NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a sad day indeed. At least the first time he lost a hard fought battle with Liddel, this time things seem so unresolved.

this blows!!

ummm… im confused…

Are you Fuggin kidding me!!?!?!?!? Worst news of my life. C’mon Couture, love of the game? Love to compete? Actions speak louder than words.
I know he is getting old, but the fact he can still do this, and still do this well, MAN he should be taking advantage of this.

Fedor is a homo..How on earth do you walk away from the greatest possible MMA fight of all time..to go and fight is some backyard in siberia..that is buttcheeks.

Couture..God Bless You..You’re the all time greatest heavyweight MMA Champ

OMG!!!! Talk about a kick to the balls for Dana White. Not signing Fedor and leting him fight in Russia is probably going to be one of White’s most regretted decisions. I hope the budding UFC fans that fell in love with Couture and longed for FEDOR VS COUTURE will be able to look passed this and remain faithful fans. I still can’t beleive it. Wel, who knows maybe Fedor will sign in a year and Couture will be back!!

Fedor is a pussy….

No Fucking way !!!
Oh well it will give way to up and comers like brandon vera!

This is a fake. Randy already knew about Fedor before yesterday – this is not news to him. The quotes didn’t even sound like something Randy would say. UFC management has treated him like a king, sorry to say this but that article is a fake and it should be a crime to propagate this rumor around!!!! I’m dissapointed with this becoming a WORLD NEWS magazine ‘ALIEN BAT BABY’ site…

Thats it, Im going to a bar, getting smashed, then crying myself to sleep. This is the worst news in the history of the sport, who even cares that Fedor isn’t signed in the UFC, this is far worse to me.

The only good that could come of this would be if Randy signs with M1 to fight Fedor. Though I don’t think thats likely. Fedor would have what he wants though, he would not be giving up any advantage with fighting Randy in the cage.

Fedor is a pussy….

Fedor isn’t a pussy. He was happy to fight Couture but wasn’t going to sign a deal that meant he could only fight for UFC.

Time for Dana to step down!

So bad but we have to say farewell Randy. You are the legend of the sport and the greatest champion in the history of UFC

Let’s see some confirmation.

This leaves a big hole in the UFC, and also leaves the HW class in shambles… SAD…

I don’t think this is true. This would be on UFC.com right away and it’s not. I think its a fabricated story b/c some fan is ticked off that Fedor didn’t sign with the UFC.

the article is a fake!!!

Doesn’t look like a fake article…

NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! FEDOR YOU SUCK, NOW COUTURE QUITS BECAUSE FEDOR DIDNT SIGN WITH THE UFC, COUTURE HAS REACHED THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN AND ONLY FEDOR TO PROVE HIMSELF AGAINST

this truly is a sad day for the sport of MMA. At least Randy gets to walk away like most champs would want; on TOP of the UFC world.

Sad day for the UFC. This is a big blow for the organization.

This has to be BS, if it is BullS*** then UFCmania should be ashamed of even posting this. If it is true then I’m crushed as a fan. I’m 42 going on 55 it seems and try to train and stay in shape and Randy is someone us old guys look up to. Maybe Chuck will fight into his 40’s, but doubt that happening.

that shows what a competitor Randy really is. He is headed for M-1 I am sure.

This is the worst possible thing that could happen in the UFC right now!

I know, before anyone says it, Chuck ain’t no Randy Captain America

Relax guys, we’ve still got UFC 78 to look forward to. Main event: Bisping/Evans, yesssss!

This is a great dissapointmnet for all MMA Fans. Zuffa should take an introspective look at the UFC to determine the cause of Couture’s retirement and all related issues surround the event.

Couture’s retirement is evidence that Dana White and/or Zuffa are major fuck ups. This is truly sad because of the possibilities that the PRIDE purcahse offered. It seems that all UFC has done is shit the bed on several occassions.

Nightmare.

This is sad!. Randy is the God Father of MMA. In a sport where there is so much opinion it’s a testament to Randy that he is loved by everyone. Farewell to the greatest MMA fighter of all time!!!

Heh,

This keeps getting better and better. Dana should offer Randy the 3 mil to stay on now, cuz thats apparently another reason why Randy left. I agree with that, Randy is the best HW in the UFC and Fedor is a UFC newcomer and should not be making more than Randy, Fedor was offered 10 times more than Randy per fight! CMON Dana, what were you thinking?

Holy crap!!! This sucks. For a while now I have thought that people on this website were going too far when they criticized the way the UFC manages it’s fighters. There are many things I don’t like myself, but overall I was ok with how they do things.

This takes the cake though. The UFC has FAILED MISERABLY here. Not only did they not get Fedor, but they have LOST COTURE!!!!! How can they let this happen? I was starting to get excited about the Heavyweight division. Not that they bring us many heavyweight fights, which sucks!!! But still, the potential was huge.

It’s time for the UFC to rethink how they manage their fighters. It’s time for them to pay them more, for starters. I for one think they should turn this more in to a league type format. I think there should be more fights, more often, on national TV, and figure out the best way to structure matchups.

Maybe Dana and his crew have done the best they can. Gone as far as they can. Whatever the case, they need to rethink this whole thing. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, UFC!!!!!!!!

at least the fight is still possible

I think UFC just died….

Does this make Vera vs Sylvia a title fight?!

LOL, good one Jess.

This news seems legit. Its all over the net now. Face it, UFC tried to strong-arm too much. They think they can do what they wish since they bought out Pride but they didn’t take into account fighter’s dignity. Fedor is not scared of the UFC, he just wanted to do it his way.

They still haven’t resigned Arlovski.

Also, I’m reading in some other sites that Randy has disliked dealing with UFC for a long time now. Hence his statement “swimming upstream” with UFC management.

I don’t get it.

If part of Randy’s beef with Zuffa is that they couldn’t sign Fedor… then why is the other part of the beef that they offered Fedor too much? Seems a bit contradictory to me… and I love Randy.

It’s not even listed on Randy’s website. Don’t you think that they would post it on there first?

And I think the $2 Mil figure hasn’t been confirmed by anyone, has it?

The gossip that is going around MMA is getting pretty pathetic.

that shows what a competitor Randy really is. He is headed for M-1 I am sure.

If this is true, I bet your right, sounds like something Randy would do. Fedor can run, but he can’t hide.

I wonder if this story will set a record for most posts? UFCMania, what’s the record?

PS – Couture is probably pretty smart here. Why not go make MILLIONS doing other fun stuff? Makes sense to me.

Vera vs. Sylvia a title fight? That would be desperation.

IMO, everyone in that class was way below Randy. People need to begin proving themselves a bit before a shot.

But who cares anyway??? UFC as a brand just took a huge blow…

I am sitting at my desk practically crying.

Did Dana F’ing White know this? He must have. I’m sure Randy told him that if he doesn’t sign Fedor, he would leave or retire because he has nothing left to prove. So, even knowing this, Dana did not get the deal done with Fedor.

This is BY FAR THE WORST NEWS IN THE HISTORY OF THE UFC!!!!!!

But you know what, now Randy will probably sign with M-1 for 10 times the amount of money the UFC ever gave him for a fight, and he and we will all have our dream fight, Fedor vs Randy. It won’t be for a belt, but we all know that the winner goes down as the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Brandon Vera vs Tim Silvia

Big Nog vs Kongo

the winners fight for the vacant UFC HH Belt..plain and simple.

Frank Mir vs Gonzaga faces one of the losers.

holy sh!t can we please officially confirm that this is legit? im getting all teary eyed.

Did AAAANNNYYONE see this coming? who would have thought??? i still don’t completely understand

LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! please?

Thats it, Im going to a bar, getting smashed, then crying myself to sleep. This is the worst news in the history of the sport, who even cares that Fedor isn’t signed in the UFC, this is far worse to me.
The only good that could come of this would be if Randy signs with M1 to fight Fedor. Though I don’t think thats likely. Fedor would have what he wants though, he would not be giving up any advantage with fighting Randy in the cage.

ragnarr, this was such huge news, I posted before reading the comments. We think the same my friend…

I find this hard to believe, on to ufc.com to verify !

Fedor isn’t a pussy. He was happy to fight Couture but wasn’t going to sign a deal that meant he could only fight for UFC.

to retire fine…but to leave like this??? oh man

Ummmm, I’m f*ckin speachless.

OMG!!!! Talk about a kick to the balls for Dana White. Not signing Fedor and leting him fight in Russia is probably going to be one of White’s most regretted decisions. I hope the budding UFC fans that fell in love with Couture and longed for FEDOR VS COUTURE will be able to look passed this and remain faithful fans. I still can’t beleive it. Wel, who knows maybe Fedor will sign in a year and Couture will be back!!

