Randy Couture Talks Continue to Heat Up

According to multiple reliable sources, the UFC and Randy Couture are in the advanced stages of contract negotiations and a deal between the two may be announced soon.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the UFC and Couture are in negotiations for a new three-fight deal that would end the long-standing legal battle between the two sides.

Meltzer goes on to say that Couture's first opponent would likely be Brock Lesnar, and that the fight would be the main event of UFC 91, which will likely take place in Portland, Oregon.

Looking past Lesnar, the article mentions future possible opponents for Couture as: Fedor Emelianenko, Nogueira and Chuck Liddell.

Emelianenko?

According to MMA Rated, the UFC may be open to the possibility of co-promoting a Randy Couture / Fedor Emelianenko fight with M-1 Global. If you'll remember, the UFC was very cold to the idea of co-promoting a match with another organization, and this ended up being one of the major sticking points in the first round of negotiations with Fedor.

The only problem with this plan is that Fedor just recently inked a long-term deal with Affliction, so the long-awaited Fedor-Couture match will likely never happen. Sure, Fedor could jump to the UFC after his deal with Affliction expires, but let's not forget - Couture is in his mid-40s. He can't fight forever.

However, Couture/Lesnar, Couture/Nogueira and Couture/Liddell would be more than enough to keep UFC fans salivating.

With Lesnar's hype and the possible signing of Couture, the UFC heavyweight division has suddenly gone from near-irrelevance to the most talked-about division in the UFC.

I can't even imagine the buyrates for a Lesnar/Couture main event.

Let's just hope that a deal gets done.

Sources:

Bloodyelbow.com - Randy Couture is Negotiating a Return to the UFC in November to Fight Brock Lesnar

MMA Rated - Randy Couture on Verge of UFC Return

Fightline.com - Fedor Signs Long Term Deal with Affliction

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