Couture Retires

[Morgrym]

Seems like a cry baby bitch move to me unless there is some underlying scandal that is going to come out a la blackmail.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

In a story that has shocked the mixed martial arts world, UFC Heavyweight Champion and commentator Randy "The Natural" Couture has announced his retirement, surrendered his championship title and severed all ties with the company.

Here are the details from Yahoo! Sports columnist Kevin Iole:

- Sean O'Heir, the spokesman of Couture's company "Xtreme Couture MMA", said Thursday that the UFC Hall of Famer had vacated his championship and resigned as an analyst on UFC television broadcasts.

- O'Heir said Couture was hoping for a fight to be made against Fedor Emelianenko, who is the top-ranked mixed martial artist in the Yahoo! Sports poll. Reports surfaced Tuesday that Emelianenko had signed with a new promoter, M-1.

- Regarding the realization that Couture's dream match with Fedor is now more unlikely than ever, O'Heir said "[Randy] was disappointed when he couldn't get a fight with Fedor. That would have been his legacy fight."

[Abelard]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1330276/

It may be because hes currently filming .. The Scorpion King 2.

:~

[Morgrym]

UFC President Dana White released the following statement this morning on UFC.com:

"I’m not surprised at all by Randy’s decision. I talked to Randy several weeks ago and he said that if he couldn’t fight Fedor, then he has nothing left to prove in the sport of mixed martial arts.

He has been doing a lot of acting, and I know he is in South Africa right now filming a movie. I think it’s a great move for Randy’s acting career to retire from fighting while he is on top.

As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him."

[Breagen]

If anything it comes across to me as the complete opposite of a bitch move. He is saying by doing this that as a champion he only wants to fight the best competition there is rather than just sit back and let others try to knock him down. Instead of sitting around in the UFC for a couple more years fighting the same people over and over he is trying to move out and take a chance against who many consider the #1 HW in the world, how is that in any way a bitch move?

It's also according to Couture himself an issue with the playing of favorites within the organization and varying off the books payouts to different fighters far beyond what they normally would earn.

[Morgrym]

A true champion holds the title until they are dethroned, not because they don't get their way. Someone else is bound to come along eventually to take him out, it's not like he is that awesome to begin with.

[Breagen]

it's not like he is that awesome to begin with.

That is a pretty ridiculous thing to say honestly. Couture has some of the greatest upsets/fights in MMA history under his belt and the fact that he has been able to come back and fight successfully at his age is an incredible testament to his skill and determination. I'm sure if you asked long-standing MMA fans for a top ten of all time great fighters Couture would be an easy choice; he is easy to overlook with the many recent additions to the UFC and Pride before them but not many have the legacy that Couture does.

Furthermore; Couture retiring from the UFC (according to all of the reports I've read) was not simply a matter of him not getting his way. He had already left the UFC once before over a pay dispute and he believed that yet again he was not being paid a fair amount for his position in the company. At this point the UFC doesn't really have anything left for Couture until someone new comes out of the pipe. Dana had been promising for months that Fedor would be signing with the UFC and than when it turned out that didn't come true I have no problem with Couture leaving and trying to most likely end his career (win or lose) with a truly epic match up. Expecting a forty-four year old fighter to just wait around fighting the same people over and over ala Chuck Liddell until someone good finally comes along is just silly.

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Randy playing Orc Warlock in Scorpion King 2.

[Abelard]

He looks like that guy who dressed up as a DE at the eq kunark convention, lol.

[Tegellan]

He looks like that guy who dressed up as a DE at the eq kunark convention, lol.

He could still kick your ass though, that is the main difference!