ZUFFA FILES SUIT AGAINST UFC CHAMP COUTURE

[Dilaudid]

Lawyers for Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, filed a lawsuit was filed on Monday in Clark County, Nev. against current UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture for his comments made publicly against the company and also for allegedly breaching his contract with the UFC, as first reported by Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The saga between Couture and the UFC reaches back to October 2007 when Couture resigned from the organization, in all capacities, amidst an array of reasons given for his departure.

Monday’s lawsuit is the latest move in this ever-evolving chess match between the organization and its recognized heavyweight champion.

"We are alleging numerous intentional torts, which have caused Zuffa and the UFC significant harm," said Donald J. Campbell, attorney for Zuffa, as stated to the Las Vegas Review Journal. "Based upon that harm we are seeking to address these matters before a court of law."

Multiple news conferences have been held by Couture and the UFC, battling over money that was paid, signing bonuses, and other compensatory matters.

Now, it appears that a judge will help to settle some of the disputes held between the UFC and its former employee, who is still under contract to the organization.

The lawsuit states that Couture’s comments about the company have caused “injurious falsehood and trade disparagement,” which in turn cost them significant money, while also alleging that Couture along with several unnamed participants conspired to do significant harm to the organization.

The heavyweight champ is also named in the lawsuit for breach of contract because of a stipulation that prevents him from engaging in anything that is in “direct or indirect competition” to the UFC for a period of 12 months following the expiration of his current deal with the promotion.

The article from the Las Vegas Review Journal also references the upcoming appearance by Couture’s Xtreme Couture team, which will compete for the International Fight League on Feb. 29 in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena, as a direct violation of the non-compete portion of Couture’s contract.

UFC president Dana White recently announced that Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will compete for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 81 on Feb. 2 in Las Vegas.

In an exclusive interview recently with MMAWeekly.com, White addressed Couture’s status as heavyweight champion, saying, “This is in the hands of the lawyers now. We gave him a half-million-dollar signing bonus to fight four fights for us. I think the honorable thing for him to do is to honor his contract and fight the winner of Nogueira and Sylvia.”

At the same time, White seemed resigned to the fact that it won’t be as simple as asking Couture to fight. “This thing shocked me, came out of nowhere. I never expected this. I tried to talk to Randy, tried to work this thing out. It’s in the lawyers hands now.”

MMAWeekly.com spoke to representatives at Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture facility in Las Vegas, but they declined to comment on the lawsuit at this time.

[Bionic Bill]

I'm a big fan of Randy!

I'm interested in seeing how this turns out....I really don't care organization he fights for but I would really like to see him back in an octagon soon.

LB

[Dilaudid]

Yeah I just want to see him fight too..don't care what org. either just
want to see him fight Fedor...

Oh yeah.. showin replays tonight.. Hamill so won that fight over Bisping

hey this sat.... The prodigy returns..... oh yeah....
stating he is in the best shape ever... he better be considering Stevenson is usually in top form..

also read GSP talkn about holding a belt in 3 different weight classes. ww, mw & lhw
he better pack on some weight if he expects to compete against the light heavyweights..

I remember when BJ who is now going to fight at what 160lb ..
fighting Machida at 205lb

[DaPit26]

Dana fucked up awhile ago with Randy. Oh we gave him $500,000 per fight (which were 2 of the best fights I've seen in the past year and half) but Liddell makes a mill for losing pathetically to Page?! I'd be pissed too if I was making Dana the money randy does and doesn't even hit a mill! I'd like to see him go to M1 or sports fight again. He was already set to fight Nog awhile back but now they're yanking his chain with nog vs. silvia. Nog will destroy him!

[Dilaudid]

"It's out of my hands," White said. "He's got a half million of my money. He can fight. He can fight if he wants to. We'll keep it (an interim title) forever. Believe me, we'll hold on forever."

Dana White

Destroy..... nah..... Dont think anyone will DESTROY Randy...
you make bad predictions...

Big Nog is good but he will never fight Randy.. Randy is all but gone from the UFC....

He will show up over at M1 probably sometime in jul-sept....

In other Couture-related news, his wife, Kim, revealed on HDNet's "Inside MMA" this week that she is scheduled to make her amateur MMA debut on February 23. Her first fight will take place during a "smoker" at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas against a female fighter from Vancouver.

A "smoker" is an in-house fight card hosted by a school for the purpose of allowing fighters to gain experience before they start accepting fights outside of the school. In most cases, fights usually occur between fellow students at the school and utilize amateur-style rules and having padding.

It's unclear whether Kim Couture has aspirations of fighting pro

[Dilaudid]

They should of just let Randy somehow relinquish his belt... n fight Fedor in a non-title fight... Fedor gets his one fight deal... Randy gets his dream n then gets to retire.... and UFC/Zuffa/Dana/Fertitta Bros.. make the most money ever on PPV...
everybody would be happy then..... they all would make in the millions for that one fight....just pay each a mil n ppv percentages.... everybody would still come out on top..

But nope.... somebody screwed it up.... n Fedor is never coming to the UFC..