There have been 14 NCAA champions, including Lesnar and Terkay, who have gone into MMA. Here are the other 12:
Royce Alger: The 1987 champion at 167 pounds and 1988 champion at 177 for Iowa, Alger had a 3-2 MMA record, but his two losses were in UFC during its early days, being submitted by Enson Inoue quickly, and knocked out by Eugene Jackson.
Mark Coleman: The 1988 champion at 190 pounds, Coleman was UFC's third champion, winning two tournaments and then beating Dan Severn for the title. He left UFC for Pride, where he won the first Grand Prix tournament in 2000. Coleman, 15-8 in MMA, was a wrestler who was still at the world class level when he started in MMA in 1996, and his simple takedown and ground-and-pound style worked early on. But as the game changed, he was less successful.
Johny Hendricks: Hendricks captured the 165 pound title in 2005 and 2006 for Oklahoma State, and placed second in 2007. He is currently affiliated with Team Takedown and is 2-0 in shows in Oklahoma, training out of Couture's gym in Las Vegas.
Rex Holman: The 1993 champion at 190 pounds from Ohio State, where he was a teammate with Kevin Randleman and coached by Coleman, Holman had long since retired as a wrestler when he went into MMA. He's 4-2, with his only UFC appearance a loss last year to Matt Hamill.
Mark Kerr: The 1992 champion at 190 pounds for Syracuse. Kerr was considered the No. 1 heavyweight in MMA in 1998 and 1999, and his fall from grace was documented in the HBO documentary "The Smashing Machine," which vividly displayed his drug addiction issues. He is still active today with a 14-6 record. In a trivia note, the person he defeated in his championship win was Oklahoma State's Couture.
Josh Koscheck: The 2001 champion at 174 pounds for Edinboro College. He's currently 9-2 and one of UFC's top-rated welterweight fighters. He came out on the short end of what was largely a wrestling battle on Aug. 25 in Las Vegas with Georges St. Pierre.
Kenny Monday: University of Oklahoma 1984 champ at 150 pounds, and later a gold medalist in the Olympics. Monday fought once in 1997, beating John Lewis, and later lost a submissions-only match to Matt Hume.
Mark Munoz: The 2001 champion at 197 pounds at Oklahoma, Munoz debuted this last year and has a 3-0 record fighting in California. He coaches wrestling at Cal-Davis, the alma mater of Urijah Faber, and trains with Faber's camp.
Kevin Randleman: Randleman took the 1992 and 1993 championship for Ohio State at 177 pounds. Randleman was an MMA pioneer who is still active, with a 16-12 record. He has held the UFC heavyweight championship and was a top star for years with Pride, both winning and losing fights with major names including losses to Couture, Liddell, Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mirko Cro Cop (who he also beat in one of Pride's most famous moments) and Fedor Emelianenko.
Jake Rosholt: A three-time champion at Oklahoma State, winning in 2003 at 184 and 2005 and 2006 at 197, Rosholt is also a member of Team Takedown and training at Couture's gym. He has a 3-0 MMA record and is expected to be a major star before long.
Mark Schultz: A three-time champion for Oklahoma from 1981-83, and a 1984 Olympic gold medalist, he was in Detroit for a UFC show in 1996 to work the corner when there was a pullout. The night before the show, on almost a lark, he agreed to fight Gary Goodridge, and used his wrestling to beat Goodridge. But he never fought again. At the time, he was head wrestling coach at Brigham Young University and UFC was being savaged by the media. The college told him he couldn't be associated with MMA.
Mike Van Arsdale The 1988 champion at 167 pounds for Iowa State. Van Arsdale, who competed for years internationally for the U.S., went 4-1 in 1998, losing a brutal match in Brazil to Wanderlei Silva. He came back years later and although in his early 40s, still competes and has a 9-5 record, including a high profile loss to Couture.
