Straight from ESPN: “Randy Couture, the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and one of MMA’s most revered fighters, resigned from the UFC via fax from South Africa Thursday morning, Couture confirmed to Sherdog.com.
Couture told Sherdog by phone from South Africa, where he is filming a movie, that he resigned as a UFC commentator, ambassador and heavyweight champion.
Couture’s quitting the organization comes on the heels of fellow heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko’s decision to fight under Russia’s M-1 Mixfight banner.
“I want that fight and would have waited if the fight was offered to me,” Couture said. “Knowing what they offered him, I would have made demands to get paid equally or better than him as the champion. Whether or not those would have been met is another question.”
Couture also mentioned being disenchanted with the UFC franchise, and with the direction his career was headed.
“I’m tired of being taken advantage of, played as the nice guy and basically swimming against the current with the management of the UFC,” he said. “I have a lot of other things going on in my life that I’m doing just fine with. I don’t need the problems. I don’t feel like I get the respect I deserve from the organization, and that’s motivation No. 2 for the letter of resignation that was sent today.”
Couture said it was a lack of respect by the UFC, in particular its president, Dana White, that led him to resign. Calls to White at the UFC offices weren’t immediately returned.”
