MMA Fighting has learned that Couture and Lyoto Machida have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 129 on April 30 in Toronto.
However, another UFC source states that this fight has been discussed, but it's "not even close" to being finalized as of yet.
When asked by MMA FIghting at UFC 125 if the fight with Machida was a possibility, Couture stated that he had not signed a contract, but had verbally agreed to face Machida in 2011.
As of just a little over a month ago, it seemed Couture was leaning more towards an acting career than continuing his career in MMA, and two weeks ago an ambiguous Twitter post was quick to draw retirement speculations. But the UFC Hall of Famer, who began fighting in 1997 and 47 years of age, is already in the process of a cage return.
No longer in the title picture, Couture has found success in recent years in featured fights against Brandon Vera, Mark Coleman and James Toney. In his most recent Octagon appearance last August, Couture submitted boxing champion Toney with an arm-triangle choke at UFC 118. For the Machida fight, Couture will be back at light heavyweight.
After winning in his first 16 fights, Machida now finds himself in a two-fight losing streak. Machida lost his UFC light heavyweight title to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 113 last May and followed with a split decision loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 123 in November.
So while we will have to wait and see if this fight pans out, one thing is for certain: Couture's hasn't called it a career just yet.
Updated at 12:58 AM PT to include official response from the UFC on status of the fight.
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Randy Couture isn't retiring after all.
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