Anytime soon at least. Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle got the scoop from Randy in a post he headlined "UFC turns down Couture vs. Fedor." Here's what Randy told him:
We got an official offer from M-1 to the UFC to do a co-promotion for the Couture-Emelianenko fight, and they (UFC) rejected that offer. Really, the only thing standing in the way for that fight right now is Dana and the UFC. Obviously, M-1 is happy to do a co-promotion like that. It only serves to help them. I think the UFC is looking at it the other way, and it's like why do we want to help out another organization? The fans want to see that fight. At some point, you have to put that first.
It was probably expecting a bit much for the UFC to cross-promote with any organization, especially one that stole both Fedor and now Randy Couture away from them. But all I know is, as a fan, I really really want to see this fight. This year, before Randy gets too old to be competitive.
It seems most likely to me that M-1 won't even get a TV deal of any kind and if this match does happen it will be a whimper, not a bang due to lack of promotion, little mainstream interest and no no no marketing to speak of.
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