MMAPredictions

No doubt you’ve been following - even if only passively - the public relations battle that has erupted between Randy Couture and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The issue pits the fighter who may have the most fan goodwill of any professional combat athlete against the UFC in a very public labor dispute that erupted after Couture faxed in his resignation to the UFC’s Las Vegas offices while shooting the film The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian in Africa.

Couture’s reasons on October 11 for parting with his employer, the largest and most recognized fight organization in mixed martial arts, included a perceived lack of appreciation for his efforts as reflected in his compensation, as well as wanting to fight Fedor Emelianenko, who had just recently announced he had not accepted the UFC’s offer to fight for them.

Fans have become intwined in the story in a way that no prior outside-the-cage drama has been able to do before. Upon returning to the United States from filming the film, Couture held a press conference in his gym in Las Vegas on the matter. Further, Randy Couture’s wife has even said her peace on the matter on the blog from Xtreme Couture. However the link to that story is no longer valid.

The UFC for its part denies any wrongdoing, disputes Couture’s legal footing for his resignation, and is busy countering Couture’s claims in the public. The UFC held its own unrelated-but-not-coincidental press conference at the same time as Couture’s press conference last week to divert media attention from Couture’s. Today, the UFC will be streaming its own press conference to explain its stance to the public at large at 4pm EST / 1pm PST on its own website.

As with any story in the media which encompasses consumer attention for a protracted period, interest in the saga dies with time and the actors involved continue spending whatever fan goodwill they had at the onset. This engagement does not show any signs of abating shortly so we may be in for quite a long ride before we find out Randy Couture’s status with the UFC.

- Caleb

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