The kick in the balls is to Couture considering that the Ufc offered more guranteed money to Fedor rather then the face and name of the UFC.

there something wrong with this situation, something wrong with the ufc, maybe fedor and randy planned this so they could make some real money fighting each other, would not surprise me

Yea it seems that Couture left since they offered Fedor more money when Couture did everything for the UFC…this really sucks n fucks shit up

i just checked the ufc 74 paydays. im really suprised how little couture makes a fight, he only got $250,000 for his title defense. even if this article is fake that is ridiculous. he helped build the ufc house. also check out kos. he only got paid $10,000 to fight st.pierre. thats bullshit.

actually even if this article is fake the ufc has to start paying their boys more like other athletes in baseball and basketball, especially considering that the ufc ratings are better than both.

again lets get some confirmation here. ufc.com, anybody?

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

somewhere in Russia this is being translated to Fedor. Tomorrow we will find out that Fedor has decided to retire due to fear of Randy signing with M-1…. I mean contract problems with M-1

Marc Cuban $$$$$ = Randy Couture on HDNet

WATCH

People are retarded. All of you should be pissed at the UFC not calling Fedor a pussy. It was the UFC that said “if you sign with us you cant compete anywhere else, including your home country” We shouldnt be directing the anger at Fedor or Couture. It should be aimed at UFC for their retarded negotiations. If anything this will make M1 a lot more competition. Couture quit to seek out Fedor where ever he goes. Cant be angry at him for that. Yeah it sucks but at least the guy is going in the right direction of his goal…. which is to be the undisputed champ. We will see that fight one day.

In the mean time Im gonna stay pissed at UFC and hope M1 has the balls to make the fight happen and televise it in HD unlike UFC in my area.

This whole situation sucks donkey nuts!

Marc Cuban $$$$$ = Randy Couture on HDNet

WATCH

That would definitely be a big blow to UFC. I think that would be awesome.

ufc got a shot in the dark, who two birds with one stone u don’t sign fedor and randy quits like a coward because of it. has nothing else to prove u never fought cro cop, kongo, vera, arlovski, or big nog. the ufc needs to do something about this fast, right now there looking like asses, they need to bolster the heavyweight division up right now, get arlovski deal done, sign big ben, sign barnett, and lesnar, they make millions and millions of money and they give their fighters what 20 to 30 grand a fight besides lidell, ortiz, couture was getting 300 grand a fight, while ufc is making millions. u greedy bastards pay the fighters double or triple or else other organzations will.

So he will fight exclusivly with the garbage co. M-1 but he wouldn’t fight exclusivly with the UFC? That is like rejecting the biggest contract from the NFL and going to play for the CFL. Lets be truthful with ourselves…. Fedor = puss..

M1 will let him fight in Sambo. If he can’t do the national Sambo championships he is not going to fight in your org.

Dana has really screwed this thing up if this is true. He didn’t land Fedor, and in the process of offering Fedor way more than he offered his current people he insulted them and lost his biggest name fighter. What a tool.

What is going on here lately?This past week the heavyweight division of mma has been turned upside down.Damn,what is next?

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

They won’t post anything negative about the UFC. Randy saying that he struggles with UFC management would keep that from making the site. I don’t care if its true or not. Who else does Randy need to fight, Big Nog, what a joke.

i dont think randy has a legit beef w/ the money thing. dana gave him a shot at the hw title after being retired for a year and coming off 2 ko losses to chuck. he proved he deserved it,but i dont think he is owed anything. this might just be a big leverage move.

interesting that this is so sudden…

ill believe it when i see it on the official site
but if this is really true…i honestly believe couture is looking to fight the best in the world still like he said. hes gonna sign with whatever bum organization fedor signed with to fight him
fedor gets his wish i bet its not a cage they use and now he gets the advantage instead of randy

This might be a blessing in disguise for us fight fans….

This will clear the way for an M-1 FEDOR V. COUTURE !!!!!

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

Its on other MMA news sites now.

mmaweekly
sherdog
wrestlingobserver

then again he might retire for a year and come back again and beat whoever is the champ.

UFC ship is sinking…

First no HBO deal, then no Fedor, now no Couture.

Dana White is a stubborn ratt, plain and simple.

Couture is 44, and doesn’t have time for Dana’s b.s. pissing matches with agents and other executives, way to go.

I just threw up.

Maybe this makes Big Tim vs. Brandon Vera a championship match (which I would greatly approve of) but I mean wow..

This is awful. Randy Couture still has everything left in him.

Dana and the UFC know it’s only a matter of time when they do have to start paying real money, especially to those deserving.. The UFC fxcked everyone over now they finally did it to themselves with that ‘Fedor Deal’..

PAY THE FIGHTERS! The champs should be getting guaranteed money, $2 million seems reasonable per fight once you’ve recieved the belt.

$500,000.. for bonuses (knockout/submission,fight of the night)

The UFC is really mediocre when it comes to the payouts.

The UFC should just be thankful they came this far treating their fighters like semi-pro athletes.

[quote comment=“173874”]I find this hard to believe, on to u

randy definatly has legit beef with the money thing! he only get $250,000 per fight. thats bullshit. he should be making a lot more per heavyweight title fight.

then again he might retire for a year and come back again and beat whoever is the champ.

That’s not a bad thought. He could take off a year and wait for the m-1 organization to fold and Fedor to run out of options.

Couture works for Fightnetwork.com too, so that lends a bit of credence to it.

At his age why fight anyone but Fedor? I hope he did quit, gets released from his UFC, signs a one fight deal with M1 and fights Fedor.

I can’t believe this. Fedor is a butthole, and the UFC really slapped their big name fighters in the face with what they offered him. Randy was the man, and now the UFC is in a big hurt. You won’t find a more marketable champion. Especially with that big 6’8" tool walking around still.

i completely agree with Methinks, its time UFC started paying their fighters a lot more.

It’s confirmed: http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/7322816
“According to the report, Couture notified UFC president Dana White with a letter written from the South Africa set of the movie “The Scorpion King — Rise of the Akkadian,” which will feature Couture."

He’s living the good life now, good for him. Maybe once the movies done he will go fight Fedor. As sad as this is there was nobody worth fighting him.

i dont think randy has a legit beef w/ the money thing. dana gave him a shot at the hw title after being retired for a year and coming off 2 ko losses to chuck. he proved he deserved it,but i dont think he is owed anything. this might just be a big leverage move.

I’m inclined to agree. Randy may be the HW champ now, but when he signed, he was an old man being fed to the then HW champ.

He signed the contract, he has no right to be upset if he isn’t getting paid what he thinks he’s worth. He’s free to retire, which he is doing.

this time last year everyone loved the UFC and the UFC had neither Randy or Fedor. The only thing that has changed is Tim Sylvia is not the heavyweight champ anymore. Try to keep some perspective.

Captian America says: “Goodbye UFC, Hello Hollywood”

I feel bad for all the Couture nut huggers!
All you think twice when you say Couture is the greatest heavyweight ever and Fedor sucks. Try to be a little more realistic.

It’s quite simple. Randy knew his time was pretty much up and he wanted to fight one last fight against Fedor, who is considered by many to be the best in the world. Win or lose, Randy would have retired after that. However, now that this is not happening, Randy doesn’t want to fight another chump, or worse yet, lose to one. So that’s why he decided to quit. He might sign with M-1 for that one fight, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

This just keeps getting worse:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=9455

Besides, who exactly is this M-1? Like we were saying yesterday, hardly any of us had ever even heard of it. If there was this giant mma organization based out of Russia, why wouldn’t Fedor of signed with them the moment PRIDE collapsed? I think that there could be something strange going on behind the scenes. Where is M-1 getting all of this money from? The Russian Mob or Mark Cuban. They are my two guesses. Imagine of Mark Cuban bought M-1 like a week ago, but it flew under the radar because it was so small… Speaking of Cuban, he will be ALL OVER Randy trying to sign him. Randy will be paid.

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/7322816

I think this is getting pretty much confirmed to be legit.

He deserves to go out on top as the greatest – Fedor will never get that respect. On all rankings, from now on, it should read like this:

Greatest: Couture
-———————
Ranking #1: Vera
Ranking #2: Sylvia
etc…

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=9455

Dana and the UFC know it’s only a matter of time when they do have to start paying real money, especially to those deserving..

The UFC fxcked everyone over now they finally did it to themselves with that ‘Fedor Deal’..

PAY THE FIGHTERS! The champs should be getting guaranteed money, $2 million seems reasonable per fight once you’ve recieved the belt.

$500,000.. for bonuses (knockout/submission,fight of the night)

The UFC is really mediocre when it comes to the payouts.

The UFC should just be thankful they came this far treating their fighters like semi-pro athletes.

I couldn’t agree more. If the article is true, I suspect Randy just got tired of getting very little back in relation to the HUGE impact he’s had on the popularity of MMA and the UFC in particular. For being an exceptional athlete and all around good guy, he really didn’t get back nearly as much as he put in.

