Randy quits the UFC

[Youth N Asia 0]

Couture quits UFC

 

by Dave Meltzer

 

The Fight Network has just reported that Randy Couture has quit the promotion, vacating his heavyweight title and leaving his job as a color commentator.

 

Couture, who works for The Fight Network itself, so there is no way they are going to miss on this story, wrote a letter from South Africa where he's filming the Scorpion King movie, to Dana White.

 

Not getting a match with Fedor Emelianenko played a part in his decision. The decision was made when it became clear the match with Fedor wasn't happening.

 

It is known Couture was one of the top UFC fighters who was unhappy when reading about the huge money guaranteed in the company's offers to Emelianenko, because he felt he and a few others were the fighters who helped build the current popularity and they weren't getting guaranteed income for fights anywhere near that level, particularly since they were bigger drawing cards.

 

With the decline of Chuck Liddell, Couture was likely the company's biggest short-term drawing card, and without question, was its most popular fighter.

 

We will have more on this story later.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Dana spun so much bullshit into a web he finally got caught in it himself.

 

Promising your top draw to bring in the best fighter in the world, then playing HARDBALL with said fighter while promising to sign him = Dumb.

 

With the rise of Victory Road, this is going to be a facinatingly interesting month.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

To say this sucks would be a huge understatement. I wonder who'll be in the fight for the vacant heavyweight title? Hopefully, not Sylvia.

[Youth N Asia 0]

If they do a mini tourney who is in? Kongo, Andre, Tim, and Vera?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

If they do a mini tourney who is in? Kongo, Andre, Tim, and Vera?

How badly is Arlovski on the outs with Dana? They could have Kongo fight Arlovski at UFC 78 with the winner of that fight facing the winner of Vera versus Sylvia for the vacant title at the February show, which Dana had wanted a heavyweight title fight to headline.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Man, this sucks beyond words. Dana screwed up big time. If there's a plus to this (and it's a very small one).....

 

NOG!!!!~ NEW CHAMP!~!~~

 

I imagine we'll see the winners of Sylvia/Vera and Nog/Kongo duke it out for the title sometime in February or March. They'll probably bring Nog/Kongo on the December show instead of January.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

From Sherdog:

 

Randy Couture (Pictures), the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and one of mixed martial arts most revered fighters, notified the UFC via fax from South Africa at 11 o'clock Thursday morning that he has chosen to resign from the UFC, "The Natural" confirmed with Sherdog.com.

 

"I sent the letter of resignation to the UFC today, resigning not only from my position in the company as a commentator and as an ambassador, but also as the heavyweight champion," Couture said over the phone from South Africa, where he is currently filming a movie.

 

"The motivation for the decision is two-fold," he continued. "I know Fedor (Emelianenko) just signed with another organization and that's the only real fight that makes sense for me at 44 years old as the heavyweight champion of the UFC. That's the fight I wanted and if that can't happen it doesn't make sense for me to compete with all these other guys. And then obviously that's not going to happen now. And, two, I'm tired of being taken advantage of, played as the nice guy and basically swimming against the current with the management of the UFC. I have a lot of other things going on in my life that I'm doing just fine with. I don't need the problems. I don't feel like I get the respect I deserve from the organization, and that's motivation No. 2 for the letter of resignation that was sent today."

 

Couture (16-Cool is the only fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two weight divisions. The current UFC heavyweight champion, he recaptured the belt in March by coming out of retirement to out-point Tim Sylvia (Pictures). Couture defended the title in August, stopping challenger Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) in the third round.

 

The Sylvia win came after a year away from the sport after Couture suffered the second of two knockouts to then UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (Pictures). Couture won the first bout in the trilogy by capturing an interim UFC light heavyweight title in June of 2003, stopping Liddell in the third period.

 

Couture's ledger in the UFC reads like a who's who. "The Natural" first captured UFC heavyweight gold against Maurice Smith (Pictures) in 1997 before doing it for the third time against Sylvia in 2007.

 

A day after news broke that Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), the widely regarded top heavyweight in the sport, had apparently declined to sign with the UFC, Couture submitted his resignation.

