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Dana White Talks About Randy Couture

October 22nd, 2007 | by Dr J

ESPN recently interviewed Dana White in regards to Randy Couture’s recent departure from the UFC.



HT: bvrasp

18 Comments »

Comment by bvrasp about 1 year, 1 month ago

ya, this is a strange situation.. especially since really, it seems to me like the UFC has been accomodating Randy for a long time now. Dana mentioned how he lost to Chuck twice then he retired, THEN he decided to come back and he got an IMMEDIATE title shot at HW. Wow! i mean thats a huge gesture by the UFC man, even losing your title shot would bump you up on the money list. Ofcourse Randy came through beating Sylvia and then Gonzaga making a nice pile of cash in the process. Why does Chuck make more? i dunno, hes had almost double the amount of fights Randy has in the UFC and he was a Dominant champion for a much longer time than Randy ever was.

Talking about Chuck, he wanted to fight Wanderlei forever! even fighting in Pride to try and get at him and im sure he begged Dana to set up that match for a long time. He waited like 6 years for that fight and it looks like its finally going to happen, but Chuck didnt resign or anything because of that.

Now the negotiations with Fedor just fell through a few months back and it didnt go the way Randy wanted. The answer is not to resign man, what kinda sht is that? tough it out, if it happens it will, if not your still the UFC HW champion, your still a hall of famer and im sure the UFC would have taken good care of Randy even in retirement. Theres the TUF show, coaching jobs, certainly the ability to get some of his own protoge students into the octagon easily. PLUS i personally think hes a great announcer, i mean hes not a color man like Goldberg whos gonna plug the sponsors and everything, but i feel he brings alot of insight into the breakdown of the fight, moreso than Rogan for sure.

 
Comment by dayday_biggs about 1 year, 1 month ago

The Cage Fighting Championships (CFC) Spokesperson Crawford Grimsley announced today, “The CFC will put up a $3,000,000 purse to bring the Couture vs Emelianenko fight to Pay-Per-View. $1,000,000 will be guaranteed to each fighter while the winner takes home an additional cool million, making this the largest single purse for any one MMA fight.” http://www.mmalinker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=955

hey doc, have you heard anythiing about this?? is this **** true? cause if so, man…thisis gonna make things alott more interesting..what do you think man??

 
Comment by Dr J about 1 year, 1 month ago

Yeah, I’ve heard the same report but it really is more of a “puff” than anything. CFC knows that the fight will never happen, and therefore can through that kind of “offer” around.

If they were to fight in the US, it would most likely have to be for the UFC has Randy still has two fights owed to the UFC. While it sounds good, I don’t think there really is much substance to their offer.

 
Comment by dayday_biggs about 1 year, 1 month ago

yeah i see what you mean, but i definately wonder how its all going to whined down, because the fact is couture is “retired” now, and correct me if im wrong here, havent they not already made plans for the winner of Vera and Sylvia, to meet Nogeura for the title?? ok so then what matches would couture be fighting??, wouldnt he still be the champion, ccause he has to obey the contract he signed right?? so whats going to happen there?

 
Comment by Dr J about 1 year, 1 month ago

It appears now that there might not be an “immediate” shot at Nog for Sylvia. Don’t know yet if this is only speculation because Sylvia called out Kongo or not. I think the UFC is really waiting to see what happens with Randy.

If Randy is really done with the UFC then they can strip him of his title and the belt will be vacant until they have a new title fight. Much like what is going to happen with Sean Sherk when they strip him and have BJ Penn fight Joe Stevenson for the vacant title.

 
Comment by MAD about 1 year, 1 month ago

@DR J
Is there any way to get the text version of the interview? I can’t gett he video to play. I’m interested to see what Dana has to say about this. If not can someone let me know if there was anything worth mentioning in the interview.

 
Comment by richard about 1 year, 1 month ago

but why would tim call out kongo puzzzy sh*it if u ask me big nog is the way tougher fight in my books

 
Comment by Dr J about 1 year, 1 month ago

[quote comment="10487"]@DR J
Is there any way to get the text version of the interview? I can’t gett he video to play. I’m interested to see what Dana has to say about this. If not can someone let me know if there was anything worth mentioning in the interview.[/quote]

@MAD,

I dont know of any text versions floating around.

