A native of Lynnwood, WA, Randy Couture established himself as one of the top-tiered Mixed Martial Arts champions and professional Greco-Roman wrestlers in the world. Couture served six years in the army, where he subjected himself to intense training as a boxer alongside the standard basic-training routines. He then underwent 25 years of training as a Greco-Roman wrestler and delved into MMA with full abandon, cultivating a unique fighting method dubbed "Ground and Pound" that involved flooring and pinning down an opponent and pounding the individual with one's fists. Occupationally, Couture held a six-year post as a strength conditioning and assistant wrestling coach at Oregon State University. In 1997 (at age 33), he formally entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions and chalked up a formidable record, courageously taking on, and defeating, such formidable opponents as Chuck Liddell, Pedro Rizzo, and Kevin Randleman; he also moved into announcing on pay-per-view fighting events. In terms of film work, the majority of Couture's early on-camera appearances consist, unsurprisingly, of live wrestling and MMA events. He moved into dramatic roles, however, under the aegis of no less than David Mamet, in the esteemed playwright-cum-director's 2008 #92;martial arts saga Redbelt. Coincident with this, Couture also signed on to star opposite Rob Schneider and David Carradine in the #92;crime comedy Big Stan (2008) and appeared as the villain in the straight-to-DVD Universal sequel The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide