The Specialists
BOOK REVIEW (pt. 4 of 4): Randy Couture's "Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out The Cage"
Mar 2, 2010 - 12:21:39 PM BOOK REVIEW (pt. 4 of 4): Randy Couture's "Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out The Cage"

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By Eric Hobaugh, MMATorch Specialist

"Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.”
-Randy Couture, "Becoming the Natural."

That's one of my favorite quotes from the book. This is a very appropriate way to describe Randy "The Natural" Couture. In week four of the review of his book "Becoming The Natural" I take a look at some of the more interesting sections.

THE OLYMPICS

Randy Couture on failing to make the Olympics: "Missing the Olympics didn't get any easier, and the third time brought on three times the hurt feelings of inadequacy. I felt like I had been the guy to beat in 1992, but I was fairly new and hadn't experienced enough international competition. By 1996, I'd already been to the World Championships three times. I'd been the number-one guy for some time and had more or less dominated my weight class three times. I was the right age. I'd done everything within my control, from training to diet. I'd made all the sacrifices. Everything pointed to it being my time, but it just slipped away again, and I couldn't understand why."

He could have thrown in the towel after any of his missed attempts at making the Olympic Wrestling team. Three times. I believe the fact that he tried three times and failed says more about him than any of the five championships he won in the UFC. No one would have judged him after his first or second attempt if he had just focused on other things in his life. If you need to answer the question what makes him such a fierce competitor, one only needs to look that that passage for an answer.

STEROIDS

Randy Couture on Josh Barnett testing positive for steroids in 2002: "When I looked at Barnett, he didn't have the tell tale signs of someone on steroids. He had a softer, athletic appearance, and I knew his body image was an issue for him. He always said 'Not bad for a fat kid.' So I guess it wasn't that surprising that he'd tried to improve his appearance. I didn't think of him as a cheater. I thought guys who used steroids created an advantage for me. They were thinking the wrong things. They didn't have confidence in themselves. They were more interested in having big, superficial muscles than having the technique and stamina to go the distance. As the fight wore on, the steroids would hamper his performance."

It is interesting that Randy says like when his opponent uses steroids that if gives HIM the advantage. Sean Sherk, Tim Sylvia, Hermes Franca, Stephan Bonnar, as well as many other fighters have tested positive for steroids. The UFC has most of the best fighters in the world. Some fighters feel the need to "juice" to have an advantage. Randy Couture's advantage is his belief that he has done all the right things - utilizing his experience, training, diet and game plan and that will be enough to win.

ADVERSITY

Randy Couture on advertisity: "The truth is, we all face adversity in our lives, through our work or our relationships with family and friends. No one is immune. My trick has always been to work backward. Sometimes I have to minimize all the negative thoughts and worries surrounding a situation and get right to the heart of the problem. I figure out what the solution is, and then quickly develop a plan to get myself there. I concentrate on getting it done and nothing else."

If I was asked to sum up what makes Randy Couture one of the greatest fighters in the history of MMA, it would be summed up in the previous paragraph. This is normally the week that I give my opinion on parts of the book that I disagree with and take those things to task. I'm finding that difficult this time because Randy's ability to be honest and forthcoming about himself in this book has made me like and respect him more than before I read this book. It was nice to learn that the athlete I have rooted for so many times in the cage deserves my respect as a person .

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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.