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Dana White: 'I'm happy I don't have to be in business' with Randy Couture

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White: 'I'm happy I don't have to be in business' with Randy Couture
By dann@mmajunkie.com (Steven Marrocco and John Morgan)

LAS VEGAS – Some MMA observers may have misread Dana White's reaction to Randy Couture's new deal with the Viacom-owned Spike.

White's tweet of "I love it" wasn't the pleasant bon voyage it seemed.

Rather, it was an expression of relief at never having to do business with the UFC Hall of Famer again, according to the UFC president.

"Randy Couture comes off as the greatest guy in the world – Captain America," White said. "He's the furthest thing from it, and I'm happy that I don't have to be in business with him anymore. Now I don't ever have to be in business with him again."

Such a venomous comment might come as a surprise to newer fans, who have seen Couture serve as an on-air analyst in the first five UFC events broadcast on FOX, or as deja vu for those who witnessed the fallout from a contract dispute between the fighter and promoter six years ago.

White, though, said it was a long time coming.

"Not for a lot of people that know him it won't be," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "(For) 99.9 percent of the people, that won't be shocking at all. People that really know him, not people that watch him on TV."

In 2007, Couture resigned from the UFC, citing discontent with the promotion's management and a desire to fight Fedor Emelianenko.

The dispute found its way into court, where Couture sued to free himself from a promotional contract and UFC parent Zuffa did the same to block him from signing with rival promotions.

It was there White claims his opinion was set.

"I would say when that whole lawsuit went down, when he lied about his numbers and lied about a lot of things, went into court and it didn't work out for him, I say that's when I really got to know him," he said. "And when that whole thing went down, I was the guy he was attacking.

"It's easy if you look at me and the way that I am in public, it's easy to say, 'Oh, this is the guy we can attack and make me look good.' Of course, everybody's going to side with Randy.

"This guy that he's playing out to be this horrible human being, there were a lot of things that happened in there, but the nail in the coffin was, if I'm this horrible, despicable human being that he speaks about... when he was in town... him and his wife were in town when he had just had a brand new baby, they're down in Las Vegas filming 'The Ultimate Fighter' – would you drop your baby off at that guy's house to watch your brand new baby, and leave him there overnight and come pick him up the next day?"

Couture's rep, Sam Spira, declined comment on the matter.

News of Couture's deal with Spike reportedly incensed White, according to a report from Sports Illustrated, which first confirmed the fighter's deal with the Viacom-channel.

As part of the deal, which was also confirmed by MMAjunkie.com, Couture will serve as a coach on the first season of Bellator's forthcoming reality show, which begins filming next month, and a variety of other projects for Spike TV.

Since retiring from MMA after a loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, Couture has focused on acting projects. This past summer, he reprised his role in the sequel to the action flick "The Expendables," and had a role in the 2011 feature "The Setup."

Couture's image has been a sore spot with the Zuffa-owned UFC earlier in his career. A spat over likeness rights led the promotion to exclude him from an advertising campaign touting its new ownership.

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/0...-randy-couture

Dana sure didn't have an issue when Zuffa was promoting him heavily and they were mutually making shitloads of cash together (he sure as hell was captain america then, right?). But that era has been over for a long time, randy got old, fought longer than practically anybody at the top tier of competition, and had to stop.

What was Randy supposed to do? Without having behind the scenes details, is Randy obligated to stay unemployed forever? Does it make him a bad person because he took a job with a rival company?

Dana is also notoriously fickle and I suspect if Randy were to terminate the bellator agreement tonight and take any job at all under the Zuffa umbrella Dana would be licking his nuts again. It's almost like's he's pissed that Randy is both a competent fighter AND a capable businessman just like Dana. Boohoo.

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Originally Posted by HexRei (Post 1754417)

that's just Dana's nature. They faced off against each other in court, of course both of them are going to be bitter.

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Originally Posted by HexRei (Post 1754417)

Yeah, after Danas rant against Bellator and Viacaom and spike, he was never gona let randy away with joining them without some pop or other. To talk such smack and just go back to that court case which he supposedly forgave him for is a bit of a joke. IF there was actually something solid there it might have been worth reading. Randy like Tito fought for higher pay from the billion dollar company he helped get established, and like Tito Dana didn't like anyone trying to get more money and ridiculed them for it. Just part of the game I suppose.

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Originally Posted by HexRei (Post 1754417)

Randy's doing movies and sometimes does fox broadcasts in case you haven't seen for the UFC and he also took them to court so I would say dana's right here, not saying dana doesn't turn when you're gone but randy is a pain in the ass

I bet the feeling is mutual.

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Originally Posted by HexRei (Post 1754417)

And you don't think that huge promotion, the fact that Randy got the most undeserved title shots and big fights in the history of the sport, the fact that Randy was treated like a king and made an active HOF after he pulled TWO shady moves that almost no one would've gotten away with, the fact that he was giving guys like Mark Coleman and Toney to take easy wins while he was well past his prime so he could make huge paydays, and all the things that the UFC did for Randy. You don't think this warrants any sort of basic loyalty? You think Randy couldn't have gotten a job with the UFC had he wanted one?

