UPDATED Report: Randy Couture Suffers Heart Attack, Expected to Make Full Recovery
Editor's note: This article has been updated on 10/25/19 at 4:45 p.m. ET to reflect additional information.
Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Randy Couture has reportedly suffered a heart attack, but thankfully he is anticipated to make a full recovery.
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"The Natural" retired from the sport in 2011 after suffering a knockout loss at the hands of Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. The three-time NCAA Division I All-American and UFC Hall of Famer holds a myriad of records and accomplishments in the sport, with many stemming from his wins despite his relatively advanced age. The first fighter in UFC history to ever win a title in two separate divisions, he is the oldest fighter to win a belt, doing so when he dominated Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in 2007 at the tender age of 43. When he finished James Toney with an arm-triangle choke at UFC 118 in 2010, he extended his own record as the eldest fighter to ever win inside the Octagon, doing so at 47 years young.
Following his retirement, Couture went into coaching, commentary
and acting. His most famous roles came in "The Expendables"
trilogy, as he appeared in all three as demolition expert "Toll
Road," even famously giving a monologue about his cauliflower ear
in the first of the series. His most recent film is titled "D-Day,"
where he and former nemesis Chuck
Liddell star in a war movie about soldiers fighting behind
enemy lines at the invasion of Normandy.
He currently serves as a color commentator for the Professional Fighters League, and also has worked with Bellator MMA in the commentary booth and as a head coach of Bellator's short-lived "Fight Master" series.
Randy Couture has been discharged from the hospital, less than two days after suffering a heart attack.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 25, 2019
He walked home, his manager Sam Spira said.
“I walked into the hospital from home, I am walking home from the hospital,” Couture said.
Legend.
Couture, who walked himself to the hospital to seek treatment, has now walked himself out and home again. He has been discharged from the hospital on Friday, and in a brief interview with ESPN, he stated that he is feeling better already.
After the outpouring of support for the legend, Couture made a statement to TMZ early Friday, saying, "Contrary to recent rumors I have not kicked the bucket yet. I am alive and well. Special thanks to the amazing staff at Cedars Sinai Hospital. From the ER to the cardiac ICU thanks for taking care of me. I'm one of those people that has crazy thick blood and nominally high bad cholesterol. Unfortunately, those 2 factors combined to create a nice clot occluding my Diagonal artery."
He concluded, "Live your lives to the fullest. You never know when you'll draw that last breath in!"
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