 

"I want that fight and would have waited if the fight was offered to me," Couture said. "Knowing what they offered him, I would have made demands to get paid equally or better than him as the champion. Whether or not those would have been met is another question."

 

Couture will have to wait nine months for his current UFC deal to lapse before he can go after Emelianenko. Over that span Couture said he will concentrate on acting, continuing to franchise his Xtreme Couture training facilities, as well as growing his Xtreme Couture clothing line.

 

His success outside the ring is proof of his success inside the Octagon. But Couture said it was a lack of respect by the UFC, in particular its president Dana White, that led him to resigning.

 

"I think the final straw for me was meeting with Dana and Lorenzo where they claimed I was the No. 2 paid athlete in the organization, which I know is a bold-faced lie," Couture said. Polling other athletes, said Couture, he learned that his compensation -- some $250,000 a fight with pay-per-view bonuses, according to the Couture camp -- was nowhere near what other top UFC fighters were making.

"All us athletes are all pretty tightly intertwined," he said. "You hear what other guys were paid signing bonuses and what other guys were paid on the record and off the record with bonuses. I've heard Chuck's numbers. Tito's numbers. Hughes' numbers. Quinton's numbers. Cro Cop, Wanderlei. I heard what they were offering Fedor, and it's insulting."

 

Couture's rocky history with the Zuffa-owned UFC began in 2001.

 

"I think what set us off on the wrong foot was that my management [at the time] wasn't willing to give up ancillary rights across the board with no option for some sort of compensation," said Couture, alluding to a reason cited by Emelianenko's representatives as to why the Russian did not end up with the UFC. "All the other athletes at that time were signing those contracts. That created a lot of animosity and got me pulled out of the Carmen Electra campaigns to promote the athletes and the sport and the video game and all that stuff."

 

Beyond the money, both Couture and his wife Kim stressed Thursday's resignation from the UFC was about respect. It's a move "The Natural" acknowledged could have far-reaching effects.

 

"Certainly there's personal motivation for resigning and taking stand for myself," he said. "If it sets a precedence that down the road requires athletes to be treated better than that's icing on the cake."

 

Attempts to reach the UFC for comment went unreturned.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Dana's response from UFC.com

 

“I’m not surprised at all by Randy’s decision. I talked to Randy several weeks ago and he said that if he couldn’t fight Fedor, then he has nothing left to prove in the sport of mixed martial arts.

 

He has been doing a lot of acting, and I know he is in South Africa right now filming a movie. I think it’s a great move for Randy’s acting career to retire from fighting while he is on top.

 

As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him.”

[Just call me Dan 0]

I'm shocked. My interest in the sport is devastated. I still mlove MMA, and I will continue to watch the UFC, but I really feel robbed right now. I can't tell you how many times I felt like my heart would stop watching the Sylviz/Gonzaga fights. Watching Randy execute a gameplan and get in the face of these overwhelmingly bigger guys was some of the most exciting stuff I've ever seen.

 

I've never been and may never again be as emotionally behind a fighter as I was Couture. I wanted to see him and Fedor go at it, as I'm sure all of you did, but the fact that I don't ever get to see him go out in a blaze of glory or at least wipe out more of the heavyweights in underdog fashion is a travesty.

 

The UFC has the talent and the means to spark plenty of interest from fans and casual viewers alike, but this is a HUGE blow. Randy's point totally makes sense. I hate that they wouldn't pay the guy. If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't even be a UFC fan in the first place.

 

I'll miss the hell out of the guy, this just plain sucks.

[MrRant 0]

Even made Yahoo's front page

 

http://www.yahoo.com/s/704181

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Public Contract Negotiations. Randy asks for more money, Dana says no, Couture quits, Dana says he doesn't care. Dana calls up Randy after a few weeks with a new offer, Randy says he'll think about it, Dana says "why you gotta be like that", Randy says "Be like what?", Dana says "You know", and Randy says "...Uh... No... I don't... What am I "like"...?" and Dana says "You know, a cunt" and Randy says "Fuck you" and Dana says "You know you need me, baby" and Randy hangs up. Meanwhile, Tito is listening in and jackin it to the possibility of tag teaming EXC with Randy in regards to a superfight.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

And fuck people who want fighters to make tons of money. That does not, in any way, benefit me, or you, or them, as fans. The last thing I need are fighters who get millions and don't feel the need to fight more than once a year, if that. Fuck that. Pay em just enough to keep em hungry.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I agree that the top guys are way overpaid, while as the lower guys are insanely underpaid.

