Couture leaves UFC

[gehrig]

http://mmajunkie.com/

wowow

[mmbt0ne]

So we're what, 3 years away from 5 different mma associations naming champions?

[BowToYourSensei]

this is so brutal

[MikeyPatriot]

[ QUOTE ]
So we're what, 3 years away from 5 different mma associations naming champions?

[/ QUOTE ]

There's already a ton of orgs naming champions? UFC, Pro Elite, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, WEC, Shooto, etc. It just isn't as [censored] as boxing because there's a pretty clear #1 org and "everyone else."

This is shocking, and a huge blow to the UFC HW division, especially after Fedor signed with M-1. OTOH, this might end up being good for the sport overall.

[gehrig]

it looks like couture is avoiding the word retirement

M1 I guess was bought by US investors

is this all setting up a fedor/couture fight in vegas sometime next year?

if that happened it'd be very interesting to see how much mainstream coverage it would get

[DonkeyKongSr]

From UFC.com...

[ QUOTE ]
STATEMENT FROM DANA WHITE, UFC PRESIDENT, REGARDING COUTURE

“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.”

[/ QUOTE ]

[MikeyPatriot]

It has been reported by various MMA outlets that M-1 was bought by U.S. individual/company with no previous MMA interests.

Sherdog has an exclusive interview with Randy up, and the article mentions that Randy would have to wait 9 months for his UFC contract to expire. Will be interesting if he will want to fight Fedor with that much time off.

[gehrig]

reading the sherdog interview, couture is pretty pissed off about his pay

fighter compensation is a v tricky issue. its clear ufc underpays top fighters relative to the money those fighters make for the ufc. but other promotions are going to make an order of magnitude less money promoting the same fighters, so i don't see how things change

fedor/couture would make a lot of money because its the biggest fight ever, but i dont think anyone would watch like silva/lindland or barnett/gonzaga if it was promoted by strikeforce

[MikeyPatriot]

I think it was more about the fact that Dana and Lorenzo told him he was the #2 paid guy in the company, but when he asked around, that clearly wasn't the truth.

That's pretty damning if the UFC execs would lie to the face of the sport about his place on the payscale.

[TalkingDonkey]

this is crazy, mad respect for couture leaving to fight fedor