UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has no intention to put the gloves back on at 51 years old, but high-profile grappling matches are still a legitimate possibility.
Speaking on Sunday’s edition of Submission Radio, “The Natural” said he’d be interested in competing on a Metamoris card against none other than former Pride FC star Fedor Emelianenko.
That would be interesting, and certainly given the time to prepare and get back up into good, solid grappling and wrestling shape, that would be a lot of fun I think, you know. I’m not sure how active Fedor is at this stage, you know him being retired as well, but I’m certainly not opposed to an idea like that.
Couture retired from mixed martial arts after suffering a knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in April 2011, his first defeat in his previous four fights.
The Team Quest co-founder was one of just two UFC fighters (the other being B.J. Penn) to win titles in two separate weight classes: light heavyweight and heavyweight.
Generally regarded as one of the pioneers of MMA, “Captain America” Couture left the UFC in late 2007, eight months removed from his UFC heavyweight title win over Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in March 2007.
One reason he cited for leaving the company was the inability to bring Fedor Emelianenko, one of Pride’s most recognized faces, for a potential superfight, per Sherdog.
Emelianenko retired from the cage after scoring a quick first-round knockout over former UFC heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo at an M-1 Global show in June 2012.
Couture was tabbed a late replacement for Chael Sonnen at Metamoris 4 on August 9 but declined the offer due to media obligations tied to the release of The Expendables 3.
Given the latest turn of events, should Metamoris promoter Ralek Gracie reach out to Couture and Emelianenko in hopes of them headlining a grappling card before the end of the year?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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