari tko'd him? No because strikers ko other fighters in fights all the damn time, and since Couture has a win over Liddell I don't think anyone ever got clowned in any of their fights. Now you against couture would be a clowning. But two top level fighters fighting and one getting ko'd isnt a clowning.

end well for me? semantics? the f u c k are you talking about? Its the internet brah chill the f u c k out. troll someone else asshole.

[imadegen]

i don't think he'll go out like chuck or mirko. It would be a shame if he retired on that toney fight. I think this fight actually goes all 3 rounds, but machida winning by decision...

[jin2daj]

couture has never been "clowned"

so? ive never been beaten in an mma match eitehr (never had one).

[Ladle]

Getting ko'd by a stiker in a fight is not getting clowned. Was overeem clowned when badr hari tko'd him? No because strikers ko other fighters in fights all the damn time, and since Couture has a win over Liddell I don't think anyone ever got clowned in any of their fights. Now you against couture would be a clowning. But two top level fighters fighting and one getting ko'd isnt a clowning.

You're stupid and your "justification" is preposterous. Few fighters get obliterated by their opponents within two minutes. Liddell had clearly adapted his style and it was only a matter of time before Couture hit the deck (a fact which was reinforced by their rubber match a year later).

"Clowned" is a synonym for destroyed. Clearly you're a blinkered Couture nuthugger, but whether you like it or not, it's common knowledge that Randy got destroyed in the rematch. The happenings of their first fight are irrelevant in a discussion which only pertains to the rematch, but in light of the fact that he soundly out-boxed Chuck two years earlier, it could be argued that the loss was made even more embarrassing for Couture.

end well for me? semantics? the f u c k are you talking about? Its the internet brah chill the f u c k out. troll someone else asshole.

Semantics is the study of meaning, dummy. Disagreeing with me over semantics (in this instance, the meaning of the term "clowned") won't end well for you because semantics happens to be one of my areas of expertise. It was a joke, and you took it as a serious threat. Now everyone thinks you're a dribbling idiot. Congrats.

Its the internet brah chill the f u c k out. troll someone else asshole.

Troll? Brah? I've contributed more to the MMA part of this forum in a hundred posts than you have in a thousand, mon frère. Just ask any of the knowledgeable members here.

[GoldRush7]

Randy can take a beating, seen it before... even at his age... it will be interesting if he can get machida clinched up but i highly doubt that will happen

[bogbat]

I think Machida will KO him at some stage during the fight.

Couture wants to retire so he can help set up a union for the fighters.

[Varker]

Couture hasn't looked good lately. toney win doesn't count and the vera win was somewhat controversial.

[Kaladarus]

Naturally the natural will retire after this.

[bigjah15]

randy will win..got a good feeling. randy will take him down and pound his face in

[Pabinator]

No way he can hold down Machida to be able to pound him

[Vrakas]

It's going to be a little too natural for the dragon

[Pin2Win]

Machida isn't a ground guy... Couture being in the game waaay longer and his wrestling background in the Olympics... I would hope that he he would be able to keep him on the ground for on his feet it should be interesting to watch, Machida has a chance if he keeps his distance but Couture is great in the clinch... I never bet against Couture