Couture quits UFC
by Dave Meltzer
The Fight Network has just reported that Randy Couture has quit the promotion, vacating his heavyweight title and leaving his job as a color commentator.
Couture, who works for The Fight Network itself, so there is no way they are going to miss on this story, wrote a letter from South Africa where he's filming the Scorpion King movie, to Dana White.
http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=5085
Not getting a match with Fedor Emelianenko played a part in his decision. The decision was made when it became clear the match with Fedor wasn't happening.
It is known Couture was one of the top UFC fighters who was unhappy when reading about the huge money guaranteed in the company's offers to Emelianenko, because he felt he and a few others were the fighters who helped build the current popularity and they weren't getting guaranteed income for fights anywhere near that level, particularly since they were bigger drawing cards.
With the decline of Chuck Liddell, Couture was likely the company's biggest short-term drawing card, and without question, was its most popular fighter.
We will have more on this story later.
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