Randy is doing the right thing. Especially, for the generations of great fighters to come. We want superior athletes to chose MMA instead of baseball, basketball, football. We want great fights, we want more up and comers.. Once the world knows you can make serious money as a Figher it will happen. Randy isn’t the first to disagree with his pay, but he did it while having the belt and that means something. MMA isn’t going anywhere, it’s up the UFC how long they want to be around.. before its too late…

FUCK YOU FEDOR!!!

If Randy is telling the truth, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t trust him, the UFC would lie to his face about pay. IF they give the face of the organization that kind of treatment imagine how little respect they give lower tier fighters.

Marc Cuban $$$$$ = Randy Couture on HDNet

WATCH

I live in Dallas and if you know Mark Cuban then you know there’s MORE than a great chance this is true.

fedor needs to get gang banged by a bunch of Houston Alexanders… this isn’t fair… :(

Randy can’t fight for 9 months until his deal runs out. Fedor vs Couture Summer of 2008. The ULTIMATE FIGHT!!!

WOW, this sucks. Tim Silvia will be the new HW Champ. Cro Cop should build his spirits up now as well. He has a huge shot be be in the title race shortly. Fedors a piece of shit. I think he was scared to fight Randy.

RANDY WILL NOT FIGHT IN M-1

If he still has two fights on his contract why would Zuffa terminate the contract of their biggest star so he can fight the biggest fight in MMA history at a rival organisation.

Randy Couture is fearless, I hope this makes the whole MMA community realise what kind of a champion Randy Couture is/was.

I hate my life now… I hate fedor more… But I still love Randy, He is 44 with a broken arm, Fedor has no excuse.

word to Randy. Screw Dana.

His contract with UFC runs out in 9 month according to Sherdog.

“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.”

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=9455

Who knows what’s going on with M-1, or what it even consists of for that matter. Though if Mark Cuban is in the mix and starts paying fighters real money, I would have no choice but to laugh at Dana and company if the UFC falls because it failed to compensate it’s fighters fairly.

wow, so its true and confirmed. shit. i have to agree considering how little he was being paid for title fights he should resign.

but remember everyone, he stated that he is resigning from the ufc, not retiring from mma. i respect him and will watch him wherever he fights . . . we’ll have to see about that scorpian king II movie.

If he still has two fights on his contract why would Zuffa terminate the contract of their biggest star so he can fight the biggest fight in MMA history at a rival organisation.

All Randy needs to do is wait 9 months and his contract with the UFC is voided and done with. That makes August 2008.

STATMENT FROM DANA WHITE :

“I’m not surprised at all by Randy’s decision. I talked to Randy several weeks ago and he said that if he couldn’t fight Fedor, then he has nothing left to prove in the sport of mixed martial arts.

He has been doing a lot of acting, and I know he is in South Africa right now filming a movie. I think it’s a great move for Randy’s acting career to retire from fighting while he is on top.

As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him."

“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.”

Yeah that was a slap in the face for Couture.

Read the Sherdog interview with Randy! Randy is taking a bid time stand against UFC, and in 9 months he is free to fight for another organization… I hope he can pin down a Fedor fight.

M-1 will eventually sign Randy to a one-fight deal. The PPV would be tremendous. Sorry Fedor you can run but you can’t hide. Randy is a machine!

So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him."

Translated to: I own Randy’s ass for the next 9 months, and my greedy ass wants him back so I can make more money, and pay him much less than he deserves"

STATEMENT FROM DANA WHITE, UFC PRESIDENT
REGARDING COUTURE RETIREMENT

“I’m not surprised at all by Randy’s decision. I talked to Randy several weeks ago and he said that if he couldn’t fight Fedor, then he has nothing left to prove in the sport of mixed martial arts.

He has been doing a lot of acting, and I know he is in South Africa right now filming a movie. I think it’s a great move for Randy’s acting career to retire from fighting while he is on top.

As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him."

“I think the final straw for me was meeting with White 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.”

WTF DANA!!!! This is bullshit, offering 3m a fight to get Fedor(So Ive heard). But hes not going to give that to his greatest champ. Huge mistake Dana, now youve lost.

Randy will have to wait 9 months to get out of his contract, the sherdog article eludes to him planning on fighting Fedor after that. hmmmmmmmm :-)

All of these quotes from Randy I’ve been reading are simply making me HATE Dana White and the UFC more and more. God am I happy I dind’t waste a G on UFC 78 tickets prior to it having a main event…

Randy vs Fedor in August 08. UFC better get Jesus on their card or they will be smoked that month.

All of these quotes from Randy I’ve been reading are simply making me HATE Dana White and the UFC more and more. God am I happy I dind’t waste a G on UFC 78 tickets prior to it having a main event…

meaning I don’t want to give the UFC my money.

But I’ll still order the PPV….

Dana white should have just let fedor fight sambo but no he had to do it his way or no way…hmm can we say dumb**s….???

I wonder if this is going to lead to a chain reaction with a lot of the Xtreme Couture fighters following suit and leaving the UFC. Can you imagine? Randy has a HUGE influence over a TON of fighters!

I’m not mad at Randy at all. If you read a current interview by sherdog I beleive he states that at 44 the only challenge that would make sense would be to fight Fedor. Now that Fedor signed with MK1 for 10 million, he doesn’t feel that any other fight is right for him. I can respect that, but what he also said was that he is aware of how much they offered Fedor and he is aware of how much money other UFC top fighters make and Dana dumb ass lied to him in a meeting just a day or so ago and told him he was the 2nd highest paid fighter in the UFC. That is just disrespectful and just down right dumb. He trains with these guys so you know they talk. Dana is a idiot and I hope Mark Cuban does something big with his HDNET thing and blows UFC out of the water.

Ufc is really going to miss Randy, and to all those who hate on Fedor – look at why Randy is leaving and then tell me Fedor made the wrong decision!!!! Besides is Randy all that of a challenge to him anyway, he has two losses against Chuck for fucks sake

Bring Gonzaga back baby !!!

All of these quotes from Randy I’ve been reading are simply making me HATE Dana White and the UFC more and more. God am I happy I dind’t waste a G on UFC 78 tickets prior to it having a main event…

..Bisping vs Rashad is a NOT a main event in china yet alone NJ..UFC is buggin out..Smoke that cronic..greedy bastards they are..no love for the east coast..with that BS Card at UFC 78..I’ll see a better event on the IFL..or WEC.

Man super unfortunate. Randy vs Fedor on superbowl weekend was going to be sweet

Talk about fucked up business models.

Enough of the fuck Fedor sentiments, if you’re gonna be pissed about it at least direct it at Dana White. I mean how lame is it that the CFFC 6 main event has more curb appeal than the UFC 78 main event.

Are we seeing the meteoric rise of UFC, and just as quickly the fall? No Fedor? No Randy? Bisping/Evans main event? Another possible title shot for Sylvia? Arlovski not booked? What the hell is happening?!?

“As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him.”

Sheer arrogance, over-confidence… Why can’t he just step forward and admit he screwed up??!?!

THIS IS FUCKING SHOCKING BULLSHIT !! TOO MUCH TO SAY BUT I’LL KEEP IT SHORT N SWEET – FUCK THE UFC FOR NOT GIVING THE PRIDE CHAMPION WHAT HE DESERVES – FUCK RANDY COUTURE FOR THINKING HES THE MAN WHEN HE GOT FUCKED UP BY A LHW – NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE THINKS ABOUT FEDOR, HES PROVED HIMSELF AGAINST FAR SUPERIOR OPPONENTS THAN COUTURE – FEDOR IS THE TOP OF THE CHAIN – COUTURE NEEDS TO MAN UP AND FIGHT ARLOVSKI AND BIG NOG – ARLOVSKI ESPECIALLY AS HE WAS THE CHAMP AND THE ONLY GUY THAT FEDOR THINKS HE CAN POSSIBLY LOSE TO.

“As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him.”

Sheer arrogance, over-confidence… Why can’t he just step forward and admit he screwed up??!?!

Because he’s the true face of the UFC… Randy is just a figher.

I can’t wait till some other promotion rivals the UFC.

Greedy UFC, very smart Randy Couture. Fedor vs Couture is more likely to happen and that is the good news my friends. Good for Randy and Fedor. I hope morew fighters jump ship. I can’t stand monopolies.

Dana went from being an mma builder to an mma destroyer. wasn’t crocrop paid like 250,000 for his first fight in the ufc. Why can’t they pay Captain America a decent amount. He was the excitement of the HW division. Before him, UFC HW was boring, and he brought it back to life.

why are my eye’s starting to water…. …

This is sad, but I LOVE seeing Couture go out on top…and it’s true, he has absolutely nothing to prove. If he can’t fight Fedor so who else is really worth fighting to Randy? Absolutely noone. Also, UFC was insane to offer an unproven clown in the UFC named Fedor a whopping 2mill a fight, while Randy get’s around 225k (not including PPV). Randy will always be the best of all time in my eyes because his entire career he only fought the best.

bring on brock.it’s time

sux sux sux

Good job for Randy. He was getting screwed. Maybe this will wake up Dana and the UFC.

