5 UFC legends who retired after a loss

#3 Randy Couture

Randy Couture retired twice in the UFC after big losses

One of the UFC’s all-time legends – even if he’s now persona non grata with the promotion – Randy Couture was the first fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, first unseating Maurice Smith for the Heavyweight crown at Ultimate Japan in 1997, and then upsetting Tito Ortiz to win the Light-Heavyweight title in 2003. But Couture wasn’t always successful and so he remains one of the few UFC legends to retire in the promotion twice – both off the back of losses.

The first time Couture hung his gloves up came in 2006, after ‘The Natural’ was knocked out by Chuck Liddell for the second time in a failed attempt to regain his Light-Heavyweight title. At the age of 42, it felt like Couture had nothing more to prove, and so retiring made perfect sense. He was even quickly inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame a few months later.

But just over a year after initially retiring, Couture was back – facing Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight title. And in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, ‘Captain America’ pulled off the win at the age of 43 to win the gold.

He eventually lost the title to Brock Lesnar in November 2008 – after a protracted absence from the Octagon due to an infamous contract dispute – and from there he went on to have a few more fights before retiring for good after being knocked out by Lyoto Machida – at the age of 47 nonetheless. Couture has since moved to rival promotion Bellator MMA – but as of writing, he hasn’t returned to action again.