A Line in Time: UFC legends Randy Couture and Mark Coleman pave their own ways
June 22, 1963: Randy Duane Couture is born in Everett, Washington.
December 20, 1964: Mark Daniel Coleman is born in Fremont, OH.
1982-1988: Randy Couture serves and wrestles in the Army.
1988: Coleman wins NCAA Division I Championship in wrestling at 190 lbs.
1988-1996: Couture qualifies three times as an Olympic alternate (Years 1988, 1992, 1996).
1989-1992: Couture attends Oklahoma State University and wrestles, earning honors as a three-time NCAA Division I All-American, and two-time NCAA Division I runner-up.
1992: Coleman earns 7th place in the Heavyweight division for Freestyle Wrestling at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
July 12, 1996: Coleman makes his MMA debut at UFC 10, at 31 years of age. He is named champion of UFC 10.
September 20, 1996: Coleman is named champion of UFC 11.
February 7, 1997: Coleman wins first-ever UFC Heavyweight title by defeating Dan Severn by neck crank.
May 30, 1997: Randy Couture makes his MMA debut at UFC 13, at 35 years of age. He wins the Heavyweight Tournament.
July 27, 1997: Coleman loses his heavyweight title to Maurice Smith
October 17, 1997: Couture defeats Vitor Belfort at UFC 15.
December 21, 1997: Couture defeats Maurice Smith by majority decision at UFC Japan, becoming UFC Heavyweight Champion.
May 15, 1998: Date that Mark Coleman was originally set to face Randy Couture. Couture didn’t participate in the tournament (UFC 17) due to an injury.
1998-1999: Couture leaves the UFC and is stripped of his belt. He establishes Team Quest in Gresham, OR, with fellow mixed martial artists, Matt Lindland and Dan Henderson.
1999-2006: Coleman participates in Pride FC, and HUSTLE, a Japanese professional wrestling organization.
May 1, 2000: Coleman wins the first Pride Grand Prix.
November 17, 2000: Couture comes back to the UFC and defeats Kevin Randleman by referee stoppage. This marks the second time Couture would earn the Heavyweight belt.
2001-2003: Coleman works to develop Team Hammer House in Columbus, OH.
September 27, 2002: Couture loses his Heavyweight title to Ricco Rodriguez.
2003: Couture appears in Cradle 2 the Grave, his first of six movie appearances to date.
September 26, 2003: Couture defeats Tito Ortiz to become the undisputed UFC Light Heavyweight champion. Couture officially becomes the first UFC competitor to win a championship belt in two different weight classes.
2005: Couture opens Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, NV.
April 16, 2005: Couture loses his Light Heavyweight championship belt to Chuck Liddell at UFC 52.
February 4, 2006: Couture fails in his attempt to regain the Light Heavyweight title from Chuck Liddell at UFC 57. He retires from MMA.
February 26, 2006: Coleman fights Mauricio Rua at Pride 31, where he wins by TKO, due to an arm-break suffered by Rua.
June 24, 2006: Announced at TUF 3 Finale Couture would be inducted to UFC Hall of Fame
March 3, 2007: Just over one year after retiring, Couture returns to the UFC and takes the Heavyweight title from Tim Sylvia at UFC 68.
October 11, 2007: Couture breaks his contract and leaves the UFC.
March 1, 2008: Coleman is inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
November 15, 2008: Couture returns to the UFC just over one year after his departure. He loses his Heavyweight championship belt to Brock Lesnar.
January 17, 2009: Coleman loses his return bout at UFC 93 to Mauricio Rua. The event marks the first time in 10 years that Coleman has fought in the Octagon.
February 6, 2010: Randy Couture will face Mark Coleman at UFC 109. This match will be the first time that two UFC Hall of Famers have fought each other after being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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Randy Couture and Mark Coleman Career Highlights Timeline