-Our Veterans Day coverage continues now with a look at the local nonprofit The Xtreme Couture GI Foundation.

Established in 2009, the 501c3 raises money and awareness for those wounded in action and their families.

Its founder, a six-year U.S. Army veteran and a mixed martial arts legend, Randy Couture joins us now.

Randy, welcome to Nevada Week.

(Randy Couture) Thanks.

Good to be here.

-So as I mentioned, you started this nonprofit in 2009.

It's been more than 10 years.

You are helping the financial needs of our veterans who have been wounded in action.

I wonder, over that time period, have their needs, their struggles changed, or is it the same old, same old?

-I think it's the same.

I mean, the VA is slowly making adjustments.

Obviously, the previous administration cleaned some things up there, but it's still a big struggle.

And we hear a lot of those woes from a lot of our veterans from both Xtreme Couture and Merging Vets & Players.

But-- and I think the problem is numbers.

I mean, it was a 20-year war on terror since 9/11.

That's a lot of folks putting themselves in harm's way, coming back trying to find a way to transition after being wounded, after going through multiple surgeries, learning to walk again.

The list goes on.

So that's our goal is to try and help those folks, take at least some of the financial pressure off while they're in that state and going through that transition.

What are some of those woes you were mentioning?

-Well, I mean, in '06, I got to go to Iraq and spent 12 days on the ground over there.

And as a former soldier, it was pretty stark and interesting to be in a battlefield, to see those guys doing the things I took an oath and trained to do and never had to do, thankfully, in the '80s.

I'm a Cold War vet.

It's a joke I say all the time.

And then in '06-'07, I got to go to Walter Reed in Bethesda and actually meet a bunch of soldiers fresh off that battlefield after being injured, after being wounded.

And it was there, you hear the horror stories: Well, Mom's been down here for six months while I'm going through my surgeries, learning to walk again.

Her car is in the parking garage with a boot on it.

We can't afford to pay the tickets to get the boot off of it so she can go back to work.

I mean, stupid little things like that, that are just infuriating for a lot of these folks that are in this state and trying to get themselves back right to transition to normal life.

And it's those folks we're targeting.

We've expanded our mission over the years.

We've created a portal on the website so the guys that are struggling with their bills and trying to stay flush can go in and fill out paperwork and present me that bill.

And I'll pay that bill off and get it off their back, you know, just to alleviate some stress in their lives and help them out.

-You provide up to $5,000 in assistance, does not have to be repaid.

The need for that financial assistance right now versus in years past, has it changed?

-It's extremely difficult right now for a lot of folks, not just our veterans.

I think with the current economy and the other stuff that's going on in our society right now, it's a very difficult time for a lot of folks.

So certainly our veterans population struggles with the same things.

It's tougher to fill the gas tank, tough to put groceries on the table right now.

-Could you put a number on how many applications you're getting?

-Gosh!

It's, you know-- the portal is very active.

I don't track all that stuff.

I would go crazy trying to track all that.

But we are doing the best we can, and we're helping as many as we can.

-The need is significant.

A U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant who your nonprofit helped wrote on your website that several veterans organizations had refused to help her because she either wasn't homeless or in an unstable relationships.

How common is that story?

-That's very common as well.

And we've helped several that were in that, you know, they weren't bad enough off that some of these foundations take care of folks that are in a rougher situation.

But they still needed a hand up.

They still needed some extra help, and we're happy to fill that void.

-Yeah.

You also help mentally in addition to financially.

That same Air Force Staff Sergeant wrote that when she was given the money, she had to sign something or make some sort of a promise.

And what is that promise, and why do you have them do that?

-Obviously we're not trying to enable anybody.

So in the portal, you have to present me that bill.

I'm not going to hand you cash and hope you do the right thing.

And I think that can be an issue, especially combat veterans, adrenaline seeking, self-medicating.

A lot of times the VA wants to slap an opioid or an antidepressant on, and we know the side effects to those.

So the problem just continues to compound.

It's hard to put stats and numbers to it.

Obviously, we're talking about 22 a day that we lose to PTSD and suicide, which is a ridiculous number, frankly.

It's never going to be zero, but that's, that's-- and I think that's probably a light number.

So doing the best we can to help these folks, let people know they're not alone.

Our training is our worst enemy.

We're trained to soldier on, not complain, not show vulnerability, or ask for help.

