MMAPredictions

In October 2007, the charismatic UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture announced that he would be resigning from the UFC because it was unable to sign a fighter whom he wished to face in competition, the Russian Fedor Emelianenko, and because of a perceived unwillingness on the UFC’s part to compensate him what Couture believed he was worth to the organization. In further conversations Couture elaborated that he was not paid a bonus check that he was promised.

The UFC immediately fired back and countered Couture’s claims by holding a press conference where a cashed check was displayed that UFC president Dana White stated was, in fact, the bonus check that Couture claims to never have been paid.

Since that time the two sides have been at an impasse, with Couture stating that he will wait out the remainder of his contractual obligation to the UFC and neither fight nor serve as a fight commentator for the promotion. The UFC, meanwhile, has stated that it would not accept Couture’s resignation on the basis that he is still contractually obligated to work for them. Despite moments where there may have been a chance of reconciliation between the two sides, it was widely believed that the standoff would end up in court. That does indeed appear to be the direction things are taking as the UFC filed a lawsuit against Couture this week.

In a copy of the lawsuit obtained by MMAPredictions.com that was filed in the Clark County District Court on January 14th 2008, there are four complaints against Randy Couture and as-yet-unnamed competitors, whom are believed to reside in or conduct business in Nevada, according to the suit. I have copied portions of each complaint so you get the idea behind each of them.

1. Conspiracy
   

   [Couture]… together with his agents and co-conspirators, conducted a series of press conferences and interviews, as well as certain surreptitious conversations with third parties, wherein Couture displayed and otherwise uttered numerous injurious falsehoods which he maliciously intended to, and which in fact did, cause inestimable harm to Zuffa and the business operations of the UFC. Defendant Couture knew these statements to be false and likely result in pecuniary and other harm to Plaintiff Zuffa, but not limited to, discouraging others from engaging in commercial activities with Plaintiffs.

   Defendants… sought to maximize the harm inflicted upon Plaintiffs by arranging to broadcast Couture’s remarks live on HD Net TV and later rebroadcast them during an MMA event presented by a UFC competitor.

2. Injurious Falsehood and Trade Disparagement
   

   Included amonth the many injurious falsehoods and disparaging comments made by Defendants were the following:

   • That Zuffa’s principals, Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White, had lied to Couture
   • That Zuffa paid bonuses to fighters which were “off the books”
   • That Zuffa did not pay Couture a signing bonus
   • That Zuffa and its management treated Couture and other professional athletes similarly situated in a disrespectful, shabby, and unprofessional manner

   Defendants statements were made and published with an intent to harm the commercial interests of Zuffa and otherwise negatively impact its commercial activities.

3. Interference with Contractual Rights
   

   Despite the existence of these valuable contractual obligations which were owed by Couture to Zuffa, Defendants… induced Couture to violate his contractual obligations by enticing him to disclose confidential information and to promote MMA events in direct competition with Zuffa.

4. Breach of Contract
   

   …Couture engaged in numerous violations of his covenant not to compete with Zuffa, the most recent and notorious being the public announcement during the second week of January 2008 that Couture would sponsor and promote a MMA team with the eponymous title of “Xtreme Couture Team”, which would fight in the International Fight League (”IFL”) in open and direct competition with Zuffa’s UFC.

Remember that there is more to each of the four complaints than what is shown above and that those are just extracts to give you an idea of what they’re about.

What is Zuffa asking for? Zuffa is asking that the judge award Zuffa compensatory damages to be determined at the trial, punitive damages to “serve as a deterrent to those… that would be similarly inclined to engage in such reprehensible conduct”, an injunction prohibiting Couture from violating his exclusive employment with the UFC, attorney fees, etc.

Other items of note:

• In the background to the complaint in the lawsuit states that “The UFC introduced and/or embraced a variety of new regulations to the sport including the implementation of standard rounds of five minutes each, refereee stoppages, weight classes, and limitations on permissible striking areas.” Those out there who have criticized the UFC for claiming to have single-handedly introduced such safeguards to MMA may be a bit pacified by the language above.
• Interestingly, the lawsuit begins its recounting of events by saying that “Defendent Couture participated in an interview with an agent acting for and on behalf of an internet website known as Sherdog.com”, where Couture stated, among other things, that White and Zuffa owner Lorenzo Fertitta had told Couture a “bold faced lie” regarding the compensation of other UFC fighters. The explicit mention of Sherdog is interesting as the UFC’s… er, lack of appreciation for the granddaddy of online MMA coverage is well-known. Dana White was reportedly white-knuckling furious when Sherdog editor Josh Gross revealed the season four finalists of the UFC’s reality show The Ultimate Fighter on Sherdog’s internet radio show Beatdown.

So the first legal salvo has been fired in the disagreement between Randy Couture and the UFC. As soon as more details become available we will pass along what we learn.

- Caleb

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