Da Da Da Daaaa! Could "Captain America," Randy "The Natural" Couture be returning from retirement to fight again!?! Possibly, yes! While in an interview where he was breaking down Liddell/Ortiz 2, Randy picked Chuck to win, and then mentioned, "If Tito finds a way to beat Chuck, I'm going to have to come out of retirement, and give Tito a whack." Gee, I wonder if Dana White and the UFC would offer much money to Randy for that? Take the quote for what its worth, anything can happen.
Brandon Vera attended the inaugural press conference for Elite XC, the MMA show appearing on Showtime. He stated he had 1 fight left on his UFC contract, and would go to whomever paid him the best. Now, Pride FC has announced that Vera will appear at their show in February. This could not be signed unless, an unhappy UFC released Vera already. Brandon has been saying he is done with the Heavyweight division, and wishes to return to his natural weight class of Light Heavyweight. The UFC needs him to stay at Heavyweight. True or false, Vera is garnering a lot of attention, and as a top prospect, could land anywhere.
Vitor Belfort and Pawel Nastula were banned from US competition for 9 months, and fined for their failed drug tests at Pride's US debut. Vitor claimed ignorance on how he failed, while Pawel stated his Pride contract said he could ingest said illegal substances. Pride will most likely not honor these decisions on Japanese soil. Kevin Randleman's appeal will be heard soon. He is still claiming innocence on his failed test, which contained non-human urine. Do with that what you will, eesh.
Jens Pulver and BJ Penn will be the Lightweight coaches on season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter, and then, have their long awaited rematch at the season finale! There is some bad blood there between the fighters, and both are outspoken and confident, which should make for an interesting season. (Jens won the first fight between the 2 men to become the first UFC Lightweight Champion)
Oh yeah, Showtime named their MMA promotion, Elite XC (lame), and stated their first show will have Renzo Gracie vs Frank Shamrock. Hold the phone there Showtime, Frank is still signed with Strikeforce, who are already claiming Frank must face Phil Baroni first, at their 2007 show. Frank says no, so let the mess and court battles begin. Frank really needs to just fight and stop all the talking and end all the problems away from fighting. Showtime has also signed Joey Villasenor, Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva vs Cabbage Correira, David "The Crow" Loiseau, KJ Noons, and the so so damn beautiful Gina Carano! Gina is a female fighter by the way. Interesting stuff, but after seeing the shows by unimpressive Strikeforce, Bodog, and the IFL in America, I won't hold my breath.
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