Five-time UFC champion Randy Couture is willing to put the MMA gloves back on, with just two weeks notice…
Coming up on June 24th is arguably the biggest event in Bellator MMA history. The long-awaited promotional debut of Fedor Emelianenko as he fights Matt Mitrione is far from the only attraction.
Heated rivals Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen will throw down, as Bellator hopes to make their mark on New York City. If chance allows, there could well be another legend returning in NYC…
Randy Couture Makes The Offer
Offering to step in, with just two weeks to go, is former three-time heavyweight and two-time light-heavyweight king Randy Couture. The UFC legend took to Instagram to drop the bombshell this weekend:
“I don’t have a relationship with the UFC at this point,” Couture told MMAjunkie during an interview last year. “It’s non-existent. It’s not my concern. I’ve got my own fish to fry, I’ve got my own things to focus on, and they’ve got theirs.”
“I took a job with Spike (TV). It’s his rhetoric and his window washing that put me in bed with Bellator,” Couture said. “I’ve been to many Bellator (events) in my life. … I don’t have a position there – I work for Spike TV. I don’t work for Bellator. It just happens the first show they hired me to build was a show training fighters that were ultimately fighting for Bellator.”
How About Chuck?
Bellator CEO Scott Coker responded to Chuck Liddell saying he might fight again. Bellator looks to be making a clean sweep with ex-UFC stars right now:
“At some point, I’m sure we’ll talk, and we’ll just hear each other out and see if there’s anything to be done,” Coker said today during a conference call to promote Bellator 179, which takes place May 19 at The SSE Arena in London. “But really, it hasn’t been on our radar just yet.”
“Chuck’s a legendary fighter,” Bellator 179 headliner Paul Daley (39-14-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) told MMAjunkie during the call. “(He) produced some highlight-reel knockouts – a great character for the sport. And Matt Hughes was a consistently dominant champion. So, yeah, it would be great to have two legends back in the sport, in particular Matt Hughes. He’s in my division, and it would be great to get in there and fight against a legend. So it would be great to have them both back, and even better if they come to Bellator.”
Rory MacDonald (18-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), agreed.
“I think Bellator’s done a fantastic job of bringing these legendary fighters and matching them up against each other,” MacDonald said. “It’s good for those legendary fighters to come in and stay busy and do what they love without having to go against the young and dangerous guys. So I like it, the fans like it, and it really works. I would always like to see more of the old-school guys coming back to Bellator for good fights.”
