Randy Couture resigns [Archive]

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michaell

12-10-2007, 05:34

The Fight Network :: ALL FIGHTS ALL THE TIME :: Get it on! (http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=5085)
UFC is in deep can of shit.
CroCop, Couture, Liddell, Sherk...

nicolas the red

12-10-2007, 05:40

lijkt me straf van couture om zo de confrontatie aan te gaan met de UFC, die man is altijd de diplomatie zelve... I smell bullshit

knilles

12-10-2007, 05:46

At the height of its power and popularity, the Ultimate Fighting Championship today lost the man many recognize as the face of mixed martial arts. UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture announced his resignation from the Las Vegas-based promotion, leaving two contracted fights, his job as an on-air analyst and his heavyweight crown on the table.

In South Africa shooting scenes for his lead role in the upcoming feature film “The Scorpion King – Rise of the Akkadian,” Couture made the announcement official in a letter to UFC president Dana White. The UFC’s inability to land PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko played a prominent role in the decision to walk away, according to Couture.

“I appreciate this opportunity the sport of MMA and the UFC has given me,” the UFC Hall-of-Famer said. “However, I’m tired of swimming upstream at this stage with the management of the UFC. It only makes sense at this point in my career to fight Fedor Emelianenko, and since he’s now signed with another organization, I feel like it’s time to resign and focus on my other endeavors.”

His abrupt departure deals a significant blow to the world’s most visible MMA organization. Couture was not only a beloved competitor – White once called him “the greatest fighter in UFC history” – but also a revered spokesman for a company that had long struggled to gain mainstream acceptance.

“Randy’s contract was on a fight-by-fight basis, and that’s the way he said he was always going to take it – fight by fight,” said Matt Walker, Couture’s agent at The Gersh Agency. “His acting career is accelerating at an astronomical rate, and without the support he felt some of his peers were receiving in the fight business, this was the logical choice.”

A three-time All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, Couture won four national championships in Greco-Roman wrestling and made four attempts at qualifying for the Olympics. He made his MMA debut at UFC 13 on May 13, 1997, where, at age 33, he won a heavyweight tournament, defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham on the same night. Just seven months later, he toppled famed kickboxer Maurice Smith in Yokohama, Japan to win the UFC heavyweight crown for the first time.

Over the course of the next decade, Couture emerged as one of the most decorated mixed martial artists in history. The UFC’s only six-time champion, he captured the heavyweight belt three times, the light heavyweight title twice and an interim light heavyweight title, as well. Couture remains the only man to win UFC championships in two weight classes.

His run through the promotion included a memorable trilogy with light heavyweight rival Chuck Liddell, the only opponent to beat Couture twice. Following his third bout with Liddell in February 2006, Couture announced his first retirement.

As 2007 dawned, his desire to compete returned, and a four-fight contract with the UFC – which included the opportunity to fight Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight strap at UFC 68 in March – was presented to Couture. He accepted, and the wheels for an historic comeback were set in motion.

Couture floored Sylvia with an overhand right seconds into the bout and punished the 6-foot-8 giant over five rounds. Playing to chants of “Randy!” he regained the heavyweight title for an unprecedented third time in front of 19,049 fans at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Five months later, at the age of 44, he defeated rising contender Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74, stopping the young Brazilian by third-round TKO despite suffering a broken left arm. It would be his final appearance in the Octagon.

Couture (16-8) leaves behind an unrivaled legacy in the sport. Fifteen of his 24 career bouts were title fights, and he bested six former UFC champions – Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz and Sylvia among them. Always willing to meet a challenge, Couture consistently tested himself against the world’s premier fighters. The 19 men he fought (he squared off with Pedro Rizzo twice and Liddell and Belfort three times each) hold 357 victories between them.

POSTED -- 10/11/07

123trisweat

12-10-2007, 06:27

of tekent ie toch stiekem bij M-1 voor 1 gevecht

Influcted

12-10-2007, 06:28

VInd het eigenlijk wel goed, zou het jammer vinden als hij zou vechten tegen Fedor en slaag krijgen. Maarja.

Influcted

12-10-2007, 06:37

Couture's reactie;

Randy Couture (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=166) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=166@@Randy Couture)), the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and one of mixed martial arts most revered fighters, notified the UFC via fax from South Africa at 11 o'clock Thursday morning that he has chosen to resign from the UFC, "The Natural" confirmed with Sherdog.com.

