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#1 Randy Couture
Three Reigns
Trending
Three Defences
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"The Natural" Randy Couture holds the distinction of being the only man in history to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship on three occasions.
Incredibly, Couture's three UFC title wins spanned 10 years, having won his first title way back at UFC Japan on December 21, 1997 and his final Championship on March 3, 2007.
"The Natural" defeated Maurice Smith to win his first strap in a lackluster 21-minute encounter via Decision. Couture spent the majority of the match sprawled on top of Smith but could not produce a submission or Knockout.
Couture never defended the belt as he soon left UFC due to a contract dispute.
Upon his return three years later, he was immediately granted a crack at the title he never lost versus Champion, Kevin Randleman at UFC 28 on November 17, 2000.
"Captain America" showed all his typical guile and staying power as he was overwhelmed by his larger foe in the first two rounds but stayed in the fight and on securing a clinch, caught Randleman with some heavy strikes, ultimately battering the Champion for the stoppage win.
Couture next defended the title in consecutive matches with contender, Pedro Rizzo. Their first encounter was an extremely tight Decision win for Couture whilst he dominated the re-match.
In his next defence, Couture lost the bout to the giant, Josh Barnett who later tested positive for steroids after the fight and was stripped.
After competing and losing a match for the vacant title to Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 39, Couture moved down to the Light-Heavyweight division and ultimately retired for the first time after his UFC 57 loss to Chuck Liddell.
Couture was enticed out of retirement with an offer to fight UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia at UFC 68.
To the amazement of observers, Couture dominated his much younger and larger opponent with dirty boxing (Sylvia's speciality) and his traditional grappling offense to win the title for a record third time.
He would successfully defend the belt versus Gabriel Gonzaga with another stunning display of striking against a renowned puncher, before he lost the title to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 on November 15, 2008.
Clocking up a mammoth nine UFC Heavyweight Championship bouts during his career and being successful in six of them, Couture unquestionably stands atop the rankings of greatest Heavyweight Champions in UFC history.