Dana basically says he still hasn’t personally talked to Randy and still says this is all his agents doing. Said Randy was happy with his contract when he signed it 8 months ago. Said Randy is still under contract and can’t fight elsewhere.

 
Comment by MAD about 1 year, 1 month ago

Thanks Doc,
Basically the smae info. I hope Randy still gets a chance at Fedor before he truely retires.

 
Comment by aMIR about 1 year, 1 month ago

I’d much rather see Sylvia fight Cro Cop. I think it would be a huge seller for the UFC and tailor made fight to bring Cro Cop back to the top. The fans will get to see the possibility of Sylvia getting ko’ed by a world-class striker and the UFC gets to give a second chance to one of their highest paid disappointments.

 
Comment by dayday_biggs about 1 year, 1 month ago

so then what about the remainder of his contract?? doesnt he have to stay true to it?? cause that is danas whole argument

 
Comment by Dr J about 1 year, 1 month ago

[quote comment="10496"]so then what about the remainder of his contract?? doesnt he have to stay true to it?? cause that is danas whole argument[/quote]

That really is what no one knows at this point. Most likely it will end up in a court battle. Randy contends that he can sit out the next 9 months and then his contract is finished whether he fights or not. Dana contends that he has 2 fights left no matter how long he sits out. Sounds like they will end up in court to me.

Randy is scheduled to address the media at a press conference on Wednesday, so we’ll see what he has to say at that point.

 
Comment by bvrasp about 1 year, 1 month ago

about Randy, im sure there are clauses in those contracts which allow fighters to back out under certain circumstances. Even though like Dana says, you cant just ignore the contract like that, but for instance, lets say Randy was injured in training (wink wink) they definately cant drag him into the octagon can they? Though injuries happen all the time, so im guessing the contract would also stipulate that there would have to be some kind of rescheduled fight to make up for it. Now if lets say he gets injured and doesnt fight, then his contract expires, he might be released from any obligations to the UFC.

 
Comment by bvrasp about 1 year, 1 month ago

@Richard

I dont think it was a puss move by Tim calling out Kongo, your right ofcourse Nog is the tougher fight, and in my opinion he would have an incredibly slim chance to beat Nog.. frankly he would have to get a lucky punch. But Kongo on the other hand just beat crocop, so hes got some hype and momentum going for him right now. Its still a pretty big money fight, then the winner will face Nog, assuming Nog wins his next fight.

Id like to see Nog go against crocop personally, i think he would have a better chance to win than Tim would, because he could KO anyone in the world with that kick, and hes got the speed Tim will never have.

Other than that, Nog vs Gonzaga would be an awesome fight! both have great BJJ, Nog probably better but Gonzaga has some dirty GnP and with a big name fight like that, hes sure to train like an animal.

Even without Randy, theres alot of talent at HW guys, could make for some great fights if Joe Silva actually lets them fight each other!!!

 
Comment by richard about 1 year, 1 month ago

i think gonzaga by next year will be champ ,hes really well rounded but cro crop vs sylvia would be great

 
Comment by bvrasp about 1 year, 1 month ago

Sure, id like to see Tim vs crocop too, why not? its a big money fight, a great test for Tim and it gives crocop a chance to get back on the winning side.

 
Comment by Amir about 1 year, 1 month ago

The problem with promoting most of these fights is, of course, the trouble in marketing the brazilians to the average American Joe. For us hardcore fans, Nog & Gonzaga would be an incredible fight but for the UFC as a whole, trying to build more popularity, it will be a bust. Everything nowadays is about the advertising as opposed to the quality of fights. Even a guy like Cro-cop, who spends most of his time in Croatia, is tough to market. Maybe if these guys didn’t have to sit out so long in between fights, they would stay fresh in the minds of the public. Look how long it’s been since we’ve seen Arlovski, is he even considered a UFC fighter anymore? Dana White talks a lot of sh-t about having guys under contract yet he doesn’t make them fight.

 
Comment by bvrasp about 1 year, 1 month ago

thats a good point Amir, especially with regard to having good fighters but not actually having them fight, except once in a blue moon. I think the main reason there is the UFC is trying to bigup alot of their TUF guys, for the same advertising reasons you mentioned.

Look at UFC 78, Bisping vs Evans is the main card.. when in reality i think the best fight on that card is Parisyan vs Chonan, i mean these guys have paid their dues man.. bigtime!

 
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