Coture Quits UFC!

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Coture Quits UFC!

Symphony Of Destruction · Metal Mod

That's insane, The Cap is gone. Surely this leaves the Heavyweight Title division Wide open, Maybe a Tournament?

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Dana has offered a Lame responseon the UFC website:

STATEMENT FROM DANA WHITE, UFC PRESIDENT, REGARDING COUTURE
Im not surprised at all by Randys decision. I talked to Randy several weeks ago and he said that if he couldnt 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 its a great move for Randys 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 Im ready to promote him.

It means that the winners of Sylvia Vs Vera and Big Nog Vs. Kongo will fight for the title in early 2008

bobbaf3nn · On The Casting Couch

RANDY COUTURES decision to quit the UFC has stunned the MMA world. the sun newspaper asked expert analyst Jim Burman for his take on the story.
[B]Rumours several stars are unhappy in the UFC have been floating around for a couple of weeks - what do you think is causing the trouble?

I think that part of these rumours have to do with the increased competition that the UFC is experiencing in the US and the massive growth in the sport. Some athletes are talking openly about their earnings, some truthfully and other perhaps not, and this could be causing friction for promoters in general, not just the UFC.

Do you think Couture's decision to retire was influenced by an outsider? Dana White suggested the Hollywood agent may have got to him...

Randy certainly has a lot on his plate fighting in the UFC was only one source of income for him. He has his gyms, his acting career is taking off and he really doesnt have anything else to accomplish in his MMA career apart from to beat Fedor Emelianenko which now looks like it wont happen in the UFC. Was it a Hollywood agent? His wife? Friends and family? To be a Champion and competitor like Randy you have to be single minded and strong willed and I doubt that anyone on this planet couldve put an idea as radical as walking away from the UFC into his head.

Would Randy have beaten Fedor?

We actually debated this exact question in a feature article for Fighters Only magazine only a few months ago. Fedor is probably the complete mixed martial artist, he's good at everything, whereas Randy is the master strategist who you can never count out. Although I was the minority in our panel, I personally think that Randy would've beaten Fedor but as we've seen recently anything can happen in this sport.

Is Fedor as "overrated" as Dana White says?

Fedor is one of the top heavyweights out there but hes not fought top level competition for more than two years now. There is currently a mystique that surrounds him and because of this I would say that Dana is right but Fedor isnt overrated by much. Hes excellent but everyone is beatable and his layoff could demonstrate this.

Do you think Couture will return to the Octagon

I doubt that Couture will ever return to the Octagon. Hes already retired from MMA once and with his acting career starting to take off I think itll take a lot for him to return to the UFC. A fight with Fedor would be such an occasion.

Is a full-time movie career a possibility for Couture? Or is it just an excuse to get away from the UFC?

Well he certainly has the look of an action hero but whether hell become a new Vin Diesel or Bruce Willis remains to be seen. Hes currently filming The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian in South Africa in which hes reported to have a lead role so well see soon enough.

Where does this leave the UFC heavyweight division now?

I think this just makes things more interesting. Mainly because of his age Couture was becoming the underdog in just about every fight that he took. With the purchase of Pride the UFC have bolstered their heavyweight roster and there are ample potential contenders.

So what about the heavyweight title? Will Vera v Sylvia now be a title fight? Or will we see an open tournament set up to find a new champ?

Id like to see a mini tournament over a few events. Itd give the fans an opportunity to learn about the contenders and their styles instead of crowning a champ that fans hardly know.

[I]Jim Burman is an expert on MMA and writer for Fighters Only Magazine[/I]

CREDIT TO THE SUN NEWSPAPER AND W365 FORUMS

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

From Sherdog. Randy's press conference the other day.

Money Matters
October 27, 2007
by Josh Gross (joshg@sherdog.com)

From the moment Randy Couture (Pictures) tendered a faxed letter of resignation to the offices of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, both sides have waged a war of words more notable for parsing than vitriol.

With the "resigned" vs. "retired" debate cleared up for anyone willing to listen, a new argument has arisen in the wake of Couture's news conference Thursday at his gym in Las Vegas.

