Couture-Fedor Meeting in LA this week

Nearly one year after his resignation from the UFC, the MMA world remains transfixed on Randy Couture and his quest to fight Fedor Emelienanko. In a sport of short attention spans, the bout remains the most anticipated in MMA as evidenced by the reaction generated by the staredown between the two heavyweights at Affliction’s innaugural event. Couture and Emelienanko had hoped to square off later this year, but a recent setback in Couture’s legal battle with the UFC appears to have delayed the fight until at least 2009. However, despite the hurdles in their way, the consensus top five heavyweights remain committed to turning the dream fight into a reality. MMAPayout.com has learned that Couture and Emelianenko, along with their respective management teams, have spent a great deal of time together in Los Angeles this week. The purpose of the informal summit is not entirely clear, but one logical goal of the meetings could be the development of a collective strategy moving forward in order to insure that the fight takes place, sooner rather than later. Adding intrigue to the meetings are recent statements from both parties, as well as the UFC, publicly indicating a willingness to discuss resolving their respective differences in order to have the fight take place in the Octagon, perhaps by the end of the year. Speculation within the industry pegs the pay-per-view expectations for the fight around one million buys if promoted by the UFC, which combined with what has become an expensive and protracted legal battle, give both sides ample motivation to come to an agreement. In addition to the meetings, MMAPayout.com has also confirmed that Couture and Emelianenko are scheduled to participate in a magazine photo shoot. A previous Affliction photo shoot featuring a staredown between the two fighters caused waves in February.

http://www.mmapayout.com/2008/08/couture-fedor-meeting-in-la-this-week/

Sherdog is running a similar story as well: http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/la-confidential-couture-fedor-meet-14017