Prominent Fighters
Randy Duane Couture (born June 22, 1963), also known as "The Natural" and "Captain America," is an American actor and mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, and former collegiate wrestler, and the former heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His family name is of French Canadian origin. Couture is one of only two UFC fighters to have held a championship title in two different divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight) while in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as well as the only five-time champion in UFC history. Randy is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, and many consider him to be the most popular fighter in MMA history. Along with Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, Couture is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream of American Pop Culture and sports.
Couture is generally recognized as a clinch and ground-and-pound fighter who uses his wrestling ability to execute take downs, establish top position, and successively strike the opponent on the bottom. Couture has also displayed a variety of skills in boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submitting two opponents using different chokeholds. Couture is also the only athlete in UFC history to win a championship after becoming a Hall of Fame member and is the oldest MMA title holder ever.
Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko, Russian: Фëдор Владимирович Емельяненко, sometimes romanized as Fyodor Yemelyanenko) born September 28, 1976 is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist, the current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight champion and the last holder of the PRIDE heavyweight championship.
Emelianenko has been considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world for the last five years by many major publications, including ESPN, the Orange County Register, The Fight Network, the Houston Chronicle, The Wrestling Observer, and Inside MMA. He was also chosen as the greatest fighter of all time across all weight classes by the expert panel of the television show Inside MMA.
He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the PRIDE 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo Championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo championships.
In a recent interview, Emelianenko said he doesn't consider himself to be the best pound-for-pound fighter. Saying "I consider myself on top of the pedestal. I don't have weaknesses and I never make mistakes. Of course, that is frustrating, because like any athlete, I strive to get better each day. I know a lot of the media and the fans want to say I’m the best. I appreciate that, but that’s not how I consider myself."
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, aka "Minotauro" born June 2, 1976 in Vitória da Conquista, Brazil is a Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is the current UFC interim heavyweight champion. A testament to his durability as a mixed martial artist is the fact he has never been finished in a bout.
Nogueira is also noted to be a proficient striker, training annually with the Cuban National Boxing Team. He rose to prominence in the Japanese PRIDE Fighting Championship promotion, where he was the PRIDE heavyweight champion from November 2001 to March 2003, as well as a PRIDE FC heavyweight grand prix finalist. Nogueira is currently ranked as the world number two heavyweight by MMAWeekly and Nokaut.