UFCs Zuffa files lawsuit against Randy Couture in Las Vegas courtroom

It's time to get down and dirty.

Zuffa -- the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) -- has filed a lawsuit against its heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, for irreparable damage, breach of contract and numerous other "torts," according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Here's a snip:

"The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $10,000 and states that the amount of both compensatory and punitive damages would be proven at trial. It also seeks an injunction restraining Couture from participating in any way in any promotion competing against the UFC."

This latest salvo comes on the heels of a flurry of recent statements from "The Natural" that his contract obligations expire when his deal is up later this year (October). However, the UFC contends that he is bound to the agreement until he satisfies the two fights remaining on his contract.

Couture abandoned his position atop the heavyweight division and "resigned" when it became clear he could not fight Fedor Emelianenko and there was some disagreement in terms of his compensation.

For the entire ball of wax feel free to hit up our Randy Couture archive right here -- there's more than enough content there to keep you busy.

UFC President Dana White -- who has demonstrated a great deal of restraint throughout this entire soap opera (more than likely for legal reasons and because of his friendship with Couture) -- of course commented on the latest actions.

Here's a snip:

"What's really tough for me, to be honest, is we have been friends for a very long time. The hard part is that he is not living up to his obligations. Captain America is not keeping his word..... I expect Randy to honor the obligations in his contract that he signed (a year ago). I tried to resolve it by talking to this guy that I've had a relationship with for eight years and was unsuccessful. Now this thing's in the hands of the justice system."

As expected, this situation is getting messier by the minute. In fact, the lawsuit could even effect the participation of his XTreme Couture fight camp in the upcoming International Fight League (IFL) season.

Put simply, things don't look to snappy right now for Couture.

We'll wait to hear his response to the lawsuit, which was unavailable at press time. Stay tuned for more details.