Becoming the Natural: My Life In and
Out of the Cage by Randy Couture
Insightful
Randy Couture -- voted The Greatest Fighter of All Time by viewers
choice -- recounts his record-breaking career, which has made him an
undisputed UFC legend.Randy Couture wins fights with the seemingly
effortless ease with which lesser mortals eat or breathe. Hes the only
athlete to have held championship titles in both the heavyweight and light
heavyweight divisions of the UFC, and hes the only six-time title earner in
UFC history.In Becoming the Natural, Couture tells his story for the first
time, beginning with a childhood spent in search of an elusive father figure,
followed by the pure adrenaline rush that accompanied his first wrestling
bout in grade school. In 1997, at the age of thirty-three, Couture made his
UFC debut, defeating two opponents in the heavyweight class and then
scoring a TKO victory against Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort to earn the
nickname The Natural. He won his first heavyweight title that same year.
At the age of forty, he defeated five-time defending champion Tito Ortiz for
the undisputed light heavyweight title. Couture retired in 2006, only to

reemerge the following year and seize the heavyweight championship title
once again.Becoming the Natural is the remarkable story of one of the
worlds most gifted and dedicated athletes -- a born fighter whose skill and
showmanship have helped to lift mixed martial arts out of the shadows and
into the mainstream.
Personal Review: Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of
the Cage by Randy Couture
Randy has forgotten more about MMA than most will ever know. I'm not
just talking about the actual skills but the history of the sport as well. The
guy started off in UFC 13 and is about to fight in UFC 102. Have you even
watched as many UFC's as Randy has attended?
The forward by Kevin James is the best for any book I've ever read:
"They say the hardest thing to do in professional sports is to hit a fastball. I
might have to disagree."
This intro grabbed me from the beginning and I even showed it to some
non-MMA fans and they were impressed. I started following MMA in 2005
at which time Randy had already secured a spot in the Hall of Fame. With
many other MMA biographies they talk about their childhood and how they
got into MMA. Randy was a full grown man in his 30s who had been in the
army, started a family, trained for the Olympics multiple times, and started
coaching by the time MMA found him. I really have a much better
understanding of the early days of MMA not found many other places due
exclusively to this book. We are talking pre Dana White UFC days for
multiple chapters of the book. I felt like I was looking at old family photos
this book when I saw the pictures of both Dana and Randy with hair.
One things that he talks about in the book are all the great friendships in
the Wrestling/MMA community. It does suck to have to fight your friends
sometimes, but hey these guys get paid a lot to do it. I was shocked to find
out Randy and Tim Silvia were friends before Randy fought him. Randy
talks about this aspect of his job during a few chapters of the book. While I
am even more impressed with Randy as a fighter reading his story did take
him down a few pegs as a person. I think his nickname as Captain
America comes from his military background. However, Randy really does
personify the American to a T. Never giving up on your goals no matter
what anyone else tells you. But it also goes to show how flawed America
has become. Granted he sounds like a great guy, but all the drama
surrounding his early life and his 3 wives was very surprising. I definitely
have to go back and rewatch the UFC 51 where he brought Kim the first
time to see his reaction when they flashed him on the big screen.
The old adage "It took 10 years to become an over night success" certainly
applies here. Randy failed to make the Olympic team 4 times over 13
years. How crushing, that must have been. MMA was almost a side note
on his wrestling career, something that he did for fun. I think the first

season of the Ultimate fighter is what pushed the modern era of MMA into
the mainstream, especially after the Griffin/Bonner fight. It amazes me to
think of Randy's time as a coach for the first season of the Ultimate fighter,
as the end of his career instead of the beginning. This guy has been
around forever.
I would recommend reading this book before any other MMA biography as
it covers the largest portion of the MMA time line.
If they were giving a college course on the history of MMA this would be
required reading. It was weird to hear Randy admit he actually felt fear
walking into the cage for the first time. I just assume all these guys are
fearless, but overcoming this fear is what makes so many of them great.
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