Randy Couture to Headline UFC 91

by mmalogic on Aug 28, 2008 12:56 PM EDT

Well this has been the talk for months but now a few individuals are starting to leak it out... Much to the dismay of the general MMA media who would have wanted to make the scoop.

"The Real Big Pun" let the cat out of the bag on fightsport.

Randy Couture will in all likelihood headline UFC 91 in Portland, Oregon..

The hope is that the opponent will be fedor however the probability will be that his opponent will be non other than Brock Lesnar.

MMA LOGIC

mmalogic@ymail.com

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Wow...

Randy vs. Brock, with the winner facing the winner of Mir vs. Nog, is the best thing UFC could do for it’s HW division right now.

Let’s hope this happens so that, win or lose, Randy can be done with his UFC contract and face you-know-who next year.

by Chris Nelson on Aug 28, 2008 1:21 PM EDT reply actions

But would the UFC let that happen? I know they wouldn’t want other promotions get a foothold.. and what if Randy eventually won the belt back? Its possibble that he can catch Brock with something then perform another miracle with either Mir or Nog (we know how resilient and a master tactician he is..) If that happens he’d be back to square one.

But then, again, he’s the current champ and Nog’s the interim one, wouldn’t it be right to have them go at it first? So, I think they might probably have them fight on the same card at UFC91 and have different opponents, assuming that they’re really trying to book them both at the Portland event.

by Johann on Aug 28, 2008 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Was about to post something about that...

Since you had it posted first, I’ll just paste what I had (a couple of quotes from RedSweat)..

Rumors are starting to swirl that former UFC heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture could headline UFC 91 as the organization swings into Portland, OR, for the first time ever in November.

    …..

    In addition, the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota reported last thursday that the UFC had Brock Lesnar in their sights for UFC 91. They apparently informed Lesnar of their wishes to have the WWE superstar compete at the event earlier that week.

    …..

    While Couture’s participation at UFC 91 is far from official, Eric, an amateur member of the Xtreme Couture gym where Randy trains, has confirmed that Couture is training to fight somebody in the near future.

by Johann on Aug 28, 2008 1:23 PM EDT reply actions

This thing is starting to have legs…lol…I started to report it…but didn’t want it to blow up on me…

http://mma4real.net/

by Tha Realness on Aug 28, 2008 1:43 PM EDT reply actions

If this finalizes, which looks like it will pretty soon Randy will basically be locked down to the UFC for the rest of his career.

by mmalogic on Aug 28, 2008 1:50 PM EDT reply actions

better than sitting on the sidelines for these last couple of years he has left.

by Benicio on Aug 31, 2008 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope he is not really fighting Brock Lesnar. I’d rather see him lose to Big Nog not Brock.

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on Aug 28, 2008 1:52 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t want to sound repetitive but isn’t he supposed to fight Big Nog for the unification?

I’d rather see him fight Noguiera too, because all I’m picturing is Brock laying on top of him the whole fight.

by Johann on Aug 28, 2008 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess arbitration didn’t go so well for Randy….or maybe it did…

http://mma4real.net/

by Tha Realness on Aug 28, 2008 1:55 PM EDT reply actions

Randy’s nuts are in a vice…

He basically has 2 choices finish his career with the UFC or finish his career.

by mmalogic on Aug 28, 2008 1:58 PM EDT reply actions

He brought it on himself.

http://mma4real.net/

by Tha Realness on Aug 28, 2008 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions

This rumor is posted on several other sites. It just might be true.

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on Aug 28, 2008 2:20 PM EDT reply actions

I’m not saying it isn’t true, but anything that originates out of FightSport needs to be taken with a massive grain of salt.

by Luke Thomas on Aug 28, 2008 2:30 PM EDT reply actions

If the grain of salt becomes to massive then how can you still call it a grain? At some point it is a rock of salt. But about this rumor, its not coming out of the same old reliable sources. Its seems like there isn’t much to it, but stranger things have happened.

by szucconi on Aug 28, 2008 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I usually replace the "g" with a "t" in that particular phrase.

That’s how much salt I usually advise people to administer when it comes to situations like this.

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Aug 28, 2008 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions

This deal has been talked about for months…

This is not a fightsport scoop. Actually I believe Sherdog was supposed to make the announcement once Couture made up his mind.

Right now I would say this is about 95% a done deal.

by mmalogic on Aug 28, 2008 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Wait a second...

Let’s keep in mind what we know before getting too carried away.
  - Randy swore the only fight he would take in the UFC would be against Fedor.
  - We know Zuffa and Fedor’s management have thus far been unable to come close to a contract
  - As recently as August 1, Couture and Zuffa were still locked in a legal battle
  - Randy and Fedor met in Los Angeles in mid August. Reputable sources such as fiveouncesofpain.com and mmajunkie.com note that while the meeting between the fighters is encouraging, there are still significant legal obstacles preventing the fight from being signed.

As much as I would like to see Randy and Fedor fight, under the UFC promotional banner or otherwise, I have to doubt it will happen until I see some solid evidence from a proven source. Not that the fight couldn’t happen, but there is little reliable information at this point indicating the bout will take place.

by Andy R on Aug 28, 2008 3:07 PM EDT reply actions

Well here’s some evidence, looks like this might be a rumor with some traction.

by Andy R on Aug 28, 2008 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, this is still just a rumour.

by smoogy on Aug 28, 2008 3:36 PM EDT reply actions

Now Randy is trying to weasel his way out:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/5158/sources-randy-couture-willing-to-fight-in-the-ufc-once-more.mma

nah eh!

I said it before and Ill say it again…

Randy only has 2 options:

Finish his career with the UFC or finish his career… they aint no negotiating now buddy!

by mmalogic on Aug 28, 2008 6:15 PM EDT reply actions

From the MMAJunkie...

Multiple sources close to the fighter, speaking exclusively to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), today said that Couture is willing to fight once more for the UFC, possibly before the end of the year, as a potentia; resolution to his ongoing legal battles with the fight promotion.

However, Couture himself could not be reached for comment, and it’s unknown if the UFC is even considering the offer at this point.

by Chris Nelson on Aug 28, 2008 6:31 PM EDT reply actions

This is like you having a stock and negotiating sell it… then once the stock goes bankrupt your like ok well ill let you have for half off!

LOLOLOL.

No way is the UFC going to agree to this.

The UFC can make him sit out til 2010 if he doesn’t want to play ball.

by mmalogic on Aug 28, 2008 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Not quite the right analogy. UFC buying that stock even at half price is still very lucrative for them.

by Benicio on Aug 31, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

If this is true it’ll be interesting to see if The UFC brings him back against Noguiera. But then that makes the whole rivalry with mir on TUF kinda irrelevant. Randy still is considered the UFC heavyweight champion so bringing him back to fight against anybody but Noguiera or Fedor would be pointless.

by asmiley420 on Aug 28, 2008 6:55 PM EDT reply actions