"I sent the letter of resignation to the UFC today, resigning not only from my position in the company as a commentator and as an ambassador, but also as the heavyweight champion," Couture said over the phone from South Africa, where he is currently filming a movie.

"The motivation for the decision is two-fold," he continued. "I know Fedor (Emelianenko) just signed with another organization and that's the only real fight that makes sense for me at 44 years old as the heavyweight champion of the UFC. That's the fight I wanted and if that can't happen it doesn't make sense for me to compete with all these other guys. And then obviously that's not going to happen now. And, two, I'm tired of being taken advantage of, played as the nice guy and basically swimming against the current with the management of the UFC. I have a lot of other things going on in my life that I'm doing just fine with. I don't need the problems. I don't feel like I get the respect I deserve from the organization, and that's motivation No. 2 for the letter of resignation that was sent today."

Couture (16-8) is the only fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two weight divisions. The current UFC heavyweight champion, he recaptured the belt in March by coming out of retirement to out-point Tim Sylvia (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=1061) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=1061@@Tim Sylvia)). Couture defended the title in August, stopping challenger Gabriel Gonzaga (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=7306) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=7306@@Gabriel Gonzaga)) in the third round.

The Sylvia win came after a year away from the sport after Couture suffered the second of two knockouts to then UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=192) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=192@@Chuck Liddell)). Couture won the first bout in the trilogy by capturing an interim UFC light heavyweight title in June of 2003, stopping Liddell in the third period.

Couture's ledger in the UFC reads like a who's who. "The Natural" first captured UFC heavyweight gold against Maurice Smith (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=175) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=175@@Maurice Smith)) in 1997 before doing it for the third time against Sylvia in 2007.

A day after news broke that Fedor Emelianenko (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=1500) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=1500@@Fedor Emelianenko)), the widely regarded top heavyweight in the sport, had apparently declined to sign with the UFC, Couture submitted his resignation.

"I want that fight and would have waited if the fight was offered to me," Couture said. "Knowing what they offered him, I would have made demands to get paid equally or better than him as the champion. Whether or not those would have been met is another question."

Couture will have to wait nine months for his current UFC deal to lapse before he can go after Emelianenko. Over that span Couture said he will concentrate on acting, continuing to franchise his Xtreme Couture training facilities, as well as growing his Xtreme Couture clothing line.

His success outside the ring is proof of his success inside the Octagon. But Couture said it was a lack of respect by the UFC, in particular its president Dana White, that led him to resigning.

"I think the final straw for me was meeting with Dana and Lorenzo where they claimed I was the No. 2 paid athlete in the organization, which I know is a bold-faced lie," Couture said. Polling other athletes, said Couture, he learned that his compensation -- some $250,000 a fight with pay-per-view bonuses, according to the Couture camp -- was nowhere near what other top UFC fighters were making.

"All us athletes are all pretty tightly intertwined," he said. "You hear what other guys were paid signing bonuses and what other guys were paid on the record and off the record with bonuses. I've heard Chuck's numbers. Tito's numbers. Hughes' numbers. Quinton's numbers. Cro Cop, Wanderlei. I heard what they were offering Fedor, and it's insulting."

Couture's rocky history with the Zuffa-owned UFC began in 2001.

"I think what set us off on the wrong foot was that my management [at the time] wasn't willing to give up ancillary rights across the board with no option for some sort of compensation," said Couture, alluding to a reason cited by Emelianenko's representatives as to why the Russian did not end up with the UFC. "All the other athletes at that time were signing those contracts. That created a lot of animosity and got me pulled out of the Carmen Electra campaigns to promote the athletes and the sport and the video game and all that stuff."

Beyond the money, both Couture and his wife Kim stressed Thursday's resignation from the UFC was about respect. It's a move "The Natural" acknowledged could have far-reaching effects.

"Certainly there's personal motivation for resigning and taking stand for myself," he said. "If it sets a precedence that down the road requires athletes to be treated better than that's icing on the cake."

Attempts to reach the UFC for comment went unreturned.

Tony

12-10-2007, 07:38

Ach.. de beste man is op leeftijf.. heeft eigenlijk alles bereikt wat ie kan bereiken.. Het enige echte lichtpunt zou nog een gevecht tegen fedor zijn.. dat gaat dus helaas niet door (in de ufc....)

ik kan wel begrijpen wat ie nu doet.. stoppen op een hoogtepunt.
(alhoewel ik zooooo ontzettend graag had gezien dat couture nog een keer tegen crocop kwam te staan.. WAR CROCOP!!! :) )

ach.. hij heeft zijn sporen verdiend. Hij heeft alles wel meegemaakt en gezien.
Nu is het tijd voor rust en andere zaken.