Randy is just greedy. Randy really never had to earn a lot in the UFC. He was always giftwrapped title shots and big fights. He loses the HW title, he gets a UFC LHW shot RIGHT away, loses that, fights one fight against a can, gets another shot. Loses that, gets a HW title fight RIGHT after that,

The UFC definitely cannot be accused of mistreating Randy. The other way around not so much.

This is the same guy who retired while having fights on his contract and then sued the UFC because he wanted to breach his contract and fight in BoDog or whatever(this is the same time where we learned about the PPV revenue percentage in his contract which was unthought of in the sport previously). UFC swallows the pill and probably gives him more money. He then signs with EA MMA after Dana said no one in that would be apart of the UFC, and still hasn’t been in a UFC game to date. Guys like Fitch got cut because they wouldnt sign their likeness over, and the UFC put him in the Hall of Fame while he was still active in spite of him doing this.

This is probably just the last straw for Dana. And I don’t know both sides of the story but Randy has gotten away with a lot and been given a lot of opportunities that almost no one else has gotten…so I can see Dana’s frustration.

Can't say I blame him but he's not a great guy. He's disloyal to his employers, he's disloyal to his wives(he's divorced three times now mostly due to infidelity) and Dana is exactly right about him. His public perception is really nothing like his true personality.

Jon Jones is probably a more likable guy than he is.

Randy to me is nothing more than a passive-aggressive Rampage that knows how to work over people and put on facades.

If Dana disliked Randy so much why did he buy him a new tooth after Machida kicked it out of him?

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Originally Posted by Roflcopter (Post 1756297)

I can't really think of any time where the UFC didn't treat Randy like a king, so from my perspective I'd actually have to side with Dana here.

Not to say that I blame Randy for chasing the money but the dude is the furthest thing from loyal and borderlines on greedy.

But that wouldn't make him any different than any other rich asshole.

And you don't think that huge promotion, the fact that Randy got the most undeserved title shots and big fights in the history of the sport, the fact that Randy was treated like a king and made an active HOF after he pulled TWO shady moves that almost no one would've gotten away with, the fact that he was giving guys like Mark Coleman and Toney to take easy wins while he was well past his prime so he could make huge paydays, and all the things that the UFC did for Randy. You don't think this warrants any sort of basic loyalty? You think Randy couldn't have gotten a job with the UFC had he wanted one?

Randy is just greedy. Randy really never had to earn a lot in the UFC. He was always giftwrapped title shots and big fights. He loses the HW title, he gets a UFC LHW shot RIGHT away, loses that, fights one fight against a can, gets another shot. Loses that, gets a HW title fight RIGHT after that,

The UFC definitely cannot be accused of mistreating Randy. The other way around not so much.

This is the same guy who retired while having fights on his contract and then sued the UFC because he wanted to breach his contract and fight in BoDog or whatever(this is the same time where we learned about the PPV revenue percentage in his contract which was unthought of in the sport previously). UFC swallows the pill and probably gives him more money. He then signs with EA MMA after Dana said no one in that would be apart of the UFC, and still hasn’t been in a UFC game to date. Guys like Fitch got cut because they wouldnt sign their likeness over, and the UFC put him in the Hall of Fame while he was still active in spite of him doing this.

This is probably just the last straw for Dana. And I don’t know both sides of the story but Randy has gotten away with a lot and been given a lot of opportunities that almost no one else has gotten…so I can see Dana’s frustration.

Can't say I blame him but he's not a great guy. He's disloyal to his employers, he's disloyal to his wives(he's divorced three times now mostly due to infidelity) and Dana is exactly right about him. His public perception is really nothing like his true personality.

Jon Jones is probably a more likable guy than he is.

Randy to me is nothing more than a passive-aggressive Rampage that knows how to work over people and put on facades.

You've gotta be joking. Dana didn't do any of those things out of the goodness of his heart. He cares about the bottomline for his business, that's it, and he has made massive amounts of money off the business relationship he had with Randy. Dana's loyalty extends as far as the black ink on his ledgers and the signatures on his contracts. He's mad because he hates competition and the idea of anyone promoting competitors. That's nothing but cold hard business logic. Why on earth should Randy be expected to act any differently?

And I don't really think personal lives should be a factor here, especially when Dana's own mother has made it clear that she thinks he's a scumbag at heart.

Dana is obviously a little baby about things and always wants things his way. He is a powerful man who is used to most things going in his favor.

That said, on the outside looking in it seems like a dick move by Randy. After the UFC gave Couture fights like Toney and Mark Coleman. And gimmie title fights left and right.

Would be one thing if Randy wanted to fight still and could only find fights other places. But he is resorting to coaching on a show that will get small ratings? In a company he has never been associated with? "here's Randy Couture, long time staple with the UFC ready to coach you Bellator fighters" Seems odd. I doubt Randy is getting paid that great for a coaching gig on a smaller promotion. Maybe they made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Seems like he is just sticking it to Dana though.