Randy Couture signs new 3 fight contract with UFC

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

By Dave Meltzer

 

A source close to Randy Couture have confirmed today that Couture is in negotiations with UFC for a new three-fight deal which would end the nearly nine month legal battle between the two sides.

 

If the deal is closed, and the source said they are hoping to conclude negotiations and announce the match sometime within the next week, Couture would face Brock Lesnar on 11/15, most likely in Portland, Oregon. There are still minor problems involving tax issues that have kept finalzing the Rose Garden as the venue on that date, but UFC sources on Thursday expected the deal would conclude.

 

Couture was said to be hoping that if everything went well, the next two fights could involve Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and/or Chuck Liddell. However, all the previous hang-ups involving Emelianenko and UFC remain.

 

It had been rumored heavily the past few days about a Couture vs. Lesnar fight in Portland, as a one-fight deal to settle the legal issues. But the talks involve a contract where both sides would expect Couture to legitimately retire as a UFC fighter.

 

F4W

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Interesting fight.

 

I'm not sure if Brock is ready for Randy yet. There are many factors that go into this match that make it very intriguing.

 

Randy is the much smarter, more experienced fighter. He has his own wrestling credentials and can go in there with a game plan, utilize it and defeat Brock. But he is also very rusty at this point and his age may be catching up with him.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Holy shit! This would be awesome! I hope it works out.

[Diamonddust 0]

So would the winner of this get the winner of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira/Frank Mir to finally clear up the heavyweight title mess?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

If Randy wasn't a bitch there'd be no mess to begin with. Hopefully we get Brock by murder.

 

Calling Randy a "bitch" is nothing but wrong, "greedy" and "money hungry"? Yes... But a bitch is far from.

[Just call me Dan 0]

Reports are now surfacing that signs are pointing to UFC working on Fedor/Randy for the Superbowl show as well. All this news is making such a sour story turn sweet again. I am not on Randy's side at all concerning the whole ordeal, but I'm a big fan of the guy in the octagon. this news is starting to become too good to be true.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Randy Couture is the farthest thing from a bitch you can be. Simple as that.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Randy Couture is the farthest thing from a bitch you can be. Simple as that.

 

[MrRant 0]

If they come to Portland, I'm totally driving down.

[Rendclaw 0]

A lot of blame goes to Dana's willingness to be totally unreasonable at times, and unwillingness to compromise. Randy is not the only one to be at fault in this mess.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

A lot of blame goes to Dana's willingness to be totally unreasonable at times, and unwillingness to compromise. Randy is not the only one to be at fault in this mess.

 

Normally I would agree about Dana, but then Dana has went out of his way and has admit that he's Randy's bitch.

[Mik 0]

Randy is officially back in the UFC for 3 more fights. Press conference at 3 PM today.

 

http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/09/02/rep...official-today/

[NoCalMike 0]

Question though; if Randy does indeed fight Brock first and loses, in a devastating fashion. Does that take away the luster of Randy/Fedor?

 

I mean I really don't even think Brock has earned this fight yet but I could see where business interests take over.

 

If I was Dana White I'd really try to work on getting Randy/Fedor signed FIRST.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

Fedor/Randy ain't ever happening - so its a moot point

[AboveAverage484 0]

Question though; if Randy does indeed fight Brock first and loses, in a devastating fashion. Does that take away the luster of Randy/Fedor?

 

I mean I really don't even think Brock has earned this fight yet but I could see where business interests take over.

 

If I was Dana White I'd really try to work on getting Randy/Fedor signed FIRST.

 

 

Brock isn't anywhere near ready for Randy yet, IMHO.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Randy Couture is the farthest thing from a bitch you can be. Simple as that.

 

 

exactly...pimp is the word

 

Brock? Fuck that, Nog, get this title picture squared away

[Lord of The Curry 0]

They will, it just right now depends on whether they can land Fedor for the Superbowl show. If so it's Randy vs Fedor, winner gets Nog to unify the belts. If they can't get Fedor in time they'll just do Randy vs Nog.

