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[Warchief]

When Randy Couture walked to the cage behind Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Pyle last Friday, he may have thrown more gas on a legal fire that flared up last month.

Couture cornered Pyle, a welterweight in the inner circle of his Las Vegas gym, for “Destiny,” a promotion of Canada’s Hardcore Championship Fighting. According to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, that’s one of the places he crossed the line.

Amongst other charges, a lawsuit filed against Couture on Jan. 11 accuses him of breaching a series of clauses in his employment contract. By supporting Pyle, he was violating an agreement that prevented him from “promoting or producing events or programming related to unarmed combat, developing products or services related to unarmed combat, or otherwise conducting any business relating to unarmed combat.”

“It’s unfortunate that things have kind of degraded to that point,” Couture told MMAWeekly.com backstage at the Calgary, Alberta, Canada show.

The suit seeks damages “in excess of $10,000” for these infractions, but if the proceeding drags out in court, lawyers will ultimately win in Couture’s battle with Zuffa, LLC.

“I’m sure that’s part of their ploy, to force me to spend enough money that I’ll have to come back and fight for them, which isn’t the case,” Couture said as throngs of fans and officials clamored for his photo.

Couture signed his contract with Zuffa in Las Vegas on or around Dec. 11, 2006 and resigned from the promotion on Oct. 11 of last year. He’s repeatedly stated that he believes the fight contract is up in July, and may use local government to bolster his case.

“I’ve got a very good team of lawyers. I think we’ll basically have to get a declaration from the state of Nevada on what they interpret the contract as, but the way I see it, the contract is up in July,” he said.

Zuffa also alleges that Couture’s statements on HDNet’s Dec. 15 broadcast of “Reckless” were in breach of his contract, and meant to “maximize the harm inflicted” on the company. Not surprisingly, Couture disagrees.

“They didn’t force me to breach of contract in any way,” he said. “I simply stated the position I’m in as far as fighting, which is to wait my fight contract out, find a way to make the Fedor fight happen myself.”

Meanwhile, Couture said the UFC has tried to retaliate against him and his fighters.

“Like trying to ban my clothing line, and things like that that don’t really hurt me, they just hurt the athletes that we sponsor,” Couture said. “We sponsor some 35 athletes with that clothing line, and give back to the sport in every way we can. We’re already in Nordstrom’s and Macy’s and all the big outlets, so it just takes away from money that the athletes are getting from their sponsorships. It’s kind of stupid.”

No court date has been set for the proceeding, but Couture will soon have to commute by phone with his legal team. In April, he begins principal photography for his next film project, “Mandrake,” in China.

“I’m not worried about clearing my name, I haven’t done anything wrong,” he stated. “I’m simply wanting to pursue the profession that I’m in, which is fighting. And they’re trying to prevent me from doing that, so you tell me who’s wrong or right?”

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...sp?a=5641&z=13

[twankydawg]

Originally Posted by Randy Couture

“I’m not worried about clearing my name, I haven’t done anything wrong,” he stated. “I’m simply wanting to pursue the profession that I’m in, which is fighting. And they’re trying to prevent me from doing that, so you tell me who’s wrong or right?”

You're wrong Randy, you signed a fucking contract you numbskull, and now you're trying to back out of it. You got knocked the fuck out twice by Chuck Liddell and they gave you an immediate title shot after coming out of retirement, you need to fucking man up and fight Nog, then you're argument about fighting Fedor might hold some weight if you win that fight.

[Clint]

Randy talks alot and says very little. While I agree that him cornering fighters should be allowed, look at some of his other statements:

“It’s unfortunate that things have kind of degraded to that point,” Couture told MMAWeekly.com backstage at the Calgary, Alberta, Canada show.

Says the man who resigned by fax and then held press conference to talk about how the UFC didn't pay him enough.

“I’m simply wanting to pursue the profession that I’m in, which is fighting. And they’re trying to prevent me from doing that, so you tell me who’s wrong or right?”

Again this is incorrect. The UFC is giving him many opportunities to pursue his profession in fighting. However he can't be bothered to fight lowly fighters like Big Nog (nevermind the fact that big nog is higher ranked than Couture) he only wants Fedor

[Warchief]

Originally Posted by twankydawg

You're wrong Randy, you signed a fucking contract you numbskull, and now you're trying to back out of it. You got knocked the fuck out twice by Chuck Liddell and they gave you an immediate title shot after coming out of retirement, you need to fucking man up and fight Nog, then you're argument about fighting Fedor might hold some weight if you win that fight.

Exactly lol...after fighting for many years and taking a lot of hard punches, i think Randy is already suffering from Amnesia or Brain Trauma.

[twankydawg]

Originally Posted by Clint

Randy talks alot and says very little. While I agree that him cornering fighters should be allowed, look at some of his other statements:

Says the man who resigned by fax and then held press conference to talk about how the UFC didn't pay him enough.

Again this is incorrect. The UFC is giving him many opportunities to pursue his profession in fighting. However he can't be bothered to fight lowly fighters like Big Nog (nevermind the fact that big nog is higher ranked than Couture) he only wants Fedor

Agreed Clint, I think Randy is delusional here, and until he fights and beats Big Nog, he has no right to say Fedor is the only fight left for him, especially after Nog just finished the guy that was injured when they fought and took Randy 5 rounds.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by twankydawg

Agreed Clint, I think Randy is delusional here, and until he fights and beats Big Nog, he has no right to say Fedor is the only fight left for him, especially after Nog just finished the guy that was injured when they fought and took Randy 5 rounds.

Yeah I can't help but think that Randy would have much more fan support and probably a better legal case had he not said a word to the media about all of this.

[rivethead]

I end up doing a lot of mediations at work, and they really suck when you get one party that just can't budge from their world-view, and refuses to even entertain a notion that they might be wrong.

In this case, both parties are like that, although I think Zuffa has recently had more deft media manipulation.

Every time Randy opens his mouth, I lose more respect for him.

rh

[b0sH]

Randy's star at the top of the pile is fading fast. I loved watching the guy fight I really do but this is just sending out the wrong message.

He signed a contract and was given something that no1 not even fighters like CroCop had been given in an immediate title shot. He took advantage of that and now wants to use all that media power and hype to push himself for a fight vs Fedor. Like fuck you will, the UFC put a lot of that together and Randy wouldnt have half the drawing power had they not thrown him straight into a title shot when they did.

Honour the contract you signed and benefited from.

[Jza]

I must say though that have none of you ever wanted out of your contract? And have none of you ever had a better offer elsewhere? I mean when this happens what do you normally end up doing? You resign from the company wait out the time you have to and then join the company with a better offer.

Now ok we're talking far higher money here but what is the difference really?

And with all that said I still don't agree that it is right nor do I really care for seeing either of the two fight each other, heavyweights very rarely interest me anyway.

[Moriason]

Originally Posted by Jza

I must say though that have none of you ever wanted out of your contract? And have none of you ever had a better offer elsewhere? I mean when this happens what do you normally end up doing? You resign from the company wait out the time you have to and then join the company with a better offer.

None of us have ever signed a contract with Zuffa either.

As we now know, these are not easy contracts to walk out of.




Randy just needs to fight Nog and get it over with. This is not the way you want to end your legacy, court battles and grievances.