The Couture-UFC deal -- how it all went down

[goldie1692]

The Couture-UFC deal -- how it all went down Story Highlights
Randy Couture and the UFC signed the deal at the last minute
The legal battle between Couture and Zuffa is finished
Talks between Emelianenko's American representatives and the UFC are ongoing


By Tom Hamlin, MMAWeekly.com

12:57 p.m. -- September 2nd, 2008: Randy Couture makes a new three-fight deal that will keep him in the UFC for three more fights, starting with Brock Lesnar on Nov. 15 at UFC 91. The legal battle between Couture and Zuffa, LLC is finished. The dark clouds hanging over his head have disappeared. Now, he can do what he loves best... fight.

Up until 12:56, however, there wasn't a final deal. Couture and his lawyers still had objections to the proposed UFC contract. A teleconference of hungry journalists was pushed back an hour. Within the last few minutes before the actual beginning of the press conference, Couture remained outside the UFC offices (he had gone out to take a walk and to talk more freely with his lawyers). A series of phone calls between Couture's and the UFC's lawyers played out. The UFC, eager to get their star back into the fold, and Couture, eager to get back into the Octagon, collectively resolved the remaining sticking points, and the deal was done.

As he later stated on the press call, "There were some compromises made on both sides."

MMAWeekly.com spoke to several sources that told portions of the story of how Couture's new UFC deal came to be and what those compromises may have been. The parties closest to the matter remain pretty tight-lipped. When contacted for comment, Couture's lawyers, Samuel Spira and Christopher Rudd at Venable LLP, merely confirmed the settlement and stated that they were confident that going forward the parties would have a much more productive relationship.

In one of the biggest turnaround stories in UFC history, "The Natural" went from pariah to champion in a little over three weeks.

A Texas court set the wheels of negotiation in motion. Lawyers for Mark Cuban's HDNet Fights filed suit against the UFC in February, asking for a declaratory ruling on Couture's UFC contract. After an initial ruling in May allowing a summary judgment hearing to be put on calendar, lawyers for Zuffa succeeded in obtaining a temporary stay on the ruling. Then, on Aug. 1, Zuffa was granted a permanent stay, which effectively shelved the Texas suit until arbitration proceedings in Nevada -- a requirement of Couture's contract -- were complete.

As weeks passed following the ruling, Couture realized that he had two options. He could continue to fight in court -- his lawyers had already readied for a new offensive against Zuffa after the stay was granted -- and hope to be free for an upcoming fight. Or, he could fight in the Octagon, resolve his misgivings about the UFC, and pursue a fight with Fedor Emelianenko from inside the organization.

But before he did all that, he needed to try to encourage the UFC to communicate with Emelianenko's representatives.

UFC President Dana White had negotiated with Emelianenko's management shortly after the UFC's purchase of the Pride Fighting Championships in March of 2007, and had quickly reached an impasse over concessions they wanted for signing the Russian to the UFC.

Instead of taking the front door approach, Couture's lawyers arranged a full day of meetings and photo shoots with Emelianenko and his management team on Aug. 11 in Los Angeles. The day ended with a large dinner for the group at the trendy STK Steakhouse in West Hollywood, hosted by Couture and his lawyers. The meetings were well documented by the media; in a press luncheon the next day, Emelianenko said the parties had met to discuss "mutual business interests."

By the end of that week, text messages were flying between Couture and Dana White and the UFC was communicating with Emelianenko's representatives, but this time, it was his American representatives at Blue Entertainment Sports Television, the firm tasked with branding Fedor in the U.S.

In the middle of all of this, an unlikely angel appeared to assist Couture. Despite seemingly working against his own interest, Cuban provided advice and counsel to Couture in an attempt to bridge the gap between the parties. Affliction wanted to loan out Emelianenko for one fight, an idea that was not quite what the UFC had in mind.

Communications between Emelianenko's American representatives and the UFC are ongoing. White said he is unwilling to "co-promote" a fight with Emelianenko's managers -- one of the concessions that halted the original negotiations -- but still wanted to sign the Russian. "We're going to offer him a fair deal," he said. Now, White believes the obstacle is Emelianenko's contract, which binds him to Affliction for two more fights.

"Fedor's under contract with somebody else right now," he continued. "Everybody knows how hard we are (in) protecting our contracts, so that's another obstacle in this whole deal. We would never interfere with someone else's contract."

White's assertion is incorrect, though. Emelianenko's Affliction contract contains a clause that allows him to fight for another promotion during the term of his contract. In addition to that, his Affliction deal is exclusive only to the U.S. Even if the UFC decides not to provoke any more legal issues by attempting to utilize that clause, they could promote an Emelianenko/Couture fight in the U.K.

Speculation that Couture would get a fight with Emelianenko after the Lesnar fight, sometime in early 2009, continues to mount, although White has said that the winner of the Couture-Lesnar bout would face the winner of Nogueira-Mir.

After the final details was agreed to, at 1:05 p.m., White and Couture sat in the Zuffa offices, ready to tell their story to the World. There was a lot more to it than they revealed, but in the end, it was as much a win-win situation as possible. Couture could go back to shattering expectations of what's possible for athletes in their mid-forties, and White could promote what he expects to be the biggest pay-per-view in the company's 15-year history.

"I think we've cleared the air," Couture said. "We've addressed a lot of those issues, we're both in a different place and both the company and myself are trying to move forward."

Details behind the Couture-UFC deal - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts


Some of the same stuff that has been going around, but a little more of the behind the scenes stuff.