[Mik 0]

Here's where they have a small problem.

 

Randy - 3 fight deal: Brock, Fedor/Nog, Nog/? (depending on Fedor)

 

Brock - 2 fights left on his mammoth deal that makes him one of the highest paid fighters in the UFC.

 

That's the reason you're getting Brock thrown in with Randy so quickly... time to earn that 250-450k per fight. I'm probably the biggest Lesnar supporter on this board but I still think Randy can beat him at this stage in the game. But WHAT IF Brock actually comes in with a real gameplan that is something a bit more sophisticated then use your strength and lay on him with hammerfists for 3 rounds? I mean, he totally COULD beat Randy... and then that ruins a lot of things. Not necessarily for the UFC because Brock going for the belt will get them a ton of buys, but it certainly ruins the entire Randy/Fedor landscape, that's for sure.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

The way I see it if UFC were any kind of confident that they're signing Fedor they wouldn't put Randy up against Brock and ruin the chance.

 

But Brock Lesnar, UFC Champion in 4 MMA fights would certainly be a crazy thing if it went down.

 

 

[AboveAverage484 0]

Just blame it all on T.K. If he wouldn't have ruined the Rings tournament back in the day we might not be having this discussion

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

It's official for November 15th at the MGM and it will be for the UFC Heavyweight title.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Well...that should result in many many many many many many many buys.

 

They can just scrub up the undercard and it'll still do gangbuster business.

[starvenger 0]

It's official for November 15th at the MGM and it will be for the UFC Heavyweight title.

In essence it's a tourney of sorts. Winner of Mir-Nog and Randy-Brock face off for the "undisputed" title. And then I suppose that's when we find out that Fedor fights the winner or something.

[Lei Tong 0]

I have no qualms about the fight itself (and realize that other plans have been set in motion limiting current options), but the idea of Lesnar fighting for the HW title ahead of a Couture/Noguiera unification makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

[RedJed 0]

While for the here and now business side of things, this is huge and will most certainly get one of the bigger buzzes for a UFC fight this year.

 

On the flip side, they are risking Lesnar's drawing power diminished here if he looks bad against Couture (and thats honestly what I'm expecting) as he's not even close to Couture's league in the least.

 

However, if by chance, Lesnar beats Couture, or even comes out of the fight looking strong, its a huge risk that ultimately would be worth taking. UFC gets Randy back and in a big way.

[Warriorfan 0]

I just saw this and I can't stop smiling.

 

I know its ridiculous on paper but I make Brock the favorite in this one. The rust combined with Lesnar's superior strength and speed may be too much for Randy without him having a tuneup first.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

It's glorious watching Sherdog and other boards like it meltdown over this.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

"Who gives a shit about Fedor?" - Brock.

 

A million MMA message board geeks just exploded in rage.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

This is probably the biggest fight UFC could make right now. They didn't have anything for the November show, and now they have this fight which should explode. Brock is internationally known, Randy is as well, AND locally, Randy's got ties. Mammoth fight.

 

It's hard to say who'll win. Randy's got way more experience, but he's also significantly older. Brock is probably his equal or better at wrestling, and Brock is surely far stronger then Randy. Randy is better at submissions, and understanding how fighting works (The man is almost a tactical genius). Then the whole experience thing comes into play. Brock showed maturity by slowly raping Herring, but Randy is the king at pacing a fight.

 

I'd favor randy, but I would not be surprised to see Randy have no answer for Brock's shoot and sheer strength. If Brock decides he wants to keep you down and have you stay there, chances are you aren't going to get up. Randy has pretty decent punching power too, with good head movement. He could test Brock's chin. There's also the fact that Brock could go back to what he was in the Mir fight and make a mistake at this level and Randy submits him.

 

The betting lines on this fight are going to be HYOGE.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I'm interested to see if Couture can take a punch from Lesnar.