At UFC 205 Conor McGregor made history by knocking out Eddie Alvarez to become the first fighter to hold the belt in multiple weight classes simultaneously, something he had been talking about doing for quite a while. Before McGregor, Dana White was dead-set against any fighter holding multiple belts at the same time, as he
At UFC 205 Conor McGregor made history by knocking out Eddie Alvarez to become the first fighter to hold the belt in multiple weight classes simultaneously, something he had been talking about doing for quite a while.
Before McGregor, Dana White was dead-set against any fighter holding multiple belts at the same time, as he claimed it would create a logjam in both divisions. McGregor’s ability to sell a pay-per-view had more than a little to do with him getting the opportunity. I went back into the promotion’s history books and if we’re basing this opportunity solely on skill, there are at least a handful of fighters who could have accomplished the feat before McGregor.
Here is a look at five fighters who could have held belts in two divisions simultaneously if given the chance.
Randy Couture
Couture was never a big heavyweight and frequently made the drop down to light heavyweight. After he lost the heavyweight title to Josh Barnett he made the drop to light heavyweight and beat Tito Ortiz for the light heavyweight belt. Couture is one of only three athletes to win UFC gold in multiple divisions.
Having the benefit of knowing that Couture was able to beat Tito, you have to think that if given the opportunity during his reign as heavyweight champ he would have likely won, making him the first to hold belts in two divisions simultaneously.
Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture is no stranger to taking a stand against the UFC, as Couture dropped just over $500,000 in attempt to terminate his contract with the UFC before settling for a restructured deal back in 2007, and isn’t all that stunned to see stars the magnitude of Georges
Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture is no stranger to taking a stand against the UFC, as Couture dropped just over $500,000 in attempt to terminate his contract with the UFC before settling for a restructured deal back in 2007, and isn’t all that stunned to see stars the magnitude of Georges St-Pierre embarking on similar battles with the promotion.
During a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting on The MMA Hour, Couture pointed to Zuffa’s recent sale of the UFC to WME as a major ‘red flag’ for fighters under the promotion’s banner:
“I think the company selling for $4 billion was a big red flag,” Couture said. “That a lot of fighters stood up and took notice as to what those guys made off of the sale of the brand we’ve all been representing for a long, long time, and recognized that less than 10-percent of what they’ve been making, we’ve been reaping as the products, as the fighters stepping in that cage. And that’s just wrong. That equation is way out of whack, and I think until we, frankly, come together and use our voice to fight these types of things, it’s going to continue to happen.”
Couture believes change is on the horizon in the form of fighters coming together through the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association (MMAFA), led by Arizona attorney Rob Maysey, who campaign on issues such as pushing for an amendment to the Ali Act to support MMA fighters:
“I’m confident that it can happen, absolutely,” Couture said. “Obviously, again, I think that the MMAFA model, the fighters association, is the right model for what we do and who we are as independent contractors. I think, obviously, a huge step in the right direction is getting the Ali Act amended, and then that levels the playing field with federal legislation on some level.
“I think that’s a huge step in the right direction. And yeah, I think it can definitely happen, but it’s going to guys having the strength and backbone to get over their fears of the repercussions, or potential repercussions with the promotions like WME and the UFC. Everybody’s scared they’re going to get dropped, they’re going to get blackballed, and there’s going to those kind of repercussions, so they’re not willing to exercise their voice and come together.”
Similar efforts for a fighters’ union have been made by the Professional Fighters Association (PFA), who is led by former baseball agent Jeff Boras, who have not been on the same page with the MMAFA as of late. Regardless of their differences, Couture urges the two sides to unite to fight for a similar cause:
“The association is there now,” Couture said. “The MMAFA, you can get on WhatsApp and get on the thread. There are over 200 athletes on there communicating on a regular basis about the MMAFA and all of the things, and basically there’s an education process just like there was when we were teaching people what our sport was about, and that we weren’t crazy thugs and criminals, we’re just martial artists that want to be professional athletes.
“So I think the same thing is true about what we’re doing as athletes now, educating ourselves about: what the difference is between a union and a fighters association? How does that affect us as 1099 independent contractors? What does the Ali Act do for us? There’s been an education process for all of us as fighters. For 10 years, I’ve been hearing this talk and been involved and trying to see us come together as fighters and unite our voice for quite a while now, and I feel like the best shot we have right now is the MMAFA.”
At the end of the day Couture believes the future is bright for fighters, who are now ‘fed up’ with the abuse they are taking from the promotion, now having realized the power they posses to fight back:
“I think it’s going to take some more time,” Couture said. “I think we’re going to continue to educate fighters. I think fighters are fed up with kind of taking it in the shorts, frankly, and are starting to come together and realize we have power, and only if we stay united.”
Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is just beginning what could be a nasty battle with the UFC, after the Canadian star announced he is now a free agent after his lawyers managed to terminate his contract with his longtime promoters. The UFC would soon dispute ‘GSP’s’ claims by issuing an official statement noting that
Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is just beginning what could be a nasty battle with the UFC, after the Canadian star announced he is now a free agent after his lawyers managed to terminate his contract with his longtime promoters. The UFC would soon dispute ‘GSP’s’ claims by issuing an official statement noting that St-Pierre is still under Zuffa contract.
One similar situation can be recalled back in 2007 when former light heavyweight champion Randy Couture resigned from the UFC after being dissatisfied with the UFC’s treatment of it’s fighters, as well as his desire to venture for a fight with mixed martial arts (MMA) heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko.
Couture recently joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (courtesy of MMA Fighting) to discuss the similarities between his and St-Pierre’s respective situations with the UFC:
“I certainly saw similarities, and I’m not privy to Georges’ contract and the language in Georges’ contract, but I’m sure it’s in many ways very similar to what I was dealing with back in 2007,” Couture said.
“And maybe, unfortunately for Georges, some of the issues that were pointed in out in their contracts back then that were the impetus for me declaring my free agency back then, and trying to make that Fedor fight happen and having injunctions filed and spending a lot of money on attorneys and stuff — a lot of those things were closed. They [changed their] contracts to some extent to try and prevent athletes from doing what I had been doing.
“But it’s definitely going to be an uphill climb. These guys have controlled fighters and controlled this situation for a long, long time. And they’re good at it. So, I think Georges is certainly going to be up against it.”
Couture’s standoff with the UFC lasted for about a year, a time frame in which he spent more than $500,000 in his battle with the promotion, after which he would ultimately return to the Octagon under a restructured deal to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 91:
“I certainly hope that Georges is ready to spend a considerable amount of money in legal fees and all of that to fight this battle,” Couture said. “That’s the first thing. These guys are going to try and drag this out as long as they can drag this out and get Georges to spend as much money as they can possibly spend in hopes to bleed him, to make him want to give up and just give it up.
“Obviously you’re still dealing with Dana White, but WME is another thing completely than Zuffa and the Fertittas, and I think that adds another layer to this whole thing. Georges is represented by CAA. CAA and WME go way back, as far as butting heads and kind of fighting over things, so I think there’s probably some of that going on here as well.”
After his failed effort to fight UFC brass Couture not only wasted half a million dollars, but he also wasted precious time he could have spent competing:
“I spent 13 months not competing,” Couture said. “At 44 years old, the clock was ticking. I spent more than $500,000 of my own money to try and fight over my interpretation of the language in the contract, just to continue for who knows how much longer to get a ruling and be able to go one way or the other. And at the end of the day, I wanted to compete. I wanted to fight. I’m a fighter.
“I still felt like I had competition that I wanted to get done and decided just to give it up, to hang it up, to not spend any more of my money fighting the system that was in place.”
When it all comes down to it, Couture states that if St-Pierre attempted to make a fight happen under any other promotion’s banner that he expects the UFC to file an injunction immediately. The process will be long and consuming, possibly taking up time from the former 170-pound champ’s career that he would much rather spend fighting:
“I’m sure that if he moves forward as a free agent, tries to make the fight that he wants to happen somewhere else, there will be injunctions filed, and then it’ll be a time period where they’ll be interviewing everybody,” Couture said. “There’s this time process too see any of that come before a judge and get ruled on, and just like in the situation I was in, how long is he going to want to wait?
“He’s been out for a little while now and not competed. How long is it that he wants to wait? How much money is that going to cost him to continue to fight that battle when he’s unable to fight and compete and make any money anywhere else? And then, what’s the likelihood? What if all of that [happens] and then they rule that the contract is still enforced and he still owes fights to WME and the UFC? Now he’s back to renegotiating and trying to make the fights happen that he wants to happen with that organization after all of that.”
While it may be many young fighter’s aspiration to one day fight for the UFC, Couture praises the work of other organizations such as the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) and Bellator who have seemed to have learned from the UFC’s mistakes. Despite all this, when it comes to the gold standard of MMA promotions, the UFC is still leading the charge by a sizable margin:
“I don’t think it’s their fault if the organization has ruled with an iron fist,” Couture said. “I’m an example of somebody that they’ve tried to black out, and that’s because of my stance with them almost from the very start over ancillary rights and the language in the contracts that they were trying to make me sign.
