The weekend brought some good mixed martial arts action and some unexpected news from the UFC's most legendary Heavyweight fighter, Randy Couture. During an interview at the HDNet Fights event, Couture stated that his actual fight contract would expire in July of 2008 and his employment contract would expire in October of 2008. The video of the interview is here. Not only did this send the many of the MMA forums into a frenzy, but it sent many hardcore MMA fans who have wanted to see both of these fighters tangle into a giddy movement that was reminiscent of a sugar high.

The one question that should be asked, however, is whether or not that fight will actually happen. There are a number of questions that pop up into one's head when thinking about the overall situation that revolves around such a clash of two titans. The mess gets more complicated with the current state of both fighters as well. Here's a list of questions that we've batted around here for quite some time:

1. Does M-1 sign Couture for an one-fight deal and give him a shot at Fedor? Do they have the marketing and promoting capacity to make huge dollars off of an event that is a non-UFC event in the United States?
   
   
   
2. Does Dana White really let Randy Couture go out and produce one of the most intriguing matchup of the year? Does he allow M-1 to actually put that type of megafight on?
   
   
   
3. Can Randy really leave his contract after October?
   
   
   
4. Is there a chance that Dana White will co-promote with M-1 just to capitalize off of Randy Couture and Fedor?
   
   

All of these questions have extensive answers, but can be shortened with simple explanations. Wrapping your head around the whole situation in order to really determine who can make out the best on this sort of fight can be a serious drag on someone's afternoon. We'll take a stab at it anyways...

• Does M-1 sign Couture for an one-fight deal to produce Fedor vs. Couture in the U.S. market? Furthermore, do they have the marketing and promoting capacity to actually capitalize on the matchup?
  
  
  
  • M-1 signing Couture to their own contract is probably the most ideal and optimal plan for Randy and M-1. There are no attachments, a simple one-fight contract. He would most likely produce a good sized paycheck and a pay-per-view earnings deal, which is the most interesting concept of this fight. M-1 doesn't have a PPV provider yet. They are, however, getting HDNet Fights to show the Yarennoka event. Let's face it, nobody is going to buy the HDNet package just yet. People will buy a PPV card with enough big names on it and Fedor vs. Couture. Can they promote it enough to garner the types of numbers that the UFC has seen from the likes of Liddell or Ortiz?
    
    Probably not. Unless they can set up a masterful plan to promote a non-English speaking Russian who most people have not heard of in the casual MMA community, I doubt fans will flock to him. On the opposite side of the spectrum, however, does Randy Couture have that kind of popularity to attract viewers to a show of that stature? I don't think so. I think it would do better than BodogFIGHT's card with Lindland-Fedor because of Couture, but M-1 would have to show it's promotional and marketing techniques before we could really see what kind of numbers they can produce.
    
  
  
• Does Dana White really let Randy Couture go out and produce one of the most intriguing matchup of the year? Does he allow M-1 to actually put that type of megafight on?
  
  
  
  • Well... does he? Mulling over many ideas about this type of matchup led me to believe that this is a delicate and tough decision for two reasons. First, Dana White runs the risk of having a legend from the UFC in Randy Couture being completely decimated by the Russian. While highly unlikely that Couture just gets stomped inside a minute, it does present an interesting risk for White. The top UFC Heavyweight would fall to a Heavyweight outside of the organization.
    
    If this were to occur, it would lend credibility to M-1 for having the best heavyweight in the world in their ranks and possibly spark interest in the promotion since the fight would be produced by the UFC and give Fedor exposure to an American MMA audience. Does White want to risk that? On the other hand, if Couture wins, M-1 may lose some steam if their #1 fighter loses to an UFC fighter. Does White have the motivation to squelch other promotions by putting this fight on? It seems very unlikely that a situation like that would produce this type of fight in the UFC, but everything is on the table at this point. Regardless of the actual situation, the UFC would survive easily if Couture is beaten to a pulp. Couture isn't young, and he wasn't the most successful fighter in the cage. He is, however, one of the greatest fighters to overcome the odds.
    


