Well, this is weird. We've been hearing for ages that the top heavyweights in mixed martial arts, Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko, won't fight each other in UFC because they think UFC rips off its fighters, and that they can't fight each other elsewhere because Couture's contract with UFC won't allow it.But now ESPN the Magazine reports that a Couture-Emelianenko fight, under the UFC banner, is a real possibility.
According to the report, Emelianenko is about to get out of his M-1 Global contract, and, in the words of his manager, "Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent." UFC President Dana White responded to that news by saying he would try to sign Emelianenko, "Absolutely, 100 percent, in a heartbeat. ... People think he's the best -- I don't, not even close. But if it's somehow possible, I would make it happen."
And that, according to ESPN the Magazine, means a Couture-Emelianenko fight could happen in UFC. But there's just one problem not addressed in ESPN the Magazine's report: Mark Cuban. Although Couture's contract with UFC has prevented Cuban from signing him as a fighter, the two do have a deal in place that has included Couture appearing in a non-fighting role on Cuban's HDNet, and everyone assumes that as soon as Couture is free of UFC, he'll fight for Cuban. I can't imagine that Cuban would just sit by and watch as Couture re-joins UFC and takes the biggest fight of the year out from underneath him.
Ultimately, a Cuban-White fight in the courtroom is going to precede any Couture-Emelianenko fight in the cage.
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