Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Cannon Jacques.

Josh Gross over at Sports Illustrated is reporting that Randy Couture has turned down a fight with Nogueira for the first half of 2009 due to recent surgery on his elbow.  The problem?  Apparently, 16 cm (!!!) bone spurs:

A pair of abnormally large bone spurs were removed from The Natural's elbow on Thursday. While training for his failed UFC heavyweight title defense in November against Brock Lesnar, Couture aggravated the joint, which was mined for a pair of 16-centimeter spurs.

That's no small injury to rehab from, and as seems to be the comment associated with everything Couture does these days, age is not on his side.  Here's hoping he has a speedy (and full) recovery, especially since he seems to want the fight with Big Nog, eventually:

Asked if he desired a fight with the 32-year-old Nogueira, the longtime Pride heavyweight champion who was stopped for the first time in 38 fights by Frank Mir on Dec. 27, Couture answered simply: "yes."

I think the Randy-Nog fight is a natural, and one that the fans want to see.  Considering the staph infection and the beating he took at the hands of Frank Mir, I don't see Nog having much of a problem waiting until the summer of 2009 for the match-up...  though the fans may not find it quite as easy.