This is all Dana’s fault for not giving Fedor the money he deerved as a fighter. Fuck Dana, greedy bastard!

great ambassador for the sport so all the best randy. However i would like to see him fight Rampage in one last bout and go out champ at both weights its a possibility!! One last fight randy on you go!! we are all wondering who rampage will fight next anyway what a fight that would be!

This is all Dana’s fault for not giving Fedor the money he deerved as a fighter. Fuck Dana, greedy bastard!

How much does Fedor deserve. a billion dollars a fight

It is confirmed now on the official web site.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=8236

I’m hoping some other organisation blows up. I stand by what I’ve been saying all along, a monopoly is bad for the fans.

DANA WHITE SHOULD BE FIRED!
HE SCREWED UP THE FEDOR DEAL,
CRO-COP GETS $350,000 per fight even whehn he lost twice in lik 1 round each and randy only gets 250,000 for getting the HW belt and defending it?!?!? WTF?!?!?!?

RANDY is "THE FEDOR " OF THE UFC AND HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN PAYED LIKE THE KING.

I NOW HATE DANA WHITE HE IS THE TALKING DICKHEAD OF THEUFC
I HOPE THEIR IS A BETTEER LEAGUE THAN THE UFC THAT WILLL BE A COMPETITOR OR SURPASS THEM …THEY ARE TOO BIG TOO GREEDY AND TREAT SOMEONE LIKE COTOURE LESS THAN HE IS.
CAN WE AS THE MMA COMMUNITY MAKE A LETTER TO DANA WHITE THAT HE SHOYULD STEP DOWN NOT RANDY AND NOT FEDOR.
THESE THINGS ARE NOT RAND:Y FAULT OR FEDORS FAULT IT’S DANA FAULT HE IS THE UFC!?!?!??!?
THERE SHOULD BE LEGIT STANDARD PAYOUTS LIKE IF YOU GET THE DIVISIONAL BELT YOU GET x AND IF YOU DEFEND IT YOU GET Y AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. LOOK AT CHUCK FOR LOSING THE LAST @ FIGHTS HE’s GOTTEN OVER 1 MILLION DOLLARS AND RANDYS LAST TWO FIGHTS NOT EVEN HALF A MIL??!?!?!
UFC SUKS BAN IT!!!
BAN THE UFC PRIDE WAS BETTER MORE FIGHTS REMEMBER PRIDES LAST PPV IT WAS NOT JUST % FIGHTS IT WAS ANEVENING OF FIGHTS
WHAT CAN WE DO ?
MARK CUBAN WHERE ARE YOU CAN U HELP US OUT AND MAKE SENSE OFTHIS.
ESPECIALLY IF DANA KNEW HOW RANDY COTOURE WAS FEELING …LIKE HE WANTED TO FIGHT FEDOR CUZ HE’S DONE EVERYTHING IN MMA ..THEN DANA SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON FEDORS ASS TO GET A ONE FIGHT DEAL AT LEAST AND PAY RANDY WAY MORE THAN FEDOR AND WAY MORE THATN 250,000
JUST ONE FING FIGHT DANA YOU SUK BALLS OF FIRE WITH YOUR NEW ATTITUDE IT’s LIKE DANA HAS THIS WAY ABOUT HIM LIKE PRESIDENT BUSH DANA IS A PUSSY!FART

If this is true and Randy thinks the UFC is being unfair with the pay salaries he should remind himself of the unfair title shot he was given when he came back. How does one lose his last fight, move up in weight class(where he lost his last 2 fights in the class) and get a title shot? I respect the hell out him but the unfair circumstances in which he obtained the title far out weigh any complaints he may be entitled to about the salaries. Dana took a chance on a fighter that seemed washed up at the time and Randy still owes him big time. I certainly hope this isn’t true.

i love how they charge the roof for pay per view and tickets for us to watch shitty fights, dana has to be pocketing millions each event but he throws the fighters who get ass whooped a bone. greedy ufc, they should have been paying captain america a million a fight he only fights 3 times a year at most but they make 20 times that amount on his fights

Fedor is a pussy….

No way man. Fedor will be smiling all the way to the bank while giving a big middle finger to the UFC.

I can’t wait to see how all this plays out.

If you look at this big picture and as a business, I think the ufc played it right. Where else could all these fighters fight? where else could they get all this attention, expand their fan bases and be on ppv and free tv?

Randy’s situation just talks to having a monopoly in MMA. Zuffa CAN decide what to pay to each fighter because they know that there is no alternative B, and once you taste the fame in the UFC you won’t leave and you will settle for a regular pay check. Would you rather go to the IFL / Bodog and make more money fighting nobodys and having 3 people (1 of which the soda man) cheer for you? I didn’t think so. Don’t expect the UFC to pay at the same level as in other professional sports, that is just not going to happen. You might say, what about Fedor signing in an organization no one knows? Well, that’s different, he hasn’t been in the UFC and he wants to keep doing his Sambo stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as pissed as all of you are, I would have loved to see Randy fight a couple more times, even if it wasn’t against Fedor. However, he is doing what is right for him at this stage of his career. The UFC will still be the UFC, don’t get all depressed, we will still get a lot of great fights and all the fighters will stick around because they have no choice, at least in the near term. I don’t see any other organization in MMA rising up so fast so soon. Plus, just look at UFC 79’s card, after that night, no one will remember that Randy is gone and we will all be happy ever after and Dana and the Ferttitas will get richer than ever.

Now, the real question is, is Randy going to get the respect he deserves and be in his fighters’ corner? Or is he going to be kicked out like Nick Diaz too?

For Forrest’s sake, and all others, he better be let in.

Peace out.

If Couture signed a contract for a certain amount then he shouldn’t complain that the landscape of the market has changed during that time. If all of these athletes speak to each other so much about their salaries then he would have known going into the negotiations what to expect. What people need to realize is that on the UFC’s side of things, it makes sense to offer Fedor a ton of money for a marquee fight, they’ll make it over in spades. And if the marketable commodity they have to put him against is already in a multi-fight contract then too bad.

As for hoping HDNet will somehow become the new MMA juggernaut overnight, you’re dreaming. HDNet is available in 3 million homes – total. All Cuban is looking for is content to fill his schedule, he even discusses that in his blog. Now he’ll do everything he can to turn a profit doing it, however paying 2 guys millions of dollars to fight on a network that is offered in 3 million homes isn’t how a guy like that becomes a millionaire. It’s how he becomes poor.

I’m hoping some other organisation blows up. I stand by what I’ve been saying all along, a monopoly is bad for the fans.

A monopoly is great for the fans because we get to see the best fighters fight each other instead of a bunch of diluted cards from many organizations. would you like for there to be 6 different football leagues? each league would have a few great players playing against inferior competition it would suck. imagine if every fighter was signed by one promotion. we could have a great card every week. there was an opportunity for mma to explode into the mainstream but the ufc has blown it. the losses of hbo, fedor and randy will keep mma on the margins.

F*&k Dana White.

what a loser for quiting. nothing to prove? give me a break. He could of fought Big Nog someone from Pride that is good. i bet you anything if even fought CroCop he get knocked out.

UN FNN" BELIEVABLE!

I see Randy’s point… CLEARLY… His motivation was not really the money… it was about fighting the best, he said it early on… when Cro-cop came back, Randy was pumped and wanted to fight him, then that went south, so he wanted a shot a FEDOR. That went south, and the amount of money FEDOR was offered in comparison to him really opened his eyes to how poorly the UFC pays it’s top recognized fighters.

The UFC and Dana White are trying to get away with it for as long as they can (just business) before there is some kind of MMA Negotiation as it’s fighters get together and boycott it, I hope they do.

I don’t really care for Tito Ortiz… but I always felt he was justified in standing up about the amount of money they got in their contract in comparison to other sports.

However, Randy is the most highly decorated and respected fighter and never complains, so when he says it, everyone better listen.

This is the worst news, especially on the day after the 2nd worst news for the UFC. Couture is doing what is best for him right now. He has nothing else to prove except fight the best “pound for pound” fighter in the world. Now that is not going to happen he has to weigh his options.

The UFC needs to restructure how fighters are paid, especially the top fighters in each class. Maybe, pay on a per fight basis or sign one fight deals. I don’t know, but they need to do something to stop the bleeding. This might be a sign of a big problem, if the UFC does not address it know.

Couture might have biggers plans…. M1? Arlvoski, to follow?

Big names = big fights
Big fights = UFC $$$
Big names = Big $$$$

Seems simple.

Does anyone know what the top fighters are actually getting paid? I mean including bonuses and everything. Doesn’t seem like much. Kos only got 10K? What the F! HW champ only gets 250K? Ridiculous.

Does anyone know what the top fighters are actually getting paid? I mean including bonuses and everything. Doesn’t seem like much. Kos only got 10K? What the F! HW champ only gets 250K? Ridiculous.