• Can Randy really leave his contract after October?
  
  
  
  • This refers to the ongoing debate of the Zuffa contracts. Adam Swift reported awhile back in a Sherdog article he wrote about the language in some of the contracts. Specifically, if a fighter refuses to fight, the contract can be extended indefinitely. During his interview with HDNet Fights, Couture seemed very calm about the situation and optimistic about the wording of the contract. His tone, language, and nonchalance about the situation seemed to be a sign that Zuffa may very well be letting him leave after October. Unless Zuffa has a trick up their sleeve in renting Fedor for a superfight, it seems rather odd that they would just let him go.
    
    Although that would be the honorable thing to do in this instance, we are talking about the company that exiles athletes to the waiting list when their contract is one fight away from being over... ie. See Andrei Arlovski. From the interview, we can gather two possibilities. First, the UFC may have assured Couture that they may be trying to make a deal with Fedor and M-1 to bring him to the cage for one fight. Second, the UFC simply came to terms with what Randy's complaint was and decided to end his contract when the contract expires. Will we be surprised by a rental by the UFC? We'll see how White weighs the "pros" and "cons" himself.
    


• Is there a chance that Dana White will co-promote with M-1 just to capitalize off of Randy Couture and Fedor?
  
  
  
  • If you've been into the sport of MMA on more than a casual level, you know that Dana White never co-promotes with other promotions. Simple fact is, he does not want to acknowledge the presence of other organizations as being worthy. Why would he need to? The UFC makes the most profit, has the best stable of fighters in the world, and creates the best cards that money can buy. There are, however, two reasons I believe White must consider.
    
    First, the UFC could promote and market this fight better than anyone out there if they spent more money on marketing the event than they have in the past. Obviously, we are currently dealing with the Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva marketing blackout. The UFC would have to do 100x better than that. More money into the promotion and marketing could produce record numbers if they can create the unstoppable image that is Fedor Emelianenko and the tactical, old, crafty fighter that is Randy Couture. A Rocky-esque marketing and promotional scheme that could create a buzz that MMA deserves.
    
    Second, White has stated that he wants to produce the greatest matchups. Time and time again, he tells us that he produces the greatest matchups. Why not add some more logs to that fire? Solidify a spot in our memories as the man who brought us Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell and Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture. Wherever there is risk, there is reward. That's the phrase that probably runs through White's head when thinking about making this fight happen. The problem with that phrase in this case is that the UFC doesn't have a lot to risk. Couture is not going to be the champion if this fight happens. Fedor really can't claim to have beaten the best in the UFC because by that time, we could see somebody like Sylvia on top. If Nogueira happens to be there, then it's a different story altogether. Either way, I don't believe the UFC loses out on credibility in this case.
    

 Outside the box

Is it time for the UFC to think about moving some pieces around on their gigantic chess board that is the world of mixed martial arts and trying to produce one of the biggest clashes of two heavyweights in MMA history? That's the question that we all want to know. Should they do it? The fan in you screams a resounding "YES!". Even the reserved fan who simply just wants to see a great fight is excited, but when you think about this proposition in the context of being an owner of a promotion, it's a bit different.

The UFC doesn't need to acknowledge that other organizations, but in this case, it may be something they want to do. Of course, this is all assuming that M-1 doesn't just wait out Couture's expiration from his contract. M-1 may just wait out the contract, sign Couture, and try to dazzle us with a marketing campaign that will produce a big buy rate. It wouldn't be surprising if M-1 took a page out of the boxing promoting book and produced some sort of show to hype these two unbelievable fighters. Couture vs. Fedor could open opportunities that they didn't have before. With players who were in the entertainment industry for many years, who knows what M-1 can actually do when it comes to a superfight of this magnitude. So many possibilities, so many questions to be answered. It should be a fun ride of rumors for another 10 months.