The Specialists
BOOK REVIEW (pt. 3 of 4): Randy Couture's "Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out The Cage"
Feb 22, 2010 - 3:47:47 PM BOOK REVIEW (pt. 3 of 4): Randy Couture's "Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out The Cage"

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By Eric Hobaugh, MMATorch Specialist

The Most Fascinating, the Most Boring, and the Missing Chapters

Part three of the MMATorch four-part Book Review format calls for me to choose the most boring chapters of the book. In most of these MMA autobiographies, this is not a difficult task. In this book, it is nearly impossible.

It is typical in this format that the start of the books get bogged down by the inexperienced author. Randy Couture is a surprisingly good narrator of his own life. Although a portion of this success must be attributed to the "ghost" writer Loretta Hunt, a talented veteran writer who has penned articles for various magazines and websites, and is most well-known for her work with Sherdog.com.

The most fascinating chapter of the book is chapter 11. It gives a detailed account of the beginning of the Spike reality television show The Ultimate Fighter. This show put MMA on the road to becoming part of mainstream American sports. Randy gives a nice account of the concept of the show and his involvement in making it a reality.

"You could say I was in the right place in the right time, and I wouldn't disagree with you," he wrote. "UFC events had become the best around, the measuring stick against which all other promotions were compared and judged in the United States. Zuffa was making the greatest strides in getting mixed martial arts TV and media exposure, driven by Dana White's ironclad will and insane ambition."

The other interesting part of this chapter is the dynamic, sometimes volatile relationship between Couture and Dana White. He rips White to shreds on several occasions in this book on how he dealt with his former managers and other fighters and their managers. We rarely get an inside look at the relationship between a fighter and the Zuffa corporation. Most fighters are too scared to write or say how they really feel for fear of retribution from the organization they make their living from.

The missing chapter is, well, missing because this book was released in 2008. The final chapter in his fighting career may be years from being over. Today, Randy is in his mid-40s and who knows how long he will fight? Some say he is way past his prime and some, like Dana White, say, "I will never underestimate Randy ever again."

He has had four fights since the release of this book and won two and lost two. The last names of those fighters are Coleman, Vera, Nogueira, and Lesner. The missing chapter in this book may turn into another great story.

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Eric Hobaugh is the new MMATorch book reviewer. He breaks his review of MMA books into four formats that are published weekly, typically every Monday.