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UFC ON VERSUS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC on VERSUS on March 21 live from the FirstBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific!

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DREAM 13

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of DREAM 13 coming to you from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan on March 22. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 3 AM Eastern/12 AM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS on March 26 live from the SavMart Center in Fresno, CA. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC 111: GSP VS. HARDY

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on March 27. The event will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and feature a heavyweight showdown between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC FIGHT NIGHT: FLORIAN VS. GOMI

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi live from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC on March 31. The event will be headlined by a lightweight battle between Kenny Florian and Takanori Gomi. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIII

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIII live from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida on April 8. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIV

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIV live from the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on April 15. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Strikeforce: Nashville live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN on April 17. The event will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson and feature the US debut of Japanese submission god Shinya Aoki! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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MFC 25: VINDICATION

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of MFC 25: Vindication live from the Edmonton Expo Center in Edmonton, Alberta on April 17. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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“If you go by the rules, you end up being an accountant.”

Robert Evans

Couture returns to UFC

Written by Jim Murphy   |   Tuesday, September 02 2008

Randy Couture has reached a deal to return to the UFC.

Finally, a Dana White “big announcement” lived up to the hype. Randy Couture is returning to the UFC. Unlike White’s previous “big announcement”—that Lorenzo Fertitta was leaving his gig at Station Casinos to work for the UFC full time—this one could very likely be the biggest MMA news story of the year.

Randy Couture will face Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight title at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden on November 15th. The winner of this bout will face the winner of the Frank Mir/Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira matchup at UFC 92 in early 2009 to unify the heavyweight title. The November 15th date was originally scheduled to take place at The Rose Garden Arena in Portland, OR. No specific reason for the switch of venue was given, but clearly Las Vegas is the traditional setting for big fights.

As a result of the happy reunion between Zuffa and Couture, both sides have dropped their legal proceedings against each other. While the specifics of the deal between the UFC and Couture weren’t officially announced, indications are that the old contract was “torn up” as part of the settlement. In its place, Couture reportedly signed a three fight deal for substantially more money.

Nothing concrete is in place for a fight between Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. White suggested that he’d do what he could to put together this long awaited fight, but that they’d have to work things out with Affliction. The UFC president said that he’d offer Fedor a “fair deal” and that the involvement of Affliction was a potential roadblock to the fight. With every indication suggesting that a Fedor/Couture fight would most likely be scheduled for early 2009 it’s not exactly clear where the UFC heavyweight title unification fits into the schedule.

White, known for his caustic negotiating style and frequent lack of tact, got the ball rolling at the press conference suggesting that he would be “horrified” if Affliction’s MMA promotion survived past January. He then referred to the forthcoming matches for the heavyweight title as a “tournament”, which must come as news to the majority of the world’s top heavyweights who fight for other promotions. With all due respect to Brock Lesnar, the designation of a fighter with a 2-1 professional MMA record (1-1 in the UFC) as the #1 contender is insulting. He further suggested that the UFC’s heavyweight division is “looking pretty damn good now”. It’s certainly looking better with Couture back in the fold but the reality remains that rival Affliction has at least half of the top ten heavyweights in the world, including the consensus best heavyweight fighter in Fedor Emelianenko.

Regardless of the legal and contractual implications, MMA fans will be happy to have Couture back in action. Returning from his first “retirement” in April 2006, Couture quickly became one of the top drawing cards in the sport by virtue of his 5 round domination of then UFC champ Tim Sylvia. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the win was not only his wire to wire domination of the much larger Sylvia, but the fact that Couture was 43 years old at the time. His only defense as UFC heavyweight champion was equally impressive, as he demolished the much younger and physically imposing Gabriel Gonzaga by third round TKO. Gonzaga had earned the title shot with his upset victory over Mirko Cro Cop and entered the title matchup as a wagering favorite. The thinking was that beating a very limited Tim Sylvia was one thing, beating a younger and bigger opponent who was also a BJJ black belt *and* a dangerous striker was another matter entirely.

At age 44, Couture smothered Gonzaga from the opening horn and executed a perfect game plan. Appearing more concerned with his opponent’s heavy hands and feet than his BJJ skills, Couture gave Gonzaga no room whatsoever in which to sustain a striking based offense. The real turning point came in the first round—as Couture successfully executed a takedown the two men clashed heads with Gonzaga’s nose bearing the brunt of the damage. His nose clearly broken, Gonzaga had problems breathing and more significantly appeared to lose his will to fight. He pleaded to referee Herb Dean that he “couldn’t breathe” in the 2nd round before Couture took him down and administered the ground and pound until the fight was stopped.

Reports indicate that the ink on the deal was barely dry when the conference call began, so there will no doubt be more details to come from this situation. Stay tuned to THE SAVAGE SCIENCE for the latest news and analysis of this huge story, along with the rest of the MMA news.

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written by Jim , September 18, 2008
In all fairness to the UFC, the fight game has been "all about money" since the days of James J. Corbett and John L. Sullivan. I think one of the UFC's rationales is that they're thinking that they better make this big money matchup now rather than wait and have something happen (like it did with the Mirko Cro Cop/Couture matchup). While I'll respectfully disagree with you on Kimbo's chances against Randy, a lot of people share your belief that the fight will go much like the Gonzaga fight. Big Nog definitely got the shaft in the whole affair--he went from being the UFC heavyweight champ one day to having to fight Mir to see who gets the Couture/Lesnar winner. The reality is that no matter how Dana wants to spin it that the UFC's heavyweight division is still pretty thin.
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written by Tristan , September 17, 2008
I was just wondering, how did Broc lesnar ever got the #1 contender to fight Randy, if anybody it should have been Frank Mir or Antonio Nogeria. It's even about who is the best anymore, it's just about making the money these days, this is stupid. In my own opinion, as much as Kimbo has done, not that he is not even in the top 10 mma in my opinion, he has a better chance at Randy than Broc lesnar. The only thing that Broc has going for himself is his size and strength, once Randy takes him down and ground and pound he'll be crying just like Gabriel Gonzaga.
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written by Jim , September 02, 2008
Portland is great and they're starting to value the SavSci presence here in town. In a few years we'll be able to do what pro sports teams do and threaten to move to another city --that way we can hold them up for tax breaks and other "concessions" ; ) Guess we'll have to "make do" with UFC 91's new venue in Las Vegas... In any case, thanks for reading and taking the time to comment...
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written by J West , September 02, 2008
Boy, you guys at SavSci must stay awake all the time. Does your staff work in shifts to stay on top of all the MMA news? Sorry that Portland didn't get the big event.....guess they will just have to be grateful to have the SavSci office and staff in the Rose City. Keep up the good work. I check out your site every evening after work.
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