Randy Couture has refused to fight with the UFC for many reasons. One of the most important reasons as to why Couture hasn’t wanted to continue fighting was because Fedor Emelianenko signed with M-1 Global. The only thing Couture wanted before retiring was to fight the supposed #1 heavyweight fighter in the world.
M-1 Global is a new organization that recently signed Fedor and they are willing to cooperate with different organizations around the world to have the best MMA fights possible. M-1 Global won the race to inking a deal with Fedor Emelianenko. Nobody expected an organization like them to beat the UFC at signing a man like Fedor since the UFC is considered the biggest mixed martial arts companies in the world today.
Although M-1 Global signed the top heavyweight contender, they have been willing to come about with an agreement to fight other top heavyweights in other organizations. Recently, there was a proposal given to the UFC where M-1 Global offered a deal to have a bout between two champions… Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture. Both fighters have been wanting this fight for the longest, but there is only one thing getting into the way. Sadly, Dana White has refused to have this fight happen.
Here’s a snip from Randy himself:
“We got an official offer from M-1 to the UFC to do a co-promotion for
the Couture-Emelianenko fight, and they (UFC) rejected that offer.
Really, the only thing standing in the way for that fight right now is
Dana and the UFC. Obviously, M-1 is happy to do a co-promotion like
that. It only serves to help them. I think the UFC is looking at it the
other way, and it’s like why do we want to help out another
organization? The fans want to see that fight. At some point, you have
to put that first."
Will Dana White change his mind since every MMA fan in the world today would LOVE to see this fight happen? It seems highly unlikely, but we can only wait to see what can happen next.