Yup the highest i’ve seen anyone get paid is Liddell, he got $500,000 for this last fight. and jardine only got like $15,000 or something like that.

It’s quite simple. Randy knew his time was pretty much up and he wanted to fight one last fight against Fedor, who is considered by many to be the best in the world. Win or lose, Randy would have retired after that. However, now that this is not happening, Randy doesn’t want to fight another chump, or worse yet, lose to one. So that’s why he decided to quit. He might sign with M-1 for that one fight, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

I completely agree. Randy knows hes getting older, He wanted one last fight even though he has 2 on his contract, Fedor walked to M-1, Randy syays screw it and retires. Fedor is a bitch anyway, he should have fought at least Randy in the UFC even if that was his only fight. 3 mil?? Shit I would fight Randy for $3,000…I need the money. And please FEDOR FANS do not use that lame “the cage” excuse….If Fedor is the best, then he should eb able to fight anywhere like Rampage says he will fight anywhere, even in a telephone booth.

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

Good call.

Relax guys, we’ve still got UFC 78 to look forward to. Main event: Bisping/Evans, yesssss!

lol, right!

I guess with the loss of Fedor , we lose Couture. Talk about a blow to the heavyweight division.

Oh man thank god that Cro Cop didn’t retire.

Big Nog, Vera, Arlovski and Cro Cop. That is for me the heavyweight division. As a fan i really don’t care about anyonle else since that ass Fedor isn’t coming.

It has been stated the Tito/Chuck II fight earned each fighter over $1 million after including bonuses and PPV, with Chuck earning an additional $ for the victory. But No matter how you slice it, UFC is just not making the cut when it comes to pay. When Mayweather earns $16mill for one fight in boxing, there is something wrong. Greed on the Ferretta brothers part is what allows other organizations into to steal their top fighters and may eventually lead to the competition raising in popularity

Randy vs Fedor in August 08. UFC better get Jesus on their card or they will be smoked that month.

   No doubt!!

This is sad, but I LOVE seeing Couture go out on top…and it’s true, he has absolutely nothing to prove. If he can’t fight Fedor so who else is really worth fighting to Randy? Absolutely noone. Also, UFC was insane to offer an unproven clown in the UFC named Fedor a whopping 2mill a fight, while Randy get’s around 225k (not including PPV). Randy will always be the best of all time in my eyes because his entire career he only fought the best.

   One question,if Fedor is an unproven clown why would the UFC offer the guy 2 Mill per fight.Obviously they must think he is pretty good.Just a thought.

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

Ass. Your comment is very New Yorker-ish, and thanks for the translation. How in the world is website going to wait for other websites to post first? Are you kidding. Props to this site. Did you find the truth in this yet?

PLEASE PETITON TO FIRE DANA WHITE AN ARROGANT AHOLE!!!!!!!

PLEASE PETITON TO FIRE DANA WHITE AN ARROGANT AHOLE!!!!!!!

Tito Ortiz should get up on this lol. Get rid of dana !!

dana and zuffas worst nightmare is that there will be another big MMA promotion in america

they bought up pride and whoever rampage was with both to get the talent and to stop any boxing promoters from jumping in and buying a premade product as it would be far tougher and costly to build an organisation from scratch so may keep them out of the business

if K1 M1 or elite xc get some serious $$$ behind them then they can easily pinch the top ufc fighters by offering more cash

randy deerves way more than $250k per fight
but at least with all his other income he makes a couple of million a year

the guys i feel sorry for are people like koscheck and griffin and anyone who is not a champion or former champion as they get paid peanuts

for mma to grow the salaries need to increase dramatically… pro wrestling is still a more lucrative courear

id love randy to go to M1 get his $2mil pay day and beat fedor like the little bitch that he is

there is a lack of true top tier fighters left for randy to face

arlovski and nog deserve a shot… and i was hopeful that ortiz or chuck may realise rampage is too good and step up to HW to take a shot at captain america as it could possibly be a better chance of them getting a belt and both would present very marketable fights

crocop wont ever get near the belt… he probablly needs 3 big wins to get a shot and i cant see that happening

if randy really has retired then id put sylvia vera as a title fight… it was meant to happen a year back and the winner would probably get nog or kongo

I find this hard to believe, on to ufc.com to verify !

How is that working out for you?

This is a fake. Randy already knew about Fedor before yesterday – this is not news to him. The quotes didn’t even sound like something Randy would say. UFC management has treated him like a king, sorry to say this but that article is a fake and it should be a crime to propagate this rumor around!!!! I’m dissapointed with this becoming a WORLD NEWS magazine ‘ALIEN BAT BABY’ site…

Well aren’t you stupid? Don’t dout the Mania, idiot.

Sorry, UFCmania. I can’t help myself with people like this.

You know MMA has officially become mainstream when all people talk about is money.

=( A very sad day indeed. The card in Vegas was one of the best days of my life, Couture wins, and St. Pierre wins, and i was in Vegas =) Thanks for the memories Couture, now let’s go VERA !!!!

DANA WHITE SHOULD BE FIRED!
HE SCREWED UP THE FEDOR DEAL,
CRO-COP GETS $350,000 per fight even whehn he lost twice in lik 1 round each and randy only gets 250,000 for getting the HW belt and defending it?!?!? WTF?!?!?!?

RANDY is "THE FEDOR " OF THE UFC AND HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN PAYED LIKE THE KING.

I NOW HATE DANA WHITE HE IS THE TALKING DICKHEAD OF THEUFC
I HOPE THEIR IS A BETTEER LEAGUE THAN THE UFC THAT WILLL BE A COMPETITOR OR SURPASS THEM …THEY ARE TOO BIG TOO GREEDY AND TREAT SOMEONE LIKE COTOURE LESS THAN HE IS.
CAN WE AS THE MMA COMMUNITY MAKE A LETTER TO DANA WHITE THAT HE SHOYULD STEP DOWN NOT RANDY AND NOT FEDOR.
THESE THINGS ARE NOT RAND:Y FAULT OR FEDORS FAULT IT’S DANA FAULT HE IS THE UFC!?!?!??!?
THERE SHOULD BE LEGIT STANDARD PAYOUTS LIKE IF YOU GET THE DIVISIONAL BELT YOU GET x AND IF YOU DEFEND IT YOU GET Y AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. LOOK AT CHUCK FOR LOSING THE LAST @ FIGHTS HE’s GOTTEN OVER 1 MILLION DOLLARS AND RANDYS LAST TWO FIGHTS NOT EVEN HALF A MIL??!?!?!
UFC SUKS BAN IT!!!
BAN THE UFC PRIDE WAS BETTER MORE FIGHTS REMEMBER PRIDES LAST PPV IT WAS NOT JUST % FIGHTS IT WAS ANEVENING OF FIGHTS
WHAT CAN WE DO ?
MARK CUBAN WHERE ARE YOU CAN U HELP US OUT AND MAKE SENSE OFTHIS.
ESPECIALLY IF DANA KNEW HOW RANDY COTOURE WAS FEELING …LIKE HE WANTED TO FIGHT FEDOR CUZ HE’S DONE EVERYTHING IN MMA ..THEN DANA SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON FEDORS ASS TO GET A ONE FIGHT DEAL AT LEAST AND PAY RANDY WAY MORE THAN FEDOR AND WAY MORE THATN 250,000
JUST ONE FING FIGHT DANA YOU SUK BALLS OF FIRE WITH YOUR NEW ATTITUDE IT’s LIKE DANA HAS THIS WAY ABOUT HIM LIKE PRESIDENT BUSH DANA IS A PUSSY!FART

ARE YO THE CRAZY BRITTNEY FAN,MORE POWER TO YOU,GIVE EM HELL

Fedor is a pussy….
Fedor isn’t a pussy. He was happy to fight Couture but wasn’t going to sign a deal that meant he could only fight for UFC.

Ya, how can we expect Fedor to fight just for the UFC. Who could possibly live with that? EVERY OTHER FIGHTER IN THE UFC, that who. FEDOR IS A PUSSY!

Is Nine Duce an alias Dana White uses………?

“Randy vs Fedor in August 08. UFC better get Jesus on their card or they will be smoked that month.”

Didn’t Jesus drop down to Middleweight?

WOW, this sucks. Tim Silvia will be the new HW Champ. Cro Cop should build his spirits up now as well. He has a huge shot be be in the title race shortly. Fedors a piece of shit. I think he was scared to fight Randy.

How will Tim be champ, when Vera smashes him next week?

I wonder if this is going to lead to a chain reaction with a lot of the Xtreme Couture fighters following suit and leaving the UFC. Can you imagine? Randy has a HUGE influence over a TON of fighters!