Among the litany of issues the lame duck heavyweight spoke on during his first extended session with media since his UFC departure, money, whether the 44-year-old Couture liked it or not, remains at the forefront.

Walking a linguistic tightrope, the for-now UFC champion attempted to convey that from his perspective the decision to return the belt and shed all affiliations with the sport's dominant organization was not simply a matter of how many zeros were on his paychecks.

Yet those zeros appear to be a significant component in his definition of "respect," which Couture says is at the crux of his problem with UFC management.

"I don't think anybody is going to feel sorry for me making the kind of money I've made in this sport," Couture said. "I've made more money in this sport than I've ever made doing anything else, so I'm not bitching. But how do you show an athlete that you respect his marketability and what he brings to the table, in the NFL or any other sport? By what you pay him. That's the bottom line."

That contradiction, while muddling Couture's motivations for stepping down as the UFC's grandest champion, has helped shine a bright light on how and how much the UFC pays its mixed martial artists.

Couture expressed his discontent six weeks ago over breakfast with the company's owner, Lorenzo Fertitta, and president, Dana White.

"It wasn't like I was sitting at that breakfast when I had my letter of resignation, saying, I want to renegotiate my contract, you f------- guys aren't paying me enough,'" Couture told Sherdog.com Friday. "I never asked for more money. I'm not asking for more money now. It's a prevailing feeling of being disrespected and not appreciated for what I've done and brought to this."

Couture said he told Fertitta and White he felt "overlooked." He expressed his disappointment in not being able to fight Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), the consensus No. 1 heavyweight in the sport. And he asked why an "off the books" bonus wasn't offered following a three-round war against Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) during which Couture had his arm broken blocking a high kick.

Such bonuses are a regular UFC practice to disperse non-guaranteed money to fighters at the promotion's discretion. Though "off the books" implies tax free, Couture clarified that the bonuses are declared money.

So instrumental are these bonuses, which have been as high as $1 million, that after Sean Sherk (Pictures) and Hermes Franca (Pictures) tested positive for steroids in July, White said future bonuses would be withheld until drug results were received; any fighter positive for drugs would forfeit his right to one.

"For some of the athletes it's standard practice," said Couture, who revealed he was given a $500,000 bonus for the third Liddell contest in February 2006 as well as for the Sylvia fight in March of this year. "You come to expect that. A lot of the marquee guys that are selling pay-per-views and putting butts in the seats get those bonus checks. Certainly we're happy to get the extra money, but it's at their discretion. It makes a big difference in my pay."

Last month in Anaheim, Calif., Couture followed up on his first meeting with White and Fertitta.

"I had my letter of resignation at that meeting face to face," he said. "I could have tendered it right there, but I wanted to give them the opportunity to respond to the things that I stated as issues for me. I got no response. And so I tendered my letter of resignation after that, two and a half weeks later."

Concerned about airing his financial laundry in public, Couture remained mostly silent while he was in South Africa filming his seventh motion picture. That changed Thursday.

Seated at a desk positioned in the center of a boxing ring inside his spacious Xtreme Couture training facility, Couture recalled having asked White and Fertitta for a "signing bonus" on the contract that would save him from retirement and eventually return the only multi-divisional champion in UFC history back to king status.

Couture said he was told by White, "No, we can't give you a signing bonus."

"I didn't understand why I wasn't really worthy of one, but it didn't really matter," Couture said. "What ultimately I wanted to do was fight, so I accepted the contract then. Moved on. Fought."

Thursday evening, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports published a report that included a statement from White that challenged Couture's assertion he was denied a signing bonus.

"Randy Couture (Pictures) said he didn't receive a signing bonus, but not only did he receive a signing bonus, he cashed the check on Jan. 30," the UFC president told Iole. "I'm holding it in my hand right now. The check was dated Jan. 15 and he cashed it on Jan. 30."

Contacted Friday to clarify his comments, Couture told Sherdog.com that the check White referred to was $250,000 he had cashed at the signing of the deal, though he explained it was an advance on a $500,000 post-fight "off the book" bonus that, according to him, the UFC had promised.