“Now the other promotions, like the World Series of Fighting and Bellator, have made up a lot ground because of things like the uniforms and the implementation of USADA without any athlete’s voice involved in that process. Some of the things that promotion is doing has allowed some of these other promotions to get traction. They’ve got good people behind them at NBC and with Viacom and the other places that they’re showing our sport. But at the end of the day, the gold standard, if you will, has been with the UFC.
“It’s synonymous with the sport in a lot of ways, so a lot of people aspire and want to fight in that organization. Well, if they want to fight in that organization, they’re going to have to sign that contract, as bad as that contract is.”
You can check out Couture’s interview on The MMA Hour here:
If one person can relate to the current situation former Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre has found himself in with the UFC, it’s Hall Of Famer Randy Couture.
“Captain America” spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour and …
If one person can relate to the current situation former Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre has found himself in with the UFC, it’s Hall Of Famer Randy Couture.
“Captain America” spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour and admitted that he sees similarities between GSP’s current situation with the UFC and his own in the past with the promotion, as along with Tito Ortiz, Couture was involved in one of the most public legal battles with the company back in 2007 and 2008.
“I certainly saw similarities, and I’m not privy to Georges’ contract and the language in Georges’ contract, but I’m sure it’s in many ways very similar to what I was dealing with back in 2007,” said “The Natural.”
Couture continued, “And maybe, unfortunately for Georges, some of the issues that were pointed in out in their contracts back then that were the impetus for me declaring my free agency back then, and trying to make that Fedor fight happen and having injunctions filed and spending a lot of money on attorneys and stuff — a lot of those things were closed. They [changed their] contracts to some extent to try and prevent athletes from doing what I had been doing.
“But it’s definitely going to be an uphill climb. These guys have controlled fighters and controlled this situation for a long, long time. And they’re good at it. So, I think Georges is certainly going to be up against it.”
While GSP’s situation has yet to fully play out, Couture also spoke about how his battle with the UFC ended, noting that he spent a lot of time and money trying to fight the now multi-billion dollar company in court while ultimately coming to the realization that at his age, it was either give in and fight or commit to retiring and spending your hard-earned money in a seemingly never-ending battle.
“I spent 13 months not competing,” Couture said. “At 44 years old, the clock was ticking. I spent more than $500,000 of my own money to try and fight over my interpretation of the language in the contract, just to continue for who knows how much longer to get a ruling and be able to go one way or the other. And at the end of the day, I wanted to compete. I wanted to fight. I’m a fighter.
“I still felt like I had competition that I wanted to get done and decided just to give it up, to hang it up, to not spend any more of my money fighting the system that was in place.”
Check out “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani Monday’s at MMAFighting.com.
As the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion of all time, the UFC has whipped up some huge fights in its history with some of the baddest men on the planet going head-to-head against one another. Some fights between two top competitors don’t quite live up to the hype, however, as the bout ends up
As the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion of all time, the UFC has whipped up some huge fights in its history with some of the baddest men on the planet going head-to-head against one another.
Some fights between two top competitors don’t quite live up to the hype, however, as the bout ends up putting fight fans to sleep rather than keeping them on the edge of their seat for 25 minutes or less.
Then, once in a blue moon, we get a fight that not only lives up to the hype, but exceeds it tremendously. That, my friends, is what we have compiled for you today, the top 10 biggest fights in UFC history that have ended with historic finishes. Let’s begin……
10. Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum UFC – 188
We kick off our list in the big boys’ division, where two of the most dangerous heavyweights of all time clashed for the biggest prize in MMA.
Coming off of nearly a two-year layoff from the sport, Cain Velasquez would attempt to unify his title with the then-interim heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum who was on a five-fight win streak.
The opening rounds were a bit back-and-forth and the arena in Mexico City was hot for their native Velasquez, however, the altitude proved to be too much for ‘Cardio Cain’ to handle as he gassed out in the third round.
Velasquez then shot in for a takedown on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist and was immediately wrapped up in a nasty guillotine choke. Velasquez had no other choice but to tap out and make Werdum the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Over the course of its 23 years in existence, the UFC has become the ultimate proving ground in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, building a rich history along the way. With that in mind, we decided it would be a good idea to delve deep into the record books in search of some of
Over the course of its 23 years in existence, the UFC has become the ultimate proving ground in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, building a rich history along the way.
With that in mind, we decided it would be a good idea to delve deep into the record books in search of some of the greatest accomplishments in the Octagon over the years, including discovering which fighter enjoyed the longest title reign, who compiled the longest winning streak, and who’s knocked out more opponents than anybody else in the history of the sport.
We’ll also look at other record breakers too, so if you’ve ever wondered who the tallest fighter to ever set foot in the Octagon was, who was the oldest (hint: it’s not Randy Couture), or just want to know who banked the biggest pay cheque, then we’ve got you covered!
10. Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum UFC – 188