Het was (en is nog steeds) een geweldige vechter.

Not bad for an old man

The Bulldog

12-10-2007, 07:38

Verbazend....en erg pijnlijk voor ZUFFA

Mack

12-10-2007, 12:21

Ik had het niet verwacht, maar het is een logische beslissing. Als hij zou hebben verloren van Fedor zou hij daar waarschijnlijk meer vrede mee hebben gehad dan als hij een verliespartij draait tegen een "nobody".

The Bulldog

12-10-2007, 16:00

Vreselijk jammer dat het er nu naar uitziet dat 2 van mijn favorieten niet tegen elkaar uit zullen komen, maar als je kijkt naar en het argument over het niet vechten tegen Fedor, en het respect dat Zuffa niet zou tonen naar Couture . KAn ik hem alleen maar gelijk geven..

Betreft de partij tegen Fedor...hij stopt op zijn top en als champ...

betreft het respect..UFC vroeg hem terug te komen als HW...zodat hij Silvia kon verslaan en ze een beter marketable champ zouden krijgen en wat gebeurt er hij wint niet alleen de titel maar vededigd hem ook nog eens positief tegen iemand die de UFC aan het hypen was als crop cop overwinnaar en dus nieuwe champ van te toekomst ....Liddell pakt nu nog 2 x zoveel geld terwijl deze al 2 keer verloren heeft..

Daarbij heeft Couture zoveel meer te doen...een super gym waar hij grote namen begeleid...kleding lijn en het acteren....denk dat dit een vechter is die nu de vruchten gaat plukken van zijn manier van sport beleven...

Kan hem geen ongelijk geven....

De dikke nudist

12-10-2007, 16:06

Yeu-yeuui!!! (Ice-Cube)

nicolas the red

12-10-2007, 16:52

ok geen bullshit dus... damn :eek:

chief108

12-10-2007, 17:01

Kan hem geen ongelijk geven....
x 2

Tony

12-10-2007, 17:11

Emilio

12-10-2007, 17:42

Hij heeft wel gelijk. Zou me niks verbazen als ze een of andere rijke gast hem wel voor een fight naar de M1 haalt.

Ralph

12-10-2007, 17:53

Ik geef hem groot gelijk! 44 en dan nog zo keihard moeten trainen, terwijl hij blijkbaar ook flink kan verdienen in de filmindustrie etc.: meteen doen! Jammer dat het de UFC niet gelukt is om Fedor binnen te halen, want die partij had ik best willen zien. Wel vind ik het top dat Randy stopt op zijn hoogtepunt: als zwaargewichtkampioen (en nu geen serieuze comeback meer maken; al zou ik een veteranenpartijtje tussen hem en Fedor over een aantal jaartjes best zien zitten!).

dimitri

12-10-2007, 18:01

of tekent ie toch stiekem bij M-1 voor 1 gevecht

Kan niet volgens mij, hij had nog een contract voor twee gevechten met UFC. Als hij ergens anders vecht zal UFC zeker schadevergoeding eisen.

chief108

12-10-2007, 18:08

zou wel mooi zijn....

denk dat dat wel uitkan
er zijn genoeg mensen in de wereld die die pot wel willen zien

zou de ultieme vernedering voor Dana zijn :p

Influcted

12-10-2007, 18:12

Kan niet volgens mij, hij had nog een contract voor twee gevechten met UFC. Als hij ergens anders vecht zal UFC zeker schadevergoeding eisen.

Zijn contract is fight per fight.

Ralph

12-10-2007, 18:18

Iedereen die na ons met Randy op de foto gaat, staat toch niet meer met een wereldkampioen op de foto. Wij wel :cool2:

http://brick89.hyves.org/107700001-107750000/107740501-107740600/107740544_5_nhCU.jpeg

FOCUS

12-10-2007, 18:32

DIT IS PAS EEN UPSET

Iwan

12-10-2007, 18:56

Mickey

12-10-2007, 18:56

Iedereen die na ons met Randy op
de foto gaat, staat toch niet meer met een wereldkampioen op de foto. Wij wel :cool2:

http://brick89.hyves.org/107700001-107750000/107740501-107740600/107740544_5_nhCU.jpeg

Ralph = Correct.
:thup:

fedor

12-10-2007, 20:57

"I think the final straw for me was meeting with Dana and Lorenzo (Fertitta, UFC co-owner) where they claimed I was the No. 2 paid athlete in the organization, which I know is a bold-faced lie," Couture said. Polling other athletes, said Couture, he learned that his compensation -- some $250,000 a fight with pay-per-view bonuses, according to the Couture camp -- was nowhere near what other top UFC fighters were making.

