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The rumors are starting to swirl around the MMA world that estranged UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture is getting ready to make his long anticipated return. Randy Couture left the UFC following his victory over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 after a contract dispute and the UFCʼs lack of ability to sign Fedor Emelianenko. After a long legal battle that saw Randy Couture and the UFC battle over Randy Coutureʼs contractual status, it all seems to be coming to an end.
Recently, many MMA sites have been reporting that Randy Couture may be signing a new three fight contract with the UFC that will see Randy Couture make his UFC return at UFC 91 in November against former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. With the return of Randy Couture possibly coming to fruition, here are three fights I believe Randy Couture must compete in upon returning to the UFC.
#1: UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture vs. UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
In a roundabout way, if Randy Couture never left the UFC, then Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira wouldnʼt have become the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. In another interesting note, both Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira both defeated the same fighter to win the respective titles in Tim Sylvia. Also, with very few exceptions in UFC history, whenever a there is a title holder and interim champion in the same division, they have always met in a unification fight. When the who legal issue arose between Randy Couture and the UFC, the UFC attempted the lure Randy Couture back to the octagon by having him fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
#2: UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture vs. UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva
With the UFC looking for new super fights to promote, it makes sense that there could be another potential champion versus champion fight between Randy Couture and Anderson Silva. There has already been talks of Anderson Silva changing weight classes to fight Georges St. Pierre and Chuck Liddell, so a heavyweight fight with Randy Couture isnʼt out of the question. Also, since both Randy Couture and Anderson Silva both have previously competed in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division, they have a common weight class in which to compete against each other in.
#3: UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture vs. WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko
A potential fight between Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko has been talked about even before Randy Couture had legal issues with the UFC. As I mentioned earlier in this column, the UFC not signing Fedor Emelianenko was one of the main reasons Randy Couture initially left the UFC. After Fedor Emelianenko destroyed former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia at Affliction: Banned, there was a face off and showings of respect between Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture mid-ring. It would truly be ironic that a fight that Affliction was basically hyping at their debut event would actually take place inside the octagon of the UFC?
Now, with Randy Couture possibly signing a three fight contract with the UFC, I mentioned the three fights Iʼd like to see Randy Couture compete in. However, there are a few more UFC fighters Iʼd like to see Randy Couture possibly fight like Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Fabricio Werdum, Bandon Vera and Chuck Liddell for a fourth time. We may be only three months away from possibly seeing the UFC return of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, but the list of possible fighters that could be standing across the octagon from Randy Couture will definitely start to grow.
You could contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
