Hot Couture coming to Lombard gym

If a new physical fitness center opening in Lombard needed a fighting chance to get noticed, it sure picked the perfect fighter to champion its cause.

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champ Randy "The Natural" Couture will be the special guest signing autographs during Sunday's grand opening of Xtreme Couture and The Olympian Centre, 1117 N. Main Street.

The 8,000-square foot warehouse facility will become the Midwest home for Xtreme Couture, a place where people can train in mixed martial arts, known as MMA. The four other Xtreme Couture centers are in Vancouver, Las Vegas, San Diego and in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Connecting with Couture, "is one of those things where we got really lucky," said Pete Becker, a 1991 Wheaton Central High School alumnus and co-owner of the new fitness center.

Actually, Becker and business partner Eric Wetzel's link to Couture is of Olympic proportions.

Wetzel, who coaches wrestling at Wright College in Chicago, was a five-time national champion wrestler and a three-time U.S. Olympic alternative.

Wetzel met Couture when both wrestled with Team USA.

Already, Becker said, interest in Sunday's 3 to 5 p.m. appearance has been huge.

"As soon as some people started to find out, our phones went crazy," he said.

Apparently, the feeling of excitement is mutual.

"I couldn't be happier to see Xtreme Couture gyms expanding into the Midwest, and what better place to start things off than in the great city of Chicago," Couture said of Sunday's opening.

The gym's success could benefit high school wrestlers, said Becker, who, along with Wetzel, coaches athletes in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Some profits from the gym will help sponsor financially challenged athletes from Illinois so they can travel to the annual national championships in North Dakota.

If you go

Who: UFC heavyweight champ Randy "The Natural" Couture

What: Autograph signing and in-gym visit

When: 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Xtreme Couture and The Olympian Centre, 1117 N. Main Street, Lombard

Cost: Free

Details: (630) 495-9717