October 24, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Randy Couture leaves UFC, MMA interest falls in Japan

It was barely seven months ago when Randy Couture provided the emotional high point in UFC history when he defeated Tim Sylvia in front of the hottest crowd in company history, winning the heavyweight title just a few months before his 44^th birthday.

With his fifth title win, it solidified Couture as perhaps the best fighter in UFC history, but absolutely the most successful in the clutch, and the best representative the company ever had to the public. The company didn’t have television in 2003. Couture as a 40-year-old soft-spoken tough Greco-Roman wrestler as champion in a sport seen in many places as savagery could have been marketed as a hero to middle-aged America. But on 3/3, UFC seemed at a popularity peak.

He was the underdog, as he was in most of his big fights. He was giving up size, power, striking ability and youth to a 6-8 ogre-like man who dwarfed him the day before at weigh-ins. UFC was criticized for making the match.

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