"All us athletes are all pretty tightly intertwined," he said. "You hear what other guys were paid signing bonuses and what other guys were paid on the record and off the record with bonuses. I've heard Chuck's numbers. Tito's numbers. Hughes' numbers. Quinton's numbers. Cro Cop, Wanderlei. I heard what they were offering Fedor, and it's insulting."

Het kan toch niet waar zijn dat Tito meer verdient dan Randy..niet te geloven zeg. Randy was HET gezicht van de UFC en een rolmodel voor hoe een vechter zich hoort te presenteren naar buiten toe. Alleen voor dat stukje verdient ie al meer dan de rest...wat een b*llshit zeg.

el bastardo

12-10-2007, 21:11

Zoals White zelf al aangeeft: He ain't in it for the money... En Tito trekt zijn bek wel open denk ik en wil geld zien...

Justinian

12-10-2007, 22:29

chief108

12-10-2007, 22:35

nou weten we het wel hoor :twak:

Chico

13-10-2007, 10:37

http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=5096

RESIGNATION

http://www.thefightnetwork.com/images/newsstoryspacer.gif
By Jack Encarnacao

It is quite a twist that the UFC has fought tooth-and-nail the last seven years to attract mainstream media attention, yet one of the biggest frenzies to date is centered on losing one of their top stars.

In an unexpected move, Randy Couture resigned from all professional association with the promotion yesterday, which included two contracted fights, an on-camera analyst’s position, and his heavyweight crown.

UFC president Dana White tagged Couture’s decision a “retirement,” citing the 44-year-old’s departure from the sport in 2006 before returning in March 2007 to reclaim the heavyweight title from lumbering 6-foot-8, 265-pound Tim Sylvia.

“It’s not a retirement,” said Couture Friday, who also works as on-air analyst and ambassador for The Fight Network. “It’s a resignation from the UFC organization.”

Couture would not elaborate on his future plans, thought he's currently on the movie set for “The Scorpion King – Rise of the Akkadian” in South Africa, of which he has a lead role. Tucked away from the Internet uproar, the soft-spoken fighter seemed unaware of the commotion his defection has caused. “You know I’m not much for talking,” he said. “I let my actions speak louder.”

The news of Couture’s move has created a flurry of analysis and questions in the MMA community, and has made a splash in the larger sports media. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, MSN, the Associated Press and Yahoo! all treated the move as a top story on their websites Thursday alongside major league baseball playoff stories coverage and the latest Britney Spears tidbits.

White, for one, has tried to downplay his promotion’s greatest exit to date.
“This is just another day in my life,” White told Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole. “Believe me, as much as I would like to be promoting another Couture fight, it's not the news that is going to kill the UFC.”

The quintessential favorite and a figure credited with professionalizing mixed martial arts to the highest degree, Couture (16-8) is beloved in all circles, something that even the sometimes abrasive White understands.

“I’m sure Randy Couture and I are gonna be friends for a long time,” White said in an interview with UFC’s Thomas Gerbasi published on UFC.com. “Randy Couture is a guy who I’ve said publicly a million times and I’ll say publicly right now who I feel is one of the guys who helped us get here.”

White’s praise hasn’t extended to Couture’s confidantes though, which includes Couture’s agent Matt Walker, of the Los Angeles-based Gersh Agency.

“He hooked up with some Hollywood agent that I bitch slapped about a month ago, and these Hollywood agents are parasites, so unfortunately this guy is probably in Randy’s ear right now,” White said. “Apparently Randy’s upset about something, and the timing of this thing is a typical Hollywood agent move while Randy’s out of town.”

Couture says White’s reaction is typical of the problematic attitude the athlete shunned yesterday.

"He doesn't respect anybody unless he controls them," said Couture. "Disrespecting my agent Matt is insulting to me because it says I'm not intelligent enough to make a decision on my own or surround myself with quality people. It's all about respect, something they've never given me or anyone representing me."

