Did Dana White really try to promote this? Or had he already soured on both Randy Couture and Fedor's management team? Either way, not signing Fedor caused Randy Couture to walk out on the UFC in 2007, in the hopes that he might get to fight the man many considered to be the best heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. While much of Couture's beef with the UFC revolved around money (he was upset Chuck Liddell was making more than him at one point), he also cited the UFC's inability to sign The Last Emperor as one of the reasons he was walking out on the UFC while still their heavyweight champion. As late as December 2007, Couture claimed he wanted to fight Fedor the following October, when his UFC contract "expired." That contract, however, had fights left on it, and the UFC went to court to prevent Couture from sitting out. Thing is, what really went on behind the scenes we will never know. Fedor's management, M-1, wanted a co-promotion deal at one point, something the UFC has never been keen on. Dana White flip-flopped on multiple occasions when it came to the Russian heavyweight, calling him overrated, saying that he sucks ("He sucks. Get over the Fedor thing" he once told TMZ), then admitting not signing the heavyweight was one of his greatest regrets. Fedor, for his part, has since his retirement stated that White's comments were one of the reasons he never signed - he felt White hated him. Really though? You have to believe that White wanted to promote that fight. While he had no love lost for Couture, nor Fedor for that matter, it would have been the biggest fight at the time. Even Chuck Liddell - probably the fighter closest with White - felt Fedor was UFC bound in 2007, which tells you that Zuffa was certainly trying. In the end, Couture would return to the UFC and lose to Brock Lesnar, but even then, White wasn't ruling out the Russian heading to the UFC - if you caught him on the right day. At a special Q&A with Randy Couture in December 2008, Couture said he still felt he could defeat the Russian, and at an AOL FanHouse chat around the same time, White indicated he was still open to the bout - but that things weren't entirely in his hands. Fedor would continue to be the white whale to Dana's Ahab for years to come.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
