UFC and MMA legend Randy Couture is ready to bounce back and prove people wrong after his shocking heart attack. The Hall of Famer was hospitalized on Wednesday following a heart attack, admitted to intensive care after walking in off the street.
While the initial reports indicated the 56-year-old MMA star would make a full recovery, Couture himself gave the biggest thumbs-up of all according to TMZ. All he needs are three words to get the point across: “I’m not dead.”
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According to the outlet, the former fighter is “cracking jokes” and making it clear that he’s far from finished in this world.
“Contrary to recent rumors I have not kicked the bucket yet. I am alive and well,” Couture said in a statement with TMZ Sports. “Special thanks to the amazing staff at Cedars Sinai Hospital. From the ER to cardiac ICU thanks for taking care of me. I’m one of those people that has crazy thick blood and nominally high bad cholesterol. Unfortunately, those 2 factors combined to create a nice clot occluding my Diagonal artery.”
Couture continues by highlighting what was done to clear up his blockage, praising the “Cath lab at Cedars” for clearing out the blockage and putting a [stent] in its place.”
The emergency surgery that Couture had after his arrival at the hospital should keep him going for a while according to TMZ Sports. A rep for the former fighter shared the breakdown of events with the outlet.
“During a workout at Randy’s LA training home Unbreakable Performance in West Hollywood, CA, Randy experienced discomfort in what he initially thought was an offset rib or vertebrae. He tried working on a roller to relieve the problem — but that was not successful,” the statement reads. “Incredibly, Randy finished the entire workout while likely having the beginnings of a heart attack. Shortly thereafter, he drove home and attempted to rest. When the radiating chest pain did not cease, he recognized something was wrong.”
The breakdown continues, noting that The Expendables star walked “multiple blocks” to a nearby emergency room and was given an EKG that showed Couture had suffered a heart attack.
“The surgery was successful. Randy is now out of intensive care, stable, in good spirits, and well on his way to a speedy and full recover,” the statement concludes.
As noted in the previous report, Couture is a regular at Jay Glazer’s Unbreakable Gym in Los Angeles and trains alongside other MMA legends and notables like Chuck Liddel.