You got that right, when asked who their hero is, almost every fighter says ,“Randy Couture”.

ufc got a shot in the dark, who two birds with one stone u don’t sign fedor and randy quits like a coward because of it. has nothing else to prove u never fought cro cop, kongo, vera, arlovski, or big nog. the ufc needs to do something about this fast, right now there looking like asses, they need to bolster the heavyweight division up right now, get arlovski deal done, sign big ben, sign barnett, and lesnar, they make millions and millions of money and they give their fighters what 20 to 30 grand a fight besides lidell, ortiz, couture was getting 300 grand a fight, while ufc is making millions. u greedy bastards pay the fighters double or triple or else other organzations will.

I agree that the fighters starting out aren’t making enough money. To me it sounds like they don’t make enough money to train and support themselves, espically if they have families. But people like Chuck are making plenty of money. I believe he got paid $500,000 for his last fight and I think he gets a % of the gate. So if he fights just 2 times a year he makes well over a million dollars a year. (Did you see his house and cars on UFC All Acess?) I don’t know what the answer is but it just seems like when to much money is involved that things start to get rigged or suspicious ( like boxing) I think that they should get a decent amount of money for showing up and then really make the money when they WIN.

THIS IS FUCKING SHOCKING BULLSHIT !! TOO MUCH TO SAY BUT I’LL KEEP IT SHORT N SWEET – FUCK THE UFC FOR NOT GIVING THE PRIDE CHAMPION WHAT HE DESERVES – FUCK RANDY COUTURE FOR THINKING HES THE MAN WHEN HE GOT FUCKED UP BY A LHW – NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE THINKS ABOUT FEDOR, HES PROVED HIMSELF AGAINST FAR SUPERIOR OPPONENTS THAN COUTURE – FEDOR IS THE TOP OF THE CHAIN – COUTURE NEEDS TO MAN UP AND FIGHT ARLOVSKI AND BIG NOG – ARLOVSKI ESPECIALLY AS HE WAS THE CHAMP AND THE ONLY GUY THAT FEDOR THINKS HE CAN POSSIBLY LOSE TO.

Ya, Fedor faced tougher opponents like CC and couldn’t finish him. Randy faced weak ,not well rounded opponents like GG and owned him. I could see where you get the idea Fedor is far above Randy.

just wait here comes tito ortiz to say something along the lines of ‘see i told u dana was a turd monkey’. also if anyone wants another article to read this one has some more information on couture quitting. not much more but a little more

http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=5085

found it on mmaplayground.

It seems Dana White and the UFC believed that they would own every great fighter in the world after they purchased Pride.Fedor made a huge statement by not signing with them.I can definately see this M-1 promotion becoming a major threat to the UFC.Maybe not an immediate threat, but in time.

The only thing good about this is I don’t have to watch Vera go through Randy to get the belt. The bad thing is ,if I’m wrong about Vera ,there is a good possibility Tim could be champ again.

N

If this is true and Randy thinks the UFC is being unfair with the pay salaries he should remind himself of the unfair title shot he was given when he came back. How does one lose his last fight, move up in weight class(where he lost his last 2 fights in the class) and get a title shot? I respect the hell out him but the unfair circumstances in which he obtained the title far out weigh any complaints he may be entitled to about the salaries. Dana took a chance on a fighter that seemed washed up at the time and Randy still owes him big time. I certainly hope this isn’t true.

i dont see how couture proved everything? He is a great fighter and a great guy but he could have still done alot in the UFC. The pay system sucks for sure and there is no way chuck liddell should be making more than couture for a title defense. And cro-cop getting paid more for a terrible performance..something is hugely flawed.

I would have still very much liked to see couture fight nogueira. If he beats him… then move on.

If any organization is in line to surpass the UFC though.. its gotta be strikeforce. They have the strongest stable of fighters other than the ufc. And if you look at the pay days.. they are more appropriate. There are no undercard fighters making more than the televised guys.

For example luke cummo making more than kenny florian at UFN 11….. please please explain that to me.

sorry eliteXC / strikeforce whatever u wanna call it..

last thing…..ufc better not drop the ball on lesnar,they have been talking about getting him for months. They need depth in the HW division and he can be a start.

COMO PUEDE SER?!?!? NO ES CIERTO! MENTIRAS!!!

I agree that Randy was handed the title shot prematurely. I love how the Hype Machine has driven through “Captain America’s” head. He acts like Fedor is the only competition for him left in the world when he hasn’t fought Nog, Arlovski, Vera, Kongo, Cro-Cop, hasn’t given Sylvia a rematch, ect. ect. And remind me again what happened last time he fought Barnett? Great fighter, but the best in the world? No. Now he gets to walk away with a chip on his shoulder saying “Nobody ever beat me for the title”. He wanted Fedor because its the best way for him to look good no matter what. A loss? “He’s a 44 year old fighting the best in the world.” A win? “He’s the undisputed greatest ever”. Either way and he retires looking like gold. He didn’t want anything less than a perfect ending to his career. Real Classy.

No chance for Randy to fight Fedor in m-1… he’s under contract with the UFC for his next 2 fights.. and that means ANY sanctioned fight. HORRIBLE.

Time for a TUF series with heavyweights, need some new fighters for that division or its in trouble…..BRING IN KIMBO FOR THE SERIES! He’ll get the proper training so that he can compete with profesional athletes….don’t act like you don’t wanna see it. Not only in the UFC but on a reality show…..hells yeah dude!

I agree that Randy was handed the title shot prematurely. I love how the Hype Machine has driven through “Captain America’s” head. He acts like Fedor is the only competition for him left in the world when he hasn’t fought Nog, Arlovski, Vera, Kongo, Cro-Cop, hasn’t given Sylvia a rematch, ect. ect. And remind me again what happened last time he fought Barnett? Great fighter, but the best in the world? No. Now he gets to walk away with a chip on his shoulder saying “Nobody ever beat me for the title”. He wanted Fedor because its the best way for him to look good no matter what. A loss? “He’s a 44 year old fighting the best in the world.” A win? “He’s the undisputed greatest ever”. Either way and he retires looking like gold. He didn’t want anything less than a perfect ending to his career. Real Classy.

Couldn’t agree more. Wtf Randy, there is competition in division even without Fedor. Just tell us it’s all about money.

I agree that Randy was handed the title shot prematurely. I love how the Hype Machine has driven through “Captain America’s” head. He acts like Fedor is the only competition for him left in the world when he hasn’t fought Nog, Arlovski, Vera, Kongo, Cro-Cop, hasn’t given Sylvia a rematch, ect. ect. And remind me again what happened last time he fought Barnett? Great fighter, but the best in the world? No. Now he gets to walk away with a chip on his shoulder saying “Nobody ever beat me for the title”. He wanted Fedor because its the best way for him to look good no matter what. A loss? “He’s a 44 year old fighting the best in the world.” A win? “He’s the undisputed greatest ever”. Either way and he retires looking like gold. He didn’t want anything less than a perfect ending to his career. Real Classy.

Wow, good point man…he still had people that he could have fought. Kongo would have gotten dropped but cro cop could have just won one more fight and boom he would have gotten a title shot. I think cro cop should drop down to lightheavyweights. he is clearly having trouble with that larger competition. Kongo and Gonzaga had a saize advantage but that first guy didn’t and Crocop pretty much destroyed him…

I agree that Randy was handed the title shot prematurely. I love how the Hype Machine has driven through “Captain America’s” head. He acts like Fedor is the only competition for him left in the world when he hasn’t fought Nog, Arlovski, Vera, Kongo, Cro-Cop, hasn’t given Sylvia a rematch, ect. ect.

Randy would fight any of those guys you mentioned, but it’s not gonna be worth what they’re paying him. A Fedor fight is the only way Randy makes money in the Chuck Liddell range.

I wanna see Arlovski vs. Gonzaga. The winner gets a title shot after Vera/Sylvia vs. Kongo/Nog.

What a hoax of an article, nonsense that we are even posting about this. This is like having a sports based website say that A-ROD is retiring from baseball and then for us to go on to ESPN.com and find no story on it.

I just went to “the other website” that deals with the UFC (uhhh hmmm) _ _ _ .com (apparently your posts get deleted if you spell that out)

There is no mention of this topic on _ _ _ .com, and being that their website is updated fairly regularly, see TUF 6 latest episode recap, I find no truth in this whatsoever. How can a website post a story like this when no one else does. Very New York Post – ish (for non-NYers, this means trashy)

Wow, you look pretty smart after that post huh……….hahaha

Damn..i’m still trying to figure this all out. It really does suck. I’m a faithfull fan of the UFC, but this is a big blow to alot of us Huge fans. Im the type of guy whom has a big get together of friends and MMA friends to watch every PPV the UFC throws out. This is going to suck for a while. But, losing Randy an a competitor for the sport is bad. Considerin, the guys i train with aren’t assholes due to the fact Randy was the man in the sport of MMA, it’s going to tarnish them for a but. WHy? because there is a few older fellows who are there because of Randy, truly the truth. I juts hope when i break the news tot eh guys, they will stay faithfull to the sport. ANy ideas in how i can get them truly past this, without them falling through the cracks? any help would be awsome!

