If anyone could say that age is ‘just a number’ Randy Couture would be the man to say it. The former multiple-time UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion last fought in 2011, at UFC 129. And while he lost the bout – via Karate Kid-esque crane kick – to Lyoto Machida, the defeat snapped a 3-fight winning streak for the then 47-year-old.
Over the long run, Couture may not have won all his fight. But, with a fighting career that only got started in his mid-30s, he became the poster boy for defying common wisdom about what an ‘athletic prime’ is supposed to look like – and when it’s supposed to happen.