Not long ago, it seemed impossible that Randy Couture was ever going to return to the UFC. He was the heavyweight champion in the fall of 2007 and the UFC had big plans for him to defend his crown, but the 45-year-old Couture only wanted one fight and that was against top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenko was a free agent, however, and the UFC’s plan to sign Emelianenko failed. That killed Couture’s desire to defend his UFC title and he promptly walked away from the Octagon.
Now, nearly 10 months later, Couture and the UFC put aside all their differences and have come to an agreement to bring back one of mixed martial arts’ all-time greats to face former WWE and NCAA champion wrestler Brock Lesnar Nov. 15 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“(Couture) has always been the heavyweight champion of the UFC. It took us a while to get everything straightened out, but we are ready to move forward and to get Randy fighting out there again,” UFC president Dana White said. “We never went to court and we were happy to resolve it out(side) of the legal system.”
One of the key issues Couture stressed as part of leaving the UFC was the fact that he wasn’t getting any younger and didn’t have many fights left in his body and he was hoping to land a fight with Emelianenko before he retired once and for all.
Once Couture left the UFC last October, he attempted to go on with his career in search of that “dream fight” without the UFC, but he was still under contract with the UFC and shortly after the company flexed its legal muscle, which kept Couture from signing elsewhere.
Lesnar, Couture’s foe-to-be at UFC 91, only has three MMA fights under his belt and a 1-1 record with the UFC, but White saw enough of the 6-foot-3, 260-pound grappler in his recent win over Heath Herring to deem him the No. 1 contender.
“Obviously (Lesnar) is a very big guy and very strong and poses many problems on the ground or on his feet,” said Couture, who remained inactive from competition but trains many fighters at his gym in Las Vegas and has always said he remains in shape just in case the chance to fight arose.
Both sides appear content with where they stand, especially Couture, who said the UFC is going “to work diligently to find a way to make the Fedor fight happen.” That, of course, was at the root of the initial disagreement.
Currently, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is the interim heavyweight champion and is scheduled to defend his interim title in December against Frank Mir. White said the Nogueira-Mir fight winner will then take on the Couture-Lesnar winner in 2009 for the undisputed title.
Couture first retired from the MMA in 2006, but that only lasted a year. He returned in 2007 and beat heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia to win the gold. In his last bout (August, 2007), he defended the title successfully against Gabriel Gonzaga.
