Couture Resigns From UFC: A "Natural" Decision
Posted by RB, 04 Nov 2007
On 11th October news broke of Randy Couture's sudden resignation from the UFC -- as heavyweight champion, commentator, and ambassador to the company. On the same day the MMA world caught wind that Fedor Emelianenko, number one heavyweight in the world, had reached agreement with M-1 Global -- which turned out to be a six-fight, two-year deal. "The Russian Experiment" would not be making his way into the Octagon any time soon.
Couture cited two reasons for his resignation: 1) That Emelianenko was the only fight that interested him at this stage of his career, and now with Fedor in M-1 the UFC could not make this fight; and 2) That he felt, and had felt for some time, unhappy with how the UFC treated him compared to some of the other fighters at the top of the food chain.
The MMA world jumped all over the story, and a battle of statements between Couture and the UFC ensued. Three press conferences later, after two weeks of speculation and conflicting information, things seem less straightforward than they did to begin with.
Couture's resignation was initially understood as a bold move to pursue a fight with Emelianenko outside the UFC, his other grievances being secondary to the ultimate objective of facing off against the top heavyweight before retiring from competition.
At the press conference Couture held two weeks after announcing his resignation however, he put the emphasis squarely on his issues with UFC management, and thoughts of pursuing fights outside the UFC seemed much further back in his mind.
"It's not really about leaving and going and fighting somewhere else. My loyalty has always been with the UFC. I was offered to fight Fedor over a year ago when I wanted to come out of retirement for $3 million in Bodog." Couture stated.
Of the issues with UFC management, the two biggest points of contention Couture brought up concerned money, although he maintained "this was never a money issue but about a prevailing feeling of respect that wasn't being given."
First he stated that he wasn't happy with his contract because he wasn't given a signing bonus while others were. While this was something he could live with, the "final straw" he said was Pride stars being offered more coming in than he was being paid after eleven years and all he had done for the company in that time.
Handing out photocopied portions of his contract to the press, Couture took the unprecedented step of laying out what he intimated to be his full fight pay during 2007. He reported a $250,000 base pay per fight as well a pay-per-view cut that was "generally" $500,000. This, he concluded, was "certainly nothing in the neighbourhood of twelve to fifteen million dollars that was stated."
While this was going on, the UFC was holding a simultaneous press conference to take some of the press attention away from Couture -- announcing the signing of Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva in December, and an extension of their Spike TV deal. Dana White ended up speaking as much about Couture's retirement as anything else, no less.
Just after the story seemed to have run its course following these two press conferences, the UFC sent out stark black and white email newsletters announcing a third press conference, "TO ADDRESS RECENT STATEMENTS MADE BY RANDY COUTURE."
This time an all-business Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White, and CFO John Mulkey laid down exactly what the UFC had paid Randy Couture in 2007 -- in correction to Couture's apparently grossly inaccurate self-assessment.
Handing out their own photocopied documents to the press, they broke down Couture's 2007 fight pay as follows: a $500,000 signing bonus, $250,000 base pay per fight, and pay-per-view bonuses much larger than the $500,000 average stated by Couture: $936,000 for the Sylvia fight and $787,000 for the Gonzaga fight. Additionally he received a $35,000 fight of the night bonus for the Gonzaga fight.
While the estimation Couture gave to the press of his 2007 fight pay totalled $1.5 million, the UFC calculated it at a much more significant $2.76 million -- a difference of $1.26 million.
The major discrepancies in the pay reported by the UFC and Couture raises all kinds of questions. Not only was Couture apparently under the belief that he received no signing bonus at all (a cool half million by the UFC's account), but the average pay-per-view cut Couture reported turned out to be about $360,000 off for 2007.
Couture did state that he was basing his pay-per-view cut figure on the Liddell and Sylvia fights, while the UFC's figures came from the Sylvia and Gonzaga fights -- but even then, with the Sylvia bonus at $936,000, the Liddell bonus would have to be a poxy $64,000 for his $500,000 figure to be accurate. This seems highly unlikely to be the case.
