COUTURE'S ‘BIOGRAPHY’
Emmy-award Winning A&E Series Trains Spotlight On UFC Champion
By Brian Knapp
UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture will be featured on an upcoming installment of A&E’s “Biography,” the Emmy-award winning series that has profiled some of the world’s most influential people, from statesmen and Supreme Court justices to activists and pop-culture icons. Soon, Couture’s name will placed alongside those of Princess Diana, Oprah Winfrey and Christopher Columbus.
“Biography” is the longest-running single-topic documentary series on television and has twice been awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Series by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Originally produced in 1962 under longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace, “Biography” profiled enough figures by 1999 that A&E spun the program off into an entire network – The Biography Channel.
Filming on Couture’s episode will begin next week and will include interviews with Couture’s two oldest children, his mother, referee “Big” John McCarthy and a host of others closest to the only five-time champion in UFC history. The list includes The Fight Network’s Loretta Hunt, the collaborator on Couture’s pending memoirs, set to be released through Simon and Schuster Inc. in June.
A sports-a-holic during his formative years – he once carried the dream of becoming an Olympic skier – Couture embraced the physical demands of athletics and eventually discovered amateur wrestling. He joined the United States Army in 1982 and spent the next seven years determining what direction his life would ultimately take. He trained as an air traffic controller until the military discovered his ability on the wrestling mat. By the end of his enlistment period, he had developed into a public relations tool for the armed forces, as he toured the globe and honed his craft. The experience and exposure paid off. Upon discharge from the Army, Couture found a home with the Oklahoma State University wrestling program.
A three-time All-American, he won three national championships in Greco-Roman wrestling. Still, his amateur career was not without considerable lows. Couture failed in four attempts to make the United States Olympic Team, and though the sting of those disappointments remains fresh on his mind, it served only to stoke his competitive flames. In the long run, it provided his base for MMA.
“I chased that dream for almost 16 years, trying to go to the Olympics and win a medal,” Couture said. “Had I achieved that goal, I might have been satisfied. It kept that fire burning and got me physically and mentally prepared to make the transition to fighting.”
Over the course of the next decade, Couture became arguably the most decorated mixed martial artist in history. His run through the UFC included title reigns in two weight classes and a thrilling trilogy with light heavyweight rival Chuck Liddell – the only man to beat Couture twice. Following his third bout with Liddell in February 2006, Couture announced his retirement.
Couture spent a year in retirement in transition, both personally and professionally. The twice divorced father of three moved away from Oregon, remarried, opened his Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, Nev. and moonlighted as an analyst on UFC pay-per-views. He even found his way onto the small screen, with a cameo appearance on “The Unit,” a popular military drama on CBS.
But as 2007 rolled in, the competitive itch returned, and a four-fight contract with the UFC – which included the opportunity to fight Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight crown at UFC 68 in March – was presented to Couture. With that, the wheels for a comeback were in motion. Couture dominated Sylvia over five rounds in front of 19,049 fans at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, as he regained the heavyweight title for an unprecedented third time. In August, the ageless 44-year-old defeated rising contender Gabriel Gonzaga, stopping the young Brazilian in the third round despite suffering a broken left arm.
Within the past week, Couture completed a three-day shoot for his guest starring role on the upcoming season of “The Unit” at various locations in the Los Angeles, Calif. area. He will portray Sgt. Strickland on the CBS action drama, the same character he played in last June’s season finale. Couture leaves for South Africa this fall to shoot his role in the upcoming film “The Scorpion King – The Akkadian.”
POSTED -- 09/14/07
SOURCE:
http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=4827
