When Randy Couture fought Lyoto Machida nearly a dozen years ago, he already had decided it would be his last fight.
Couture fought Machida at UFC 129 in April 2011 at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Their fight was part of what at the time was the largest attendance and largest live gate in UFC history.
Machida landed a front kick to Couture’s face in the second round for an all-time highlight-reel knockout. But going into the fight, Couture had won three straight on the heels of a loss to Brock Lesnar, in which he lost the heavyweight title, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. And there was a legitimate question of wether if Couture beat Machida, would he get a light heavyweight title shot?