God I have to say Ill still watch the ufc
 Please nobody else blame randy or fedor(but by all means blame dana)

The UFC should do a TUF series featuring heavyweights. Bring Kimbo Slice in as one of the 16 fighters. He will get to be a much better fighter and possibly gain a contract in the UFC. Not to mention, it is reality TV and he would brign in A TON of ratings. I know….applause for an incredibly cool idea.

OMG!!!! Talk about a kick to the balls for Dana White. Not signing Fedor and leting him fight in Russia is probably going to be one of White’s most regretted decisions. I hope the budding UFC fans that fell in love with Couture and longed for FEDOR VS COUTURE will be able to look passed this and remain faithful fans. I still can’t beleive it. Wel, who knows maybe Fedor will sign in a year and Couture will be back!!

the thing of it is, dana offered fedor a huge amount of money but that wasn’t good enough for fedor. he wanted guarentees that others from the russian red devil team would fight in the ufc most of which were just not good enough! dana did everything he could. i think that fedor was simply scarred to fight randy couture on the big show that the ufc offers! i’ve seen them both fight several times and i believe “THE NATURAL” would have had his best win ever!i also think this may still happen down the road,better not be too long though,neither is getting any younger. honestly, i don’t think there is anymore that dana could have done. fedor had his mind made up.i mean why fight the great randy couture,when he can make big money fighting hacks in your own country,and be the super hero in your country.i don’t believe it mattered to fedor that there was someone in the states that could beat him.it’s not about who’s actually the best,it’s not about facing the best competition to fedor,otherwise he would have come and fought randy instead of taking the sure win against middleweight,trying to be heavyweight,matt the law lindlin, for bodog. if you ask me i say fedor’s a chicken shit!affraid his value would go down.

who’s going to be the next great heavyweight?i’m sure he’s out there. i will miss “THE NATURAL” though! i’ve seen him as well as fedor fight several times.i believe randy would have won this,had fedor chosen not to “duck” him.CHICKEN SHIT! it’s not dana’s fault,he tried hard to get fedor.

God I have to say Ill still watch the ufc
Please nobody else blame randy or fedor(but by all means blame dana)

WRONG! BLAME FEDOR FOR DUCKING OUT OF A FIGHT HE KNEW HE COULD LOSE!

BRING ON AN OPEN WEIGHT TOURNY!GONZOGA,MINITAURO,VERA,SYLVIA,KONGO,ARLOVSKI,ETC. HEY GORD, FEDOR DID NOT FACE TOUGHER OPPONENTS THAN RANDY. MORE LIKE UNDERWEIGHT FIGHTERS THAT HE COULD DOMINATE!WITH THE RARE EXCEPTION LIKE MINATAURO.LOOK AT FEDOR’S LAST FIGHT FOR BODOG,AGAINST MATT LINDLIN WHO HAD TROUBLE GAINING WEIGHT.SURPRISE, HE’S A MIDDLEWEIGHT!

I dont blame Randy at all. Good for him go out a champion on top.

Thats gatta be a slap in his face knowing Randy was getting paid 2 to 3 hundred thousand per fight and fedor was being offered around 2 million.

Do not blame Fedor, he is still a great fighter.

ITS FEDORS F****** MANAGEMENT TEAM, THEY ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE BLAMED

FUCK YOU FINKLSTEIN!!!! GO EAT A MOTHERFUCKING DICK AND DIE IN THE GUTTER YOU ROTTING PIECE OF CAT SHIT!!!!!

You dont have to be angry at Fedor either. The only way you can protect your legacy is by fighting the best. Fedor is not protecting his legacy and he knows this, after all he is a smart guy, he knows if he does not fight in the #1 MMA org, he will lose his ranking faster then the speed of light.

Its official: Fedor is the next Frank Glamrock

LASTLY, NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN THE SPORT OF MMA.NOT RANDY,NOT FEDOR,NOT ANYONE! THE UFC WILL GO ON, SUCCESSFULLY!

I just cant see why Fedors management team doesn’t want him to prove hes the best in the world!!!!

Randy would fight any of those guys you mentioned, but it’s not gonna be worth what they’re paying him. A Fedor fight is the only way Randy makes money in the Chuck Liddell range.

F***!!!!!

I have all the respect in the world for Captain America, but its not all about f****** money!!!!!

It was him who said it was about the competition, he came out of retirement because he loves to compete.

So obviously he does not consider Nog, Arlovski, Vera, Kongo or Cro Cop to be competition.

Well ill say, Captain America, your a bit over your head.

Takin nothin away from Randy though. What that 44 year old man has accomplished is absolutely f****** incredible!!!

Its those f****** stupid Hollywood agents that are filling Randys head with this crap

f*** Hollywood

Burn it to the ground

Sad day for MMA fans. Randy was/is an icon for the sport. I see more fighters jumping ship because of a greedy Dana. he needs to take cae of his fighters more. UFC is the top selling PPV sport in the world, and these guys don’t make a fraction of what that prick makes. He learn one day to stop biting the hand that feeds him.

Joe Rogan always says it best: WOWWWWWWWWWWWwwwww!!!

Eyes rolling and bugging out of his head.

I’m glad to see him go out on top. He has nothing left to prove and frankly I hope the Couture-Emelianenko match NEVER happens and becomes the greatest what-if matchup talked about in bars all across America.

This is extremely frustrating as a fan, the only real thing that I look forward to seeing now in the UFC is the crowning of Matt Hughes as welterweight champion. But even that isn’t too exciting because he will retire in a year or so anyway.

I like seeing the ever changing landscape at 155 but if Sean Sherk is out, all I have to look forward to is top young guns like Stevenson, Florian, Fischer, Huerta, Guida, and Edgar picking each other off for the next 2-3 years.

Sure there are 5-7 light heavyweight prospects which should make for entertaining fights, but you have to blame the top management for this.

What can the Heavyweight crop of fighters do for us ? Not a heck of a lot. The only credible fighters I see are Nogueria and Arvlovski. And half of that combo is being snubbed by Dana since April 2007.

Herring is a mess, Sylvia is usually referred to me as bitch tits and looks nothing like a paid athlete, Vera has what like 2 UFC fights ? Kongo needs to spend a month with BJ Penn and work on his ground game to be a complete fighter. Thanks Dana !

This is balls. Stop sayin shit about Randy being over his head. Don’t make me go Crocker on yer asses and post a video on you-tube :L:L
Randy is a proper legend and deserves all the respect he can we can throw his way. His name will forever be associated with UFC and rightly so. He doesn’t need to prove himself anymore than he already has. His dead right to leave at the top

But people like Chuck are making plenty of money. I believe he got paid $500,000 for his last fight and I think he gets a % of the gate.

These could be acquired with either debt or earnings. Possessions are not necessarilly an indication of wealth.

2Legit2quote

God, I’m going to get ripped a new asshole for this. But Randy as the best MMA fighter of ALL TIME? Great, yes. One of the GREATEST, yes. But he came to heavyweight after getting waxed twice by Chuck, and got a title shot off the bat. I don’t care who you are, you should have to beat some guys in that division before you get a championship fight. PLEASE DON’T GET ME WRONG, I LOVE WATCHING RANDY FIGHT AND HATE THIS NEWS AS MUCH AS ANYONE. Just not sure about this “greatest fighter of all time thing.”

I have all the respect in the world for Captain America, but its not all about f****** money!!!!!

Well it’s about respect. When Tito Ortiz makes more money fighting Ken Shamrock than Randy makes fighting anybody, it’s gotta sting.

That’s not a bad thought. He could take off a year and wait for the m-1 organization to fold and Fedor to run out of options.

i think its goona be a transitional time now for the ufc.With randy gone chuck on his way,hughes going after 2/3 more fights,i can see franklin going if he loses to silva(he wont stay around to be number 2) Thats 4 superstars of our sport going.Its now time for the other guys to step up to the plate and give us some rivalrys thats what we love in this sport.The likes of gsp/vera/rampage/stevenson are the future of our sport.

What is wrong with you people? Randy is not retiring… Randy has RESIGNED from the UFC. He has 9 months left on his current contract. He will wait that out and then take the fight with Fedor in M1.

He will probably make around 5 mil for that fight alone.

He is smart and the UFC has been exploiting him for a long time.

Fuck Dana…..

i feel like my girlfriend broke up with me.. thats how bad this is.. im so upset about this… is anybody else taking it to heart… im so bummed out still

People are saying “just say it’s all about the money”… you’d be insulted if you had Randy’s resume and you were being offered 1/8 the earnings of Fedor. He makes less than Cro-cop who has been terrible, less than Liddell and who knows who else. At 44 in MMA, you’re going to be more selective about fights. He’s not saying “I won’t fight this guy, I want to go in an organization full of cans”. He wants to do something along the lines of a unification bout. I can’t blame him. There’s no reason to stick around if you’re getting paid less than cro-cop who, may I remind you, has only one win in the UFC over Eddie Sanchez.

