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Randy Couture opened up about Francis Ngannou's UFC departure and discussed his own contractual problems with the promotion during his career and heavyweight championship reign.
While speaking with MMA Fighting, Couture addressed Ngannou's contract negotiations and compared it to his own. He noted that he spoke with coach Eric Nicksick about his difficult negotiations with the UFC and mentioned that he got a better contract once he spoke up.
He said:
"I talked to Eric {Nicksick} a lot about my position and where I stood. I was the only guy chirping back in '06-'07, you know, trying to get a better deal. '01 when they {Zuffa} bought the company, fighting for my ansellory rights and all that stuff. The video games and all the other stuff that are tied up in all of that." {13:05 - 13:23}
The UFC Hall of Famer added that there needs to be a lot more transparency and commended 'The Predator' for taking a stand. He mentioned that the Ali act being amended would benefit all MMA fighters, saying:
"They {UFC} keep those numbers pretty close to their vest so they don't have to negotiate with fighters who know what their value is in the marketplace...Hopefully we get to the bottom of that, we create some transparancy, we get the Ali Act amended and all the promoters have to abide by those federal laws...And remove all the restrictive contracts." {13:53 - 14:29}
Couture raised some great points regarding more of the top fighters voicing their displeasure and wanting to get paid what they feel they're worth could be good long-term for fighter pay. Ngannou declining the UFC's contract offer could lead to more changes should the next promotion he joins egains a massive boost in popularity.
Check out the full interview:
Randy Couture weighs in on Jake Paul joining the PFL
Randy Couture weighed in on Jake Paul transitioning from boxing to MMA and joining the PFL.
While speaking to MMA Fighting, 'The Natural