.But, an interesting development took place recently with the signing of top UFC fighter Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture to its stable of endorsees.  Couture is a legend in the “octagon”, and the only man to be a five-time champion in Ultimate Fighting Championship history. Couture was the first fighter to win championship titles in two different weight classes. In 2006, Randy became just the fourth fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Couture recently made a comeback bid, after being  away from fighting for a year.  The bid fell a bit short, as Couture was defeated by Brock Lesnar, but people in the poker world were more than a little interested in the little patch on Couture’s rump, a Full Tilt Poker patch signifying his newfound affilation.

The move is interesting to many, in that, despite many of the ‘red name’ pros on Full Tilt being lesser known players, they do come from poker, and are primarily known as poker players. 

The signing of Couture represents a departure from the poker only stratagem of Full Tilt, and enters into the concept of embracing those known more for other exploits.  Online poker behemoth PokerStars has also been experimenting with hiring endorsees from different walks of life, specifically athletes like Boris Becker, and Hockey great Mats Sundin.

No early word on how much Couture has been playing on Full Tilt, but as the twilight of his fighting career seems upon him, he may have found himself a segway into a new career.