 

ONLY $200,000 a fight? Really? Only?

 

I'm not ripping on Randy, but as a fan I would love to see him stick around a while longer. And I can also imagine that Dana would be a prick to negotiate with

[snuffbox 0]

And fuck people who want fighters to make tons of money. That does not, in any way, benefit me, or you, or them, as fans. The last thing I need are fighters who get millions and don't feel the need to fight more than once a year, if that. Fuck that. Pay em just enough to keep em hungry.

 

Yeah, the guys that dont fight should be the ones making all the cash.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

A genuine fan complaint would be that since the UFC makes so much money that doesn't go to the fighters, then things like ticket prices and ppvs should be cheaper. Fighter greed, OTOH, fucks fans over the most.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah. Let's pay them pennies to get their brains bashed in.

[Mik 0]

Well - I didn't see this coming.

 

And it sucks.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I would rather see fighters get paid pennies to fight 3 times a year than get paid millions to fight once and end up holding out for more money when it's most advantageous, thus delay fighting even more. But then again, I like watching fights, not episodes of cribs.

[Guest]

When fighters get paid more, they have more motivation to go out and fight. You know, to keep getting paid a lot of money. Sitting around during your prime doesn't happen, as that's a fighters only chance to go earn that kind of money. If you earn more, you're going to be more motivated to stay in shape. More motivated to kick ass. More motiviated to keep kicking ass. If someone knows they're going to get a guaranteed 7 figure number for one fight, they're going to keep going out there and getting it. Money doesn't last forever, so I want to see guys go out on their own terms, not when they're fighting to pay the rent. Cause once they leave, they're broke as fuck, and not knowing how to do shit else.

[Broward83 0]

I would rather see fighters get paid pennies to fight 3 times a year than get paid millions to fight once and end up holding out for more money when it's most advantageous, thus delay fighting even more. But then again, I like watching fights, not episodes of cribs.

 

Then you're a fucking idiot.

 

How about you go and start up a schedule that is on par with what top-flight UFC fighters take on and then tell me you'd be happy with "pennies to fight 3 times a year." These guys go in whole and wind up leaving the octagon with bruised or broken ribs.. broken arms.. concussions. Shit that can fuck up their daily lives beyond repair. Of course, "they know what they're getting into.. they're fighters..." would probably be the response, but that's fine. As much as you rant on and on about the sport and profess how much knowledge you have, you're obviously an ignorant bastard.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

If they do a mini tourney who is in? Kongo, Andre, Tim, and Vera?

 

WTF? Do you even know who Nogueria is? (Don't mean to be an asshole)

 

I can't blame Couture for doing this, he's 44 years old and is retiring on top, he has no reason to fight another war unless it's with the best fighter in the world. If he goes back to being a full time commentator for the UFC, I can't complain man because he knows more then Rogan and Goldberg combinded.

 

But then again if Vera, Nogueria, or Kongo win the title, I can easily see Randy coming back to challenge. I mean this is Randy man, he has too much pride to stay down. I know he won't comeback if Sylvia wins the title, but one of those 3, he will feel like it's a new challenge.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I'm all for fighters having more options and getting better money, so fuck Rudo and these "fans" for disagreeing

 

Seriously though, I don't care if it doesn't benefit me as a fan. Besides, them getting paid more won't mean that they will fight less. A lot of them just want that cheddar baby. A guy getting 200K per fight when he's bringing in tens of millions of dollars, is the ambassador of the sport, is the heavyweight champion, is the number one draw, is bullshit. They lied to his face and even now are being smarmy about the whole thing. I'm glad he got out and will make way more money without putting his body through hell. I'd love to see him fight, but if he's getting mistreated and disrespected then he doesn't need that shit. He's Captain Fucking America.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Everyone keeps saying Randy's "Retired" again.