Get the job done.

And that sometimes can be our biggest, biggest enemy, our own selves.

So changing that narrative.

It's okay to ask for help.

It's okay to seek counseling, to get some professional help to develop more tools and put those tools in the tool belt to deal with the struggles of that transition, to deal with everyday life in some regards.

So we found some counselors that want to help, and so we'll buy 10 block sessions to those folks that need a little extra help and professional help.

MVP is great for the peer-on-peer counseling.

I guarantee somebody in the circle has struggled with what you're struggling with right now.

So I would rather hear from that guy that took the same oath I took, you know, than some psychiatrist that, you know, wants to tell me how broken I am.

That peer-on-peer is very, very powerful.

But sometimes you need that extra professional help to develop those new tools and new frame for those situations so that you can do things a little more effectively.

-You bring up MVP, Merging Vets & Players.

It's such a unique program because it's veterans with ex professional athletes coming together to work out and then discuss the transition that they've made into normal life.

How is that program going?

-That's-- we're in nine cities now across the country.

The Vegas chapter was the second chapter.

We started in LA with Jay Glazer and Nate Boyer.

Nate was a Green Beret and aspiring football player, playing at University of Texas while he was still on active duty.

And through Jay and I's MMA athletics program, got him geared up and got him a tryout with the Seahawks.

He ended up making the team as a long snapper.

It's a pretty amazing story, and he's a pretty amazing guy.

And through that process of recognizing the transition issues for both athletes and veterans and the mutual respect both those groups have for each other, it was a no-brainer to kind of bring them together to work out again, get them in the gym, sweating, which breaks down some barriers and creates a connection that you don't have with just anybody walking around, and then sitting on the mats after those workouts and talking, letting the demons out in a safe place where there's only us.

We speak a very particular language as athletes and veterans, and I've been both.

It's a remarkable place.

The demons come out.

They let those things out into the light of day.

They don't like that.

They hate that, in fact.

So being in a safe place with people you're comfortable with, where you can let some of that stuff out that you can't even sometimes let your wife know some of the things you've seen and done is pretty powerful.

-Operation Knockout is Saturday, November 11, at the Sahara.

Will you tell our viewers what that entails.

-This is our 12th year teaming up with Tuff-N-Uff.

Tuff-N-Uff is a small amateur fight organization.

My son, Ronda Rousey, a lot of great fighters came through Tuff-N-Uff to make their way into the pro ranks.

And they just do a great job.

Jeff does an amazing job.

Vinny helps us with sponsorships and all that.

Operation Knockout is at Sahara this year.

There'll be 11 or 12 fights on that card, a couple grappling matches as well.

All the proceeds go to the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation.

All my MVP guys are going to be there cheering on the fighters and supporting the event as well.

So it will fun.

I think the doors are at 4:00 and the show starts at 6:00 on Saturday at Sahara.

-How big of a role does that event play in your annual fundraising efforts?

-It's one of several events.

We do motorcycle poker runs in Seattle, up in Quad Cities.

We're doing a new one down in Florida.

This will be our second year there.

Obviously, we've been doing that ride for 15 years here in Vegas.

This our 12th year doing Operation Knockout with Tuff-N-Uff.

So definitely getting a little long in the tooth in the foundation here, but it's great.

We're affecting and helping a lot of folks.

-And we are taping this ahead of Veterans Day.

But I want to know how you spend your Veterans Day and how you suggest others who want to honor those who've served spend theirs.

-Survivor's guilt is a real thing.

A lot of these folks on these holidays struggle because they've lost brothers and sisters in that field of combat.

And a lot of times, it's, Why them?

Why not me?

And it can be very, very difficult.

So doing things that are fun: having the fights, having events where we all get together, go on a hike, barbecue--that's something MVP does with family members and those veterans a lot--getting together, sharing in finding those places and those people I can lean on if I'm struggling, remembering somebody, and not self-medicating, not seeking adrenaline.

Doing some of the more healthy things that we can do to lean on each other and remember those we care about.

-Try to have some fun is what you're saying.

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

Randy Couture, thank you so much for your service, for coming on the show.

Thank you to our veterans.

We'll have you stick around because you are going to be on Nevada Week In Person.

That airs on Saturday, November 11, at 6:30 p.m.

Thank you for coming on, Randy.

-Pleasure.

Thank you for having me.