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[Ifightforaliving]

Last week Mark Cuban's HDNet Fights made headlines when it sued Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, in district court in Dallas. As first reported by Sherdog.com, the suit seeks declaratory relief concerning Randy Couture (Pictures)'s contractual status under a promotional contract with Zuffa.

New details of the action have been revealed in the complaint obtained by Sherdog.com. According to the filing, HDNet Fights has entered into a contract with Couture that is scheduled to commence upon the expiration of his Zuffa promotional agreement. At that time, the company plans to promote a fight between Couture and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) in Dallas, assuming terms can be reached with the highly regarded Russian heavyweight.

The existence of an actual contract between HDNet Fights and Couture is believed to be key to the company's action in Texas. Without it, it is unlikely that the court would find an actual controversy ripe for adjudication.

According to the filing, Couture has stated that he believes his Zuffa promotional contract expires with the stated term of the agreement in July, while Zuffa maintains that the contract remains valid indefinitely under the infamous "retirement clause." In the complaint, HDNet Fights characterized Zuffa's contention as "outrageous."

"Zuffa's position regarding Couture is both illegal and involves critical timing," the filing states. "First, like all fighters, Couture's ability to fight at a championship level will diminish as he ages. Through their actions, Zuffa seeks to ensure that Couture is prevented from gainful employment and practicing his craft until he cannot be an elite fighter. Importantly, the law in Texas is clear that indefinite employment restrictions such as Zuffa claims to be enforcing are per se illegal and against public policy."

Both sides agree that the one-year non-compete provision contained in Couture's employment contract with the UFC expires on Oct. 12, meaning that even with a favorable outcome concerning the term of Couture's promotional contract, the earliest Couture-Fedor could take place would be in the fall.

The complaint also recognizes Zuffa as the undisputed market leader in the MMA industry.

"A key technique utilized by Zuffa to maintain their iron grip on the MMA industry is litigation and intimidation," the complaint reads. "Just a cursory review of court dockets in Nevada demonstrate the remarkably litigious nature of Zuffa and their willingness to tie their opponents down with expensive and lengthy court battles regardless of merits."

In a nod to pending litigation in Nevada, where Zuffa has sued Couture and as yet unnamed defendants for, among other things, conspiracy to commit tortous acts, the complaint notes that "HDNet did not want or intend in any way for such an agreement to induce or cause Couture to breach his UFC Fight Contract or any other agreement(s) he might have with Zuffa and/or UFC or to interfere with any valid contract that Couture might have."

Accordingly, HDNet Fights' contract with Couture will only become effective upon a declaration by the court that Zuffa's promotional agreement is void, invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, or upon a declaration of the effective date on which Couture's contract with HDNet Fights may begin without violating any provisions of his contract with Zuffa.

[The Deftone]

Well not exactly signing with them..... Zuffa will not allow this to happen without a fight, I dont know if HDnet can get this fight to happen. Of course I hope it happens but I geuss we will have to wait and see...

[Ifightforaliving]

I think Cuban has the $$$ to make it happen he has stated that he is willing to pay to get Randy out of the UFC. I think Cuban is to hard headed to let Dana White win anything against him should be one hell of a battle.

[Clint]

This is more potential evidence that the UFC can use to claim that Randy is in collusion with other companies who wish to harm the UFC. So this will either work for Cuban or backfire, I don't see much middle ground working out for this one.

[slikguy]

cuban has twice the amount of legal council then the UFC.

He will win.

if not, he'll buy UFC

[Jon-E-Law]

Source? I want to see the pics


edit: does anyone want to buy some of cubans stock? we can sell it right before randys fight and we will bank.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by Jon-E-Law

Source? I want to see the pics

I would imagine sherdog. Anytime it always says (pictures) next to a fighters name it's a sherdog article.

Originally Posted by slikguy

cuban has twice the amount of legal council then the UFC.

He will win.

if not, he'll buy UFC

Cuban didn't become a billionaire by being dumb. If this get's too expensive he will cut and run. He's banking on Randy-Fedor alot since he will still have to pay both guys plus all of these legal fees.

[Ramma]

Originally Posted by Clint

I would imagine sherdog. Anytime it always says (pictures) next to a fighters name it's a sherdog article.

It also says Sherdog.com in the article, but yes when it says (pictures), that means Sherdog.



Once we start letting Sherdog articles go, next thing you know, it is MMAWeekly, Fighthype, etc.. Please add the link

[jcmichaels42]

I'm starting to think that by the time Cuban is done paying Couture, Fedor, and buying out Randy's UFC contract, that it might not even be worth it to put on this fight. I mean realistically, aside from hardcore MMA fans who else is going to buy this fight?

The majority of the newer "UFC" fans aren't going to care about Randy Couture because they haven't seen him or heard of him in months. And same goes for Fedor....aside from people that have been watching Pride for years, who really has an urge to see this guy fight?

Then on top of that, there are a lot of hardcore fans that have soured on Randy for this whole contract dispute and have soured on Fedor due to his lack of fighting quality opponents. I say this fight doesn't make as much money as Cuban thinks and most of us end up watching it on the internet for free....

[Clint]

Originally Posted by jcmichaels42

I'm starting to think that by the time Cuban is done paying Couture, Fedor, and buying out Randy's UFC contract, that it might not even be worth it to put on this fight. I mean realistically, aside from hardcore MMA fans who else is going to buy this fight?

The majority of the newer "UFC" fans aren't going to care about Randy Couture because they haven't seen him or heard of him in months. And same goes for Fedor....aside from people that have been watching Pride for years, who really has an urge to see this guy fight?

Then on top of that, there are a lot of hardcore fans that have soured on Randy for this whole contract dispute and have soured on Fedor due to his lack of fighting quality opponents. I say this fight doesn't make as much money as Cuban thinks and most of us end up watching it on the internet for free....

This is what I am thinking. Fedor is gonna cost $2miilion minumum, Randy will be another $1Million, Lawyer fees and buying out the contract could go to $1million pretty easily

The $4million (minimum it could be closer to 5/6 for all we know) for Randy and Fedor would require 200,000 PPV buys if he does it on PPV. If he does it on HDnet then there is no way in hell he can make that kind of money in sponsors considering HDnets doesn't have that many subscribers compared to cable.