 

He never once says he's retiring. He's just not going to fight for UFC.

 

Not fighting in UFC does not equal retiring.

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Honestly, while I love the guy, I think Randy is in the wrong here. If he is not happy with the money being offered his way and doesn't want to fight again for the UFC, I have no problem with that. However, I'm fairly disappointed with how he approached the situation.

 

As much as Randy has helped the UFC, the UFC has helped Randy. He's fortunate enough to be able to make a living associated with the sport he loves thanks to what the Fertitta's and Dana have been able to do over the years. And I'm not talking about fighting. Xtreme Couture and Affliction are direct results of the opportunity that the UFC provided for Randy and other individuals. Without the huge growth of MMA by UFC (which Randy has been a part of) Xtreme Couture and Affliction may have never come to the surface. Not to mention the colour commentary position that he has had, which only helps his self promotion.

 

Furthermore, I agree on the lower card fighters getting paid more. There is a huge discrepancy in fighter wages from top card guys to the undercard guys. I don't necessarily agree with one fighter getting a base of $250,000 (plus huge bonuses) while another makes $8,000 (plus potentially small bonuses) on the same show. If Randy wants to fight a cause, fight for the undercard guys to get more money.

 

If the issue is being undervalued (which UFC still claims is untrue, standing by their claim that he is #2), I still think he owes it to them to bow out properly, even if they can't agree on a contract (lest I remind you that he is still contractually obligated to two fights - although I'm sure he has some sort of out clause). Step out, announce a retirement (even if it's fake and he's fighting somewhere else in 9 months when he is no longer with the UFC) on a show and retire as champion. However, to leave it up in the air and just walk away with no explanation to the fans (and by that I mean mainstream fans on a UFC show) is a cheap move in my opinion.

 

As for a comeback, he is still under contract to UFC for the next nine months. He won't be able to fight again until next July (which itself would be early, considering that he would need time to properly train for a scheduled fight and July is the first point where he could negotiate with anyone else). We would likely be looking at August at least before he fights. I don't believe that Randy Couture, at age 45, not having fought for over a year and probably not training much (he is acting after all) is going to be that eager to fight again.

 

As it stands, I wouldn't mind seeing UFC placing an ad ban on the Affliction shirts (although I doubt it would happen). While I love the shirts, I think Randy is biting a gift horse in the mouth with this move.

 

Let the flaming begin.

[NoCalMike 0]

What about a Couture vs. Rampage fight? I mean, Fedor may be considered the best at Heavyweight, but I'd say Rampage is at least in the casual fans' eyes the best Light-Heavyweight. I am sure it would be a big money fight.....

 

P.S. Why the fuck are affliction & extreme couture t-shits so fucking expensive? $50 for a t-shirt!?!

[Guest]

I like how Couture's first MMA fight was against Ludvig Borga.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

I like how Couture's first MMA fight was against Ludvig Borga.

 

Shit, I can't believe I never realized that until now. Thats a pretty intresting bit of trivia.

[Mik 0]

What about a Couture vs. Rampage fight? I mean, Fedor may be considered the best at Heavyweight, but I'd say Rampage is at least in the casual fans' eyes the best Light-Heavyweight. I am sure it would be a big money fight.....

 

P.S. Why the fuck are affliction & extreme couture t-shits so fucking expensive? $50 for a t-shirt!?!

 

They are worth every penny.

 

[Youth N Asia 0]

If they do a mini tourney who is in? Kongo, Andre, Tim, and Vera?

 

WTF? Do you even know who Nogueria is? (Don't mean to be an asshole)

 

Very much so, I just don't like guys being thrown into the title picture with zero or one fight on their UFC sheets. I love Silva and Rampage, but thought they should have had to get a couple of UFC wins before getting title shots.

 

 

[Youth N Asia 0]

ugh, I hate watching shows with people talking about MMA who know nothing about it.

 

On PTI Michael Wilbon was ripping on Randy and saying how Rampage was able to beat both him AND Chuck at a lighter weight, bitch bitch, no one watches the UFC.