In all, there is over $1 million of pay for 2007 Couture may be unaware of. Perhaps there are other reasons that explain the discrepancy: that he was thinking of his signing bonus as a fight bonus, for example. But with half of the signing bonus paid before the fight, it is hard to see how such a mistake could be made. Couture has yet to clarify how the figures given by the UFC came to be so far from his.
If this discrepancy was due to Couture being somehow unaware of what he was being paid, perhaps an informed Couture would be more disposed towards repairing the relationship between the UFC and him. If on the other hand he remains adamant that the figures he reported were correct, it is hard to envision any working relationship between the two in the future.
One way or another, how this issue is resolved is sure to play a key role in deciding if we will see Couture back in the cage again, and against who. If we do see Couture return to competition, there are two possible fights that could await him: Randy Couture vs Antonio Nogueira, and Randy Couture vs Fedor Emelianenko.
Randy Couture vs Antonio Nogueira
During the second UFC press conference White stated that the organisation still considers Couture their heavyweight champion, in effect rejecting his resignation, going on to say that he still intends to resolve things with Couture. In addition he mentioned the UFC would be offering him a fight within the next week, probably against Nogueira for the February Superbowl weekend card.
Of course there is the small issue that Couture has stated in no uncertain terms that he considers himself resigned as the UFC's heavyweight champion, and thus will no longer be fighting for them. And on top of that is the issue that, putting issues with management aside, he has stated that Fedor is the only fight that interests him at this point of his career.
Therefore it would seem unlikely, to say the least, that Couture would renounce his resignation, put aside his issues with management, develop an interest in fighting Nogueira and accept Dana's offer.
One thing is for sure -- if somehow Couture does accept the offer and meets Nogueira in the Octagon next February, "Big Nog" will likely be facing the fiercest Captain America we've ever seen. The attention may be focused on a possible Fedor showdown, but I think this fight is almost as enticing.
Randy Couture vs Fedor Emelianenko
If Couture stands his ground and maintains his resignation, there is only one bout we are likely to see him in and that is versus Fedor Emelianenko. In fact, this fight would almost certainly be taking place in nine months time if it weren't for the "different interpretations" of Couture's current UFC contract.
Couture obviously wants this fight if it is there for him -- he has stated this again and again. Likewise, Emelianenko has expressed interest in facing off against the forty four year old legend. M-1 would fall all over themselves to put this fight together under their brand name -- it would be the single biggest fight for bringing new fans to the promotion possible.
The only issue, then, is with the legal status of such a fight. Couture's interpretation of his contract is that the four fights on his contract have to occur within the eighteen month term of the contract -- which expires in nine month's time. Dana White is insistent that this is not the case, and that Couture has to fulfil his full four fights before being released from his contract regardless of the time frame involved.
In effect, the nine months remaining on his contract could freeze when Couture goes into retirement. This 'retirement' could kick in legally as soon as Couture refuses a fight that the UFC offers -- which could explain why the UFC is offering him a fight with Nogueira right in the middle of this dispute.
Considering the fact that, while he clearly wants the fight, Couture has not stressed a fight with Emelianenko as something he is absolutely determined to have at all costs, he may not be willing to go through a big court battle with the UFC to get the fight. And the UFC has stated in certain terms that they will do everything they can to prevent this fight from happening.
Barring the slim possibility of the UFC and M-1 striking a deal together, the chances of this fight going ahead do not look great.
Sadly for fans, the most likely scenario seems to be that we won't see Couture compete against Fedor or anyone else in the future. Stranger things have happened, and MMA can be as unpredictable outside the ring as in, but while Couture has not called his resignation a 'retirement', that's what it may turn out to be.
Then again, seeing a forty four year old champion go out after two sensational performances is not itself something to be sad about.