"I'm giving you the same shower room off the book' bonus that I gave you after the Chuck fight, which was the same amount. I'll give you half of that money up front and the other half after the fight," Couture said White told him during negotiations.

"I remember clearly the conversation with Lorenzo (Fertitta) about the signing bonus and all that," Couture said. "If they've gone ahead and somehow made that a signing bonus then I guess, technically, I misspoke myself. But I'm not sure if that's the case. I only know what I discussed with Lorenzo and what I know the facts were as far as I know."

The UFC declined to comment to Sherdog.com whether the money paid to Couture was part of a guaranteed signing bonus or an advance on a promised post-fight check, leaving both parties playing a deteriorating game of semantics.

All told, Couture stated the Sylvia fight produced 520,000 pay-per-view subscriptions, resulting in roughly $892,500 in additional monies for the popular veteran. Combined with his guaranteed purse and the split $500,000 bonus, Couture made -- based on numbers from an unsigned bout agreement he released in an attempt to refute a Yahoo! Sports' report that listed his per-fight income in the range of $3.25-$3.75 million -- upward of $1.6 million for his UFC championship-winning performance in Columbus, Ohio.

Pay-per-view numbers for the Gonzaga fight, which followed the same pay structure as the Sylvia contest -- $1 for every pay-per-view between 100,000-175,000; $1.50 from 175,000-300,000; $2 from 300,000-330,000; and $3 from 330,000 buys and up -- have not been released, but Couture placed estimates in the Sylvia range. To verify the numbers, he enacted an audit but has yet to find someone qualified to oversee the operation.

Money? Respect? Competition? There appear to be no clear answers in this fight.

"This is the last statement I'm going to make," Couture told Sherdog.com. "Those guys know the truth. Dana knows in his heart of hearts what's gone on. I'm not gonna sit and debate every time they want to spin something their way. It's not about money. They could offer me $5 million -- I'm gone. I know how I feel. I know what's what. I'm tired of it."

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Seems there's a glimmer of hope that Randy could Return...

UFC President Dana White has offered estranged UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture an upcoming fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.The UFCs head honcho passed along the news yesterday afternoon during a UFC 78 conference call but said hes yet to get an answer from Couture.

White, though, has mentioned the possible Couture-Nogueira fight for the past month even while Couture and White feuded via dueling press conferences and media interviews. Couture, a 44-year-old UFC hall-of-famer, resigned from the UFC last month over issues with his pay and what he perceived to be a lack of respect from UFC executives.

(We didnt necessarily consider the Couture-Nogueira fight to be news since White had previously mentioned it, but in light of the widespread coverage following yesterdays media call, we figured we should mention it here on MMAjunkie.com.)

During an Oct. 30 press conference, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported:

Despite the current situation, White said that Couture will be offered the opportunity to return to the octagon in early 2008. After all, White said, you cant resign from a contract.

Were going to offer Randy a fight with (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) probably in February, White said. As far as Im concerned, Randy Couture is our heavyweight champion right now.

It appears the offer has now been made.

However, during yesterdays call, White said that he will need a response soon. He said he plans to talk to Couture in the next couple days because he wants to have the fight either officially booked or declined this week.

Prior to the fighters resignation, the UFC had planned for Couture to return to the octagon at UFC 81 on SuperBowl weekend. Couture last competed at UFC 74 in August when he scored a third-round TKO of Gabriel Gonzaga. Couture broke his arm in the fight but was expected to be fully healed in time for the Feb. 2 event.

UFC 81 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Recent signee Brock Lesnar takes on Frank Mir at the event.

If he does return that would make Tim Sylvia's win against Vera moot. As he's not going to get a rematch with Coture again soon... I reckon they'd line up the winner of Brock/Mir for Coture if he came back and (Most likely) beat Big Nog...

poulpy72 · A List Star

Darth Mattitude wrote:
I reckon they'd line up the winner of Brock/Mir for Coture if he came back and (Most likely) beat Big Nog...