[Badluck_33]

I'm glad the fucking nightmare is over.


Fedor/Couture headlining a U.K. event sounds nice enough just to get it signed but what I think is gonna be more important to the UFC is to have it in Las Vegas.

Actually I'd bet top dollar that UFC would not do a U.K. ppv with Couture/Fedor on the headline only because the u.s. isn't buying ppv's that are showed in the U.K. I think they have been free for the past year or so...?

anyways its an interesting read.

[maxp84z]

Only way Fedor/Randy happen while Fedor is still under contract with Affliction is if Randy loses to Lesnar, and they just do a one shot deal with Fedor/Couture only for a one time big payday..... IF Lesnar wins.... UFC would not host a Fedor/Couture unless Fedor is an exclusively signed UFC fighter. So he's gotta fight 2 more times for Affliction till we can see it becaome a reality.

I dont know what is going to change from then to now... Like I said there are more fights for Fedor at HW that make more sense outside of the UFC. AA, Barnett, Kharitonov, Monson, ETC ETC....

Fedor already beat Nog twice.... Randy is the only fight for Fedor in the UFC. Maybe Werdum, but seriously... the HW division in the UFC is so pathetic, unless the UFC starts beefing up their HW roster then I think Fedor is fine where he is.

[jlruthven84]

I can see the UFC signing Fedor for a one-off fight if and only if it isn't a title fight, or if he isn't fighting the champion period.

[fishy]

didnt you guys read the article ufc is not willing to copromote which means as long as fedor is with affliction the randy/fedor fight will never happen...

IMO since ufc signed randy to a 3 fight contract, they want him to fight lesnar and hopefully win then fight the winner of mir/nog and hopefully win...and possibly by then fedor would have fullfilled his 2 fights left with affliction where they can finally sign him and have him fight randy...This is the scenario that makes most sense to me...i dont see the fight happening any other way

[Dork8503]

Originally Posted by maxp84z

Only way Fedor/Randy happen while Fedor is still under contract with Affliction is if Randy loses to Lesnar, and they just do a one shot deal with Fedor/Couture only for a one time big payday..... IF Lesnar wins.... UFC would not host a Fedor/Couture unless Fedor is an exclusively signed UFC fighter. So he's gotta fight 2 more times for Affliction till we can see it becaome a reality.

I dont know what is going to change from then to now... Like I said there are more fights for Fedor at HW that make more sense outside of the UFC. AA, Barnett, Kharitonov, Monson, ETC ETC....

Fedor already beat Nog twice.... Randy is the only fight for Fedor in the UFC. Maybe Werdum, but seriously... the HW division in the UFC is so pathetic, unless the UFC starts beefing up their HW roster then I think Fedor is fine where he is.

How is Fedor being in Affliction any better then the UFC. He has AA and Barnett. Other then that who else do they have.

Please don't try to say they could get Mirko because i would laugh.

At least with the UFC Fedor would have more fights. Randy, Werdum, Gabe, Kongo , Mir, an then you have guys who the UFC is brining up like Carwin, Cain, and Lesnar not to mention the others.

I am not saying he should leave Affliction right now, he should fight winner of AA/Barnett for sure.

Lets not forget if AA beats Barnett by ko or tko or even decision in a good fight, he only has 1 fight left an if he doesn't fight Fedor he could get someone not that good. Meaning AA could end back up in the UFC after his fights, so Fedor could get him there.

I think Fedor should fight Barnett atleast in affliction because i think AA will go back to the UFC, then let Fedor fight someone else like Kimbo. Then Fedor an UFC work out a deal.

[maxp84z]

Originally Posted by Dork8503

How is Fedor being in Affliction any better then the UFC. He has AA and Barnett. Other then that who else do they have.

Please don't try to say they could get Mirko because i would laugh.

At least with the UFC Fedor would have more fights. Randy, Werdum, Gabe, Kongo , Mir, an then you have guys who the UFC is brining up like Carwin, Cain, and Lesnar not to mention the others.

I am not saying he should leave Affliction right now, he should fight winner of AA/Barnett for sure.

Lets not forget if AA beats Barnett by ko or tko or even decision in a good fight, he only has 1 fight left an if he doesn't fight Fedor he could get someone not that good. Meaning AA could end back up in the UFC after his fights, so Fedor could get him there.

I think Fedor should fight Barnett atleast in affliction because i think AA will go back to the UFC, then let Fedor fight someone else like Kimbo. Then Fedor an UFC work out a deal.

to mention Gabe, Kongo and Mir... you've got to be kidding me.... Randy, Werdum I can agree with, EVEN Lesnar just soley based on his strength/size and speed.

I'm not saying Affliction is the end all be all to the HW division in MMA... I just said FIGHTS OUTSIDE OF THE UFC... I didnt mean fights in Affliction only.

His Affliction contract allows him to fight outside of the U.S. and for other orgs.

You have Crocop, Hunt, Kharitonov, Lebanner, Schilt, Monson, Rizzo, Barnett, AA, Slyvia, etc etc...


Everyone wants to see Crocop/Fedor II. I'd love to see Fedor fight AA and Barnett. Fedor vs Lebanner? HUGE fight.

I dont want to insult you, but it just seems that you're more of a UFC fan rather than a MMA fan and thats okay. I'm glad you've found this forum because you'll be enlightened that there is MMA outside of the UFC. Hopefully if more people catch on orgs like Affliction etc, can survive.

Every other division, especially LHW division, the UFC pwns!!!!! especially LHW. Their HW division sucks ass. 90 percent of the forumers here will agree.