Yesterday’s surprise story that Randy Couture is in negotiations with the UFC to make a return to the Octagon has seriously picked up. There is a report that Randy Couture is Negotiating a Return to the UFC in November to Fight Brock Lesnar with a contract that will cancel out his old one, pay him more money and set up a three big future fights. If all goes to plan and Couture defeats Lesnar, the next three opponents will be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (for a heavyweight championship unification bout), Fedor Emelianenko (if the UFC can get Fedor out of his American non-compete clause with Affliction) and finally Chuck Liddell (in what looks to be a retirement match for both fighters).
The matchups at this point are all speculation. MMA is chalk full of upsets and surprise results, so anything can happen during an elite fighter’s contract term and nobody really knows who will be the best matchup for Couture a year from now. Of course, Randy would have to win his fights as well, and with Father Time always a concern, a fight vs Lesnar is a scary proposition for the 44 year old. The real question is if the fight goes through in November (in Portland, where Couture resided for years and started the Sportfight promotion with Matt Lindland), will it be a title fight or a non-title fight. One would assume it would be for a title fight, but then the question remains, why does Brock get a shot, while Nogueira holds the Interm belt and has been waiting patiently to fight Couture.
If it is not a title shot, and simply a superfight, what if Brock wins? Is there a rematch for the belt? Does Noqueira get ousted out again? This story is picking up as we speak and I am awaiting a return call from Randy’s camp, Noguiera’s camp as well as Lesnar’s.
More news below….
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Japanese MMA News
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