Sorry guys, but Randy got disrepsected and thats why he resigned. $250K and his opponent is offered up to $3mil? Not to mention Randy has been the multiple time champ, hes in the hall of fame ect ect. even with his losses, dude should be getting paid more or they should have offered Fedor less if you know what I mean. Besides, Randy is risking a hell of a lot more fighting Fedor than Fedor is risking fighting Randy. lol come on, the dude is 44 and if he fought Fedor, that could be his last fight if Fedor jacked him up really bad.

Does anyone know what the top fighters are actually getting paid? I mean including bonuses and everything. Doesn’t seem like much. Kos only got 10K? What the F! HW champ only gets 250K? Ridiculous.

It was confirmed by Matt Hughes in an interview that some fighters (that’s plural) have made over $1,000,000 in a single fight. Chuck being one of them.

I have all the respect in the world for Captain America, but its not all about f****** money!!!!!

You’re right, to Randy it was about RESPECT. And he felt that the UFC was not showing him much, if any at all. Dana lied to his face saying that he is the 2nd highest paid fighter next to Chuck. He blatantly lied to his face. His “uphill battles with UFC management” also means that they were not respecting him like they should have. He’s Randy The Natural Couture. Give the man what he wants. Randy along with several other fighters built the UFC and made it what it is today. Randy and Chuck being the top 2. Randy, who brings in just as much money to the UFC as anyone, makes $250k for his title defenses. Meanwhile, Fedor who has never fought in the UFC so he never made the UFC a penny, was offered over $2 million, guaranteed. And rightfully so , Randy said that he wouldnt fight unless he got paid the same, or MORE since he is the champ. This is not a money issue. Randy has money. It is a RESPECT issue!

I wanna see Arlovski vs. Gonzaga. The winner gets a title shot after Vera/Sylvia vs. Kongo/Nog.

Good scenario… a good tourney would be perfect right now, and add some excitement to the heavys.

What is wrong with you people? Randy is not retiring… Randy has RESIGNED from the UFC. He has 9 months left on his current contract. He will wait that out and then take the fight with Fedor in M1.

He will probably make around 5 mil for that fight alone.

He is smart and the UFC has been exploiting him for a long time.

Fuck Dana…..

His contract does not expire in 9 months.

Sorry guys, but Randy got disrepsected and thats why he resigned. $250K and his opponent is offered up to $3mil? Not to mention Randy has been the multiple time champ, hes in the hall of fame ect ect. even with his losses, dude should be getting paid more or they should have offered Fedor less if you know what I mean. Besides, Randy is risking a hell of a lot more fighting Fedor than Fedor is risking fighting Randy. lol come on, the dude is 44 and if he fought Fedor, that could be his last fight if Fedor jacked him up really bad.

 ——Like I said before, Randy is not risking anything (other than the obvious: Health. But all fighters risk their health) by fighting Fedor. Either way he retires. A loss and he got beat by the “unbeatable” Fedor, A win and he beat the “unbeatable” Fedor. He looks like gold either way. I understand the anger of feeling he’s underpaid, but it all comes down to PPV buys and who draws the most. Like it or not, more people pay to see Chuck,Tito ect. They sell PPV’s. No knocking Randy for his body of work, but saying that the only guy who could possibly compete with him is Fedor? MMA is all about the individual matchups. Just because you beat ____, doesnt mean that next fight he wouldnt get knocked out. He doesnt want to risk getting beat on any terms but his own. Thats not the fighting spirit that endeared him to us in the first place, thats the actions of someone who wants the perfect win/win ending to his career. He couldnt get that so he quit.

Regrettably, business is business, and shit happens. Just seems like shit happens for MMA fans a lot recently.

this pretty much sucks because he has been so fun to watch this past year, but it makes sense for him…he is pretty old for mma and even though he was still fighting at a very high level it was probably killing him physically, plus with his recent success he has been able to build up a really nice fight camp of his own and has been really successful there too, i think the only fight that really did make sense for him was the fedor fight, that was the only fight where he still could have proved something, so if it wasn’t going to happen then now was a good time for him to go out, he’s on top and will always be the champ…congrats randy on a great career and i’m really happy you came back and did what you did these last two fights, you deserved that icing on your cake man, mad mad mad respect…

BRING ON AN OPEN WEIGHT TOURNY!GONZOGA,MINITAURO,VERA,SYLVIA,KONGO,ARLOVSKI,ETC.

HEY GORD, FEDOR DID NOT FACE TOUGHER OPPONENTS THAN RANDY.

MORE LIKE UNDERWEIGHT FIGHTERS THAT HE COULD DOMINATE!WITH THE RARE EXCEPTION LIKE MINATAURO.LOOK AT FEDOR’S LAST FIGHT FOR BODOG,AGAINST MATT LINDLIN WHO HAD TROUBLE GAINING WEIGHT.SURPRISE, HE’S A MIDDLEWEIGHT!

i like this idea. the one thing i think that pride had over the ufc was its gpx tournaments. this would cause alot of excitement.

I hope Mark Cuban bought the league and starts mixes it with HDnet fights. Here are a few names he could go after:
ninja rua
takanori gomi
nick diaz
matt lindland
robbie lawler
frank shamrock
ken shamrock
don frye
renso gracie
Chris Horodecki
Ben Rothwell
andre arlovski

Then anyone from the ufc with expiring contracts can move over also. Dana White is cheap and I feel like mark cuban will be good for MMA.

i want arlovski vs cro-cop (even though it wont happen cause CC is finished). and Gonzaga vs Frank Mir

Gonzaga vs Frank Mir would be a sick fight and it may be on the way. Both have very good BJJ

I hope Fedor has fun with M-1, and when he loses and his value turns to shit, i will serious laugh my ass off…Fedor messed up big time…mark my words

This is extremely frustrating as a fan, the only real thing that I look forward to seeing now in the UFC is the crowning of Matt Hughes as welterweight champion. But even that isn’t too exciting because he will retire in a year or so anyway.

I like seeing the ever changing landscape at 155 but if Sean Sherk is out, all I have to look forward to is top young guns like Stevenson, Florian, Fischer, Huerta, Guida, and Edgar picking each other off for the next 2-3 years.

Sure there are 5-7 light heavyweight prospects which should make for entertaining fights, but you have to blame the top management for this.

What can the Heavyweight crop of fighters do for us ? Not a heck of a lot. The only credible fighters I see are Nogueria and Arvlovski. And half of that combo is being snubbed by Dana since April 2007.

Herring is a mess, Sylvia is usually referred to me as bitch tits and looks nothing like a paid athlete, Vera has what like 2 UFC fights ? Kongo needs to spend a month with BJ Penn and work on his ground game to be a complete fighter. Thanks Dana !

And you still had nothing to say about your BS comments running down this site and the article being a hoax. I guess UFCMania was laughing their ass of at you. You actually had the balls to write something. You don’t have any credibility to give an opinion about squat.

I just cant see why Fedors management team doesn’t want him to prove hes the best in the world!!!!

Simple, they know he’s not the best. Sure many will doubt him for not fighting Randy, but if he were to fight him, he would lose and all would know he is not the best.

God, I’m going to get ripped a new asshole for this. But Randy as the best MMA fighter of ALL TIME? Great, yes. One of the GREATEST, yes. But he came to heavyweight after getting waxed twice by Chuck, and got a title shot off the bat. I don’t care who you are, you should have to beat some guys in that division before you get a championship fight. PLEASE DON’T GET ME WRONG, I LOVE WATCHING RANDY FIGHT AND HATE THIS NEWS AS MUCH AS ANYONE. Just not sure about this “greatest fighter of all time thing.”

When you see how few get by Sylvia and GG in the next couple of years, then you will understand just how good Randy is.

The fighters need to organize in some meaningful way. The fighters are what draws the viewers and more importantly the $$$, and whether they realize it or not the fighters hold great power over the future of the UFC. They should be setting the standards by which they are paid (at all tiers). This would really change how the UFC treats its talent.

Nobody cares about any other fight league except for the UFC. Bottom line- If your not fighting in the UFC you wish you were!!! UFC is and always will be on top of the MMA world. Take a hike Randy. UFC is the reason you are rich and famous. See if M1 will negotaiate with you. By the way, Randy is my all time favorite fighter. I can’t believe he would make such an uneducated decision. Good for you Dana, UFC did just fine without Randy for over a year and they will do just fine without him now.

Everybody wanted to see that fight. Randy vs Fedor.But Fedor is not the only fighter in the world.I believe fighting Fedor is not the only issue that makes Randy leave the ufc,there are some other things such as the amount of money that Fedor was offered that actually made not only Randy but other fighters mad. It is undeniable that Fedor is an outstanding fighter , but look at what happened to Mirko. Look at where he is now and He was as good as the russian one. Fighting in the ufc is different.

Sounds like Dana White beter start treating people a little better