Couture has had superlatives heaped on him since May 1997, when he first stepped into the Octagon an unknown wrestler four times shy in his bid to reach the Olympics. Defying the odds became his specialty. In 2003, at the age of 40, he dropped to light heavyweight and toppled Chuck Liddell in what was at the time one of the bigger upsets in the company’s history.

His fight against Sylvia in March drew the largest paying live crowd yet to see mixed martial arts in the United States, and the prospect of the 44-year-old battling mother nature and the odds in title defenses to come almost guaranteed lucrative pay-per-view cards.

For such a commodity any fight promotion would clamor to acquire, White told Yahoo’s Iole he never said no to anything Couture wanted to do. Couture doesn’t agree.

“If he had given me everything I wanted, we wouldn’t be where we are today, now would we?”

Chico

13-10-2007, 10:37

dingen zijn dus niet helemaal zoals white het verteld... (als het stuk klopt iig)

123trisweat

13-10-2007, 16:12

ESPN Video Beta (http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/video?id=3061100)

Tony

13-10-2007, 17:36

lol

He hooked up with some Hollywood agent that I bitch slapped about a month ago

Ronald

13-10-2007, 18:32

Hij is dus niet met pensioen maar heeft ontslag genomen. Dat klinkt een stuk logischer en verklaart ook waarom hij als analist is gestopt.

Gulo gulo

13-10-2007, 19:04

Als je toch ook zo gepiepeld wordt neem je toch ook ontslag?

Groot gelijk

smike

13-10-2007, 19:44

Nu Pride weg is en de ufc ook minder wordt, ben ik benieuwd welke organisatie(s) de toon gaat of gaan zetten de komende jaren.

Pride was in mijn ogen toch wel het utopia, het niveau was zo verschrikkelijk hoog en de regels waren gericht op mooie spectaculaire gevechten!

el bastardo

13-10-2007, 20:00

Ik vind op dit moment UFC niet minder worden, omdat Fedor niet komt en Couture ermee kapt. Genoeg goeie vechters nog. Denk dus ook dat UFC voorlopig nog de boventoon zal voeren. Al ben ik erg benieuwd naar M-1

smike

13-10-2007, 20:15

Ja, de ufc is nu zeker de beste, maar dat is met alle respect bij gebrek aan beter.
Pride had toch eigenlijk wel 90% van de beste vechters in alle klasses, zeker in het heavyweight!
Nu raakt het een beetje verdeeld met ufc, m-1, k1, cage rage en weet ik veel wat voor organisaties nog meer.

el bastardo

13-10-2007, 20:37

Tot nu toe laten de oud Pride mensen het ook een beetje afweten in de UFC...

smike

13-10-2007, 21:10

kooivechter

14-10-2007, 06:36

Voor een deel wel ja inderdaad, maar een deel doet het wel goed en een deel zit niet bij de ufc.
Ik bedoel fedor, cro crop minotauro, barnett, hunt en werdum is toch net ff iets anders dan sylvia en arlovski.

dat vind ik niet. nievau is hetzelfde. arlovski heeft ook al gewonne van werdum. ik zie hem ook wel winne van minotauro en crocop heeft nog helemaal niks late zien in de ufc. hij zou nu geheid verlieze van een sylvia. fedor blijft uiteraard een klasse apart

Biiyen

14-10-2007, 06:53

Ik denk dat het MMA moet overstappen naar een BOND. Net als boksen en Kickboxen hier. UFC is een organisatie en die hebben macht. Als je een bond creërd dan heb je te maken met de regelgeving en titels van een bond en niet die van een organisatie. Dana White zou dan niet meer zijn dan een promoter.

Maar das mijn mening.

fedor

15-10-2007, 00:57

Dana maakt zich echt belachelijk door te zeggen dat een hollywood agent Randy wel even vertelt hoe en wattie moet doen...alsof Randy met 44 jaar door de wol geverfd en behoorlijk intelligent zich door iemand wat laat wijs maken die niets met de MMA wereld te maken heeft...b*ll...
Ik ben benieuwd of ze er tijdens de volgende UFC over gaan praten en welke insteek ze gaan kiezen...de MMA fans zijn gek op Randy dus het ziet er niet best uit voor Dana en de UFC wanneer ze volgende week de verkeerde insteek kiezen..!