Randy Couture isn’t a fan of where mixed martial arts is at as a sport.
The MMA legend is considered one of the best heavyweights of all time. A three-time UFC heavyweight champion who defied Father Time and competed against high-level opponents into his 40s, Couture earned his respect in the cage. But in its current state, he doesn’t approve of where the sport is at.
An old-school icon, Randy Couture believes the sport flourished more when the best would fight the best. Using boxing as his example, Couture hit out at promotions that prefer trash talk and characters as opposed to the best fighters in the world colliding with each other.
Likening the sport to WWE, Couture had this to say:
“It lends itself to the flaw in our sport. The fact that each one of these promotions has created their own little exclusive fiefdom, where they’re setting the rankings and the titles, and they have a stable of fighters that, if they’re on your good side, they’re going to get ranked and they’re going to get a shot at that title. And therein is the flaw in our sport.”
“Prize fighting is all about getting the two best fighters, regardless of what stable they’re in, to be able to compete against each other… Again, it lends itself to this kind of closed system that’s not true prize fighting. It’s more akin to WWE, and all about talking smack, than it is to traditional prize fighting, where the IBO guy is going to put his belt on the line against the WBO guy. And now let’s see who the real champ is that carries both those belts around now. That’s traditional prize fighting.”
Eh, boxing has a more “open” system and even then it is hard to make big fights happen because of politics and negotiation impasses.
WAMMA tried to have a linear champion system back in the 2000s, and even then it never took off with the non-UFC promotions. Co-promotion in general has been a struggle for most of the smaller shows when it comes to working together.
UFC has very little to gain from expanding outside of their supposed fiefdom. Let’s look at 205 as an example. Would UFC really care to promote Ulberg vs Corey Anderson? Does Jiri vs Antonio Carlos Jr excite anyone?
What tangible benefit would there be for the UFC to match up their light-heavyweights vs MVP MMA/PFL, which has a bunch of UFC washouts to begin with?
UFC sued the pants off Couture and forced his return. His relationship with UFC CEO Dana White continued to dissolve and Couture would eventually hit the bricks. Sadly, the Emelianenko fight was already long gone by then and fans were stuck wondering, “What If?”
Scott Coker is here to (possibly) answer that question.
The former Strikeforce head cheese assembled an all-star cast to launch Ki MMA in early 2027, with Emelianenko and Couture on hand at Monday’s press event in New York City. It appears “The Last Emperor” remains open to fighting Couture if “The Natural” is still on board.
“I keep training,” Emelianenko told MMA Junkie. “I keep training with my team. I’m coaching my team, so I keep training. Competition-wise, if it’s going to be a good offer, and it makes sense, why not (return)? I can compete still. I believe Randy would be much more interesting [than Lesnar] as a fighter. I’m ready if he’s ready.”
It’s true what they say about peace: it never lasts.
I doubt any commission would be willing to license Couture at age 63, which puts him roughly 13 years older than Emelianenko. Then again, Coker and Co. are expected to go to Japan at some point (thanks to this relationship) and well, anything goes in the “Land of the Rising Sun.”
I guess that’s one way to scratch “the itch.”
It was more like WWE during the peak of Ultimate Fighter in the 00s. That’s one reason why it was so big.
Fighting has always been a “business” even boxing . It was never just about getting the best fighters to fight.
You have to sell seats, exciting fighters sell more seats. It was never from the beginning of time a pure athletic endeavor.
Either Randy never understood prize fighting, or he’s just bitter and full of shit. Prize fighting is about asses in seats/eyes watching the product. Always has been, always will be.
I can’t take anyone who spreads their ass cheeks on camera seriously
There should be a way to not necessarily unify these titles but to find out whose the undisputed best. Like a NYE event where they all merge for one epic night of champ vs champs.
Boxing has a workaround but MMA cant seem to find a way.
wait, i thought he was just winking
Rizin has the Heavyweight GP going on and no one is covering it. I thought Ryan Bader or Corey Anderson would have been in on it but nope Ryo Sakai, King Edokpolo, Tsuyoshi Sudario, Mikio Ueda and the winner faces Alexander Soldatkin on NYE… Kinda sucks to be honest, AbemaTV can’t compete with SKY PerfecTV!. Not a trace of RizinFF or The GP on AbemaTV’s homepage.
When Dana decided to run with his BLAF moniker is when it became pro-wrestling. He so badly wanted to do an Attitude Era “Mr McMahon” character even down to “fighting” with employees.
Mores sour grapes from Randy. Yeah, the UFC chooses some matchups on hype. Usually due to a fighter being exciting. Boring as wrestlers who lay and pray have a longer road to the championship.
That’s not becoming the WWE, it’s simply being a for-profit business. This isn’t the fucking Olympics.
Coming from the champion who refused to fight #1 contenders for well over a year, but came back in a hurry when the 1-1 WWE guy became available to him 
Lesnar actually makes more sense. They’re the same age and Randy has been retired since fucking 2011. And he’s 63. Randy should not be fighting anyone anymore.