Let's be clear on that....They will line up Brock as there is no chance on Earth Mir's getting out of the cage with a win. Brock will be a force to be reckon with in the UFC. His sheer size and strenght are going to be very difficult to handle, even by the top HW fighters.

Still, as long as Randy comes back, I'll be a happy camper. But I'm not very optimistic about that....

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Well, it's a closer possibility now than it was a few weeks ago....

Randy Couture was at UFC 78 and has been civil with Dana White. Dana had claimed that he was meeting with Couture this Tuesday, and sources close to Couture said there was no meeting scheduled. Apparently, they were actually supposed to meet this past Tuesday and Dana thought it was this coming Tuesday, so he wasn't there and Randy thought Dana blew him off. Dana joked that clearly his communication skills still hadn't improved much. He said they would now be meeting after Thanksgiving

David McKinney · 500 Club Member

Why didn't they just meet at UFC 78? They were both there...this is getting to be rediculous.

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

It's all been a big sham by Coture and White toi generate intrest when he comes back due to slightly flagging intrest in possible Coture opponents...

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Well Coture and Dana have finally met up....

In a meeting with Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White last Tuesday, current heavyweight champion Randy Couture turned down a proposed title defense against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 on Feb. 2, 2008.

There was also some fence mending to be done at the meeting. Following Coutures resignation from the UFC in October, the two went a couple of rounds through the media, disputing the basis of the resignation. With the meeting, Couture said he was able to air out the issues addressed in his decision and looks forward to a cooperative relationship with his employer of eleven years.

Weve cleared the air, and hopefully well move forward with some sort of relationship, Couture said. Ive got a lot of fighters and a lot of things that hinge around mixed martial arts and the UFC as well. I want to continue to work with them and I think that they want to continue to work with me, so well figure out how that happens.

The magnitude of response to his resignation shocked the five-time UFC champ.

This whole resigning thing took on a life of its own, he said. There were 72 media outlets trying to get a hold of me. [I was] on the cover of Yahoo, it was just insane to me. I figured Id go away quietly, maybe MMAWeekly would cover it, Full Contact Fighter or something like that would do a blurb on it, but it would be confined to the small niche of mixed martial arts. Truly a testament to how big the sport has gotten by the reaction of me stepping down.

Since then, Couture has been busy taking meetings for multiple film projects he is slated to begin work on in the next year. He still wants to fight No. 1 ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, but says his UFC contract makes it unlikely.

Obviously I have a contractual obligation with the UFC. Theres been some haggling and things going on with all that, and Fedor signing with M-1 made the possibility of that fight very difficult because of that and because of those contracts, he said.

The experience has underscored his need to take a step back from full-time fighting and focus on his personal life.

I think more than anything at this stage of things I want to slow down a little bit, Couture said. Ive been burning it for three or four years now I want to take some time and go on a vacation, spend some time with my wife. Weve been married a year now and weve been together very, very little in that year; its been crazy. Its been difficult on us. Ive got a nice house and I dont even get to spend any time in it hardly, so take a little time now and just smell the roses so to speak.

It appears that a fight for the now-vacant heavyweight title is in the works. It now appears that Nogueira will most likely face Tim Sylvia, who earned his contender slot with a win over Brandon Vera at UFC 77.

For Couture, the lesson lies in trusting his internal compass.

I cant focus on or account for other people and their motivations and their actions, he said. I have to focus on myself and just worry about that, and not let the other stuff in it will drive you crazy.
Taken from MMA Weekly

David McKinney · 500 Club Member

OK, so basically this is a story telling us what we already knew. How is that news? Anyway, I'm glad that something is finally official, and I hope that this whole mess is behind us.

David McKinney · 500 Club Member

I saw something on an HDNet recap that said that Randy was there and that he told fans that he is not retired, only waiting for his UFC contract to be up so that he can fight Fedor in a different organization. Why doesn't the UFC get their heads out of their asses and make this fight at all costs before Couture's contract is up?

Also in attendance at the HDNet event was former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. He said that his contract is up in April and that he hasn't been happy with the way the UFC has been treating him. He could move over to HDNet or even to M-1.