UFC

SATURDAY, NOV. 15, 2008
LIVE FROM MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – On November 15th, the champ is back.

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White today announced that after a year away from the game, UFC® heavyweight champion Randy "The Natural" Couture will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon to defend his title against rising star Brock Lesnar in a clash of titans destined to shake the foundations of the sport. This championship bout, the biggest heavyweight title fight in years, will headline UFC 91: COUTURE vs. LESNAR, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008.

"I am happy to announce that UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture will be returning to action in the Octagon," said Dana White, UFC President. "He's a legend in the UFC, and one of the fighters that helped build this sport. I have always said that wrestling is one of the best bases you can have in MMA and not only is Randy a top level wrestler but his opponent is as well. Brock Lesnar showed the MMA world that he is for real in his last fight, dismantling the far more experienced Heath Herring. His combination of speed and power was absolutely devastating. It is a fascinating matchup: the crafty, multiple-time heavyweight champion versus the younger, bigger, and stronger challenger. This is one that will go down in the history books."

Ticket information for UFC 91: COUTURE vs. LESNAR will be announced shortly.

UFC 91: COUTURE vs. LESNAR will be available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).

A UFC Hall of Famer whose name is synonymous with mixed martial arts, Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture (16-8) is the only fighter in history to win the UFC world heavyweight title three times, and that’s not even mentioning his two UFC light heavyweight titles. Owner of heavyweight wins over the likes of Maurice Smith, Vitor Belfort, Kevin Randleman, and Pedro Rizzo (twice), the 45-year old Las Vegas resident turned back the clock in 2007 with a stirring win over Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 that netted him his third heavyweight crown. Couture defended his title for the first time at UFC 74 with a third round TKO of number one contender Gabriel Gonzaga, and now the man often referred to as “Captain America” will look to prove once again that he should never be counted out in a fight when he takes on Brock Lesnar.

“I have a lot of respect for Brock as an athlete and a collegiate wrestler, but I know exactly where he’s at, he’s trying to make the transition from a wrestler to mixed martial arts,” said Couture. “I’ve been there, done that, and I know what the pitfalls are. This will be an interesting matchup, and it will be very nice to be home in the Octagon for this fight.”

A physically gifted athlete with the size, speed, and power to impose his will on any opponent, Brock Lesnar (2-1) made an immediate impact in the UFC when he debuted here in February of 2008, and he has his sights set on shocking the world on November 15th. A four-time All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and 2000 NCAA Division I National Champion in wrestling, Lesnar made a name for himself internationally after college as a professional wrestler, but he soon found his true love in mixed martial
arts in 2006. After a 69 second win in his pro debut a year later, Lesnar entered the UFC and made a positive impression in a loss to former heavyweight champion Frank Mir at UFC 81, but at UFC 87 in August, the Minneapolis-St. Paul resident showed why he is rapidly becoming one of the most feared fighters in the sport today and an immediate threat to the heavyweight throne.

"It's an honor to fight Randy Couture, he's a legend in this sport, and to get the chance to test myself against him is a gift," said Lesnar. "A lot guys would love to have this opportunity, Randy is the UFC heavyweight champion. There is one goal that I've had since I started training in MMA and that is to capture the title. Now that I'm getting the chance, nothing is going to stop me. I'm walking out of the Octagon with the belt around my waist."

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Bell ExpressVU, Viewers Choice, SaskTel Max™ and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting, UFC, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.

Couture Returns to Defend Heavyweight Crown against Lesnar on Nov. 15

If we’ve learned one thing in combat sports, it’s to never say never. This old adage was solidified once again today, as UFC President Dana White announced the November 15th return to the Octagon of heavyweight champion Randy Couture to face Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 91 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The announcement comes after nearly a year of contentious relations between the organization and Couture, who walked away from the UFC in October of 2007 with two fights remaining on his contract. But in August, the heavyweight champion and the organization worked on a renegotiation of his contract that will enable ‘The Natural’ to finish his Hall of Fame career with the UFC.

“We had some problems with Randy, we’ve resolved them all, and he’s always been the heavyweight champion of the UFC,” said White. “It took us some time to get everything straight, but I think we’re all good now and ready to move forward and get Randy back out there fighting again.”

”I think we cleared the air and addressed a lot of the issues, we’re both in a different place, and both the company and myself are trying to move forward,” said Couture. “I think we understand each other, and I certainly would much rather fight in the Octagon than anywhere else. Spending the last year in legal fights is not someplace where I’ve had a very good time. At 45, I can’t sit around in court rooms for very long – I want to fight.”

Couture’s first order of business – taking on the imposing 6-3 ˝, 265 pound Lesnar, a former NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion whose arrival in the UFC earlier this year shook the foundations of the MMA world. Add in the former pro wrestling superstar’s spectacular victory over Heath Herring at UFC 87 in August, and the stage is set for what will most certainly be one of the most highly-anticipated heavyweight title fights in history.

“I haven’t looked at tape yet and studied him,” said Couture of Lesnar. “Obviously, he’s a great big guy, and on the ground or standing, he poses some interesting problems, so I’ve got to go to work and find the answers to those questions.”

“My whole goal coming into this company was to get a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, so for me, this is a great opportunity, one that anybody in my position wouldn’t turn down,” added Lesnar. “Randy poses all kinds of threats, and we’re gonna try to nullify them and try to win the title that night.”

You don’t have to convince White when it comes to the importance of this matchup.

“I can tell you this right now,” said White. “Couture vs Lesnar will be the biggest fight in UFC history.”

And though some might question whether Couture
- 45 years old and more than a year removed from his last fight – will be able to keep up with a younger, faster, and stronger challenger, keep in mind that the Las Vegas resident has made a career of baffling oddsmakers, most recently in March of 2007, when he returned from a year-long retirement to shutout 6 foot 8, 263 pound Tim Sylvia to win the UFC heavyweight crown a record third time.

Couture went on to successfully defend the title with a third round TKO of Gabriel Gonzaga in August of 2007, but two months later, the title was left in limbo, leaving Brazil’s Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to swoop in and take the interim belt by submitting Sylvia in February. Nogueira is scheduled to clash with his fellow Ultimate Fighter 8 coach (and former heavyweight champion) Frank Mir in December, with the winners of these two heavyweight megafights to meet sometime in 2009.

“The winner of the Brock-Randy fight will be the heavyweight champion of the UFC,” said White. “Obviously, the reality show is already in motion, and those two (Nogueira and Mir) are already scheduled to fight, so they’ll fight for the interim (title) and then it will be Champion vs Champion when this thing’s all done. So it’s a pretty interesting little tournament.”

Of course, Lesnar will have something to say about putting a dent in Couture’s fighting plans, and he’ll get his chance to say it on November 15th.

“Things happen in mysterious ways, and I’m fortunate and honored to get in the Octagon with Randy, so it’s very exciting all the way around,” said Lesnar.

As for Couture, it’s been a long, strange trip to get to this point, but suffice to say, he’s happy to put acting, book tours, and speaking engagements on the side for now in order to get back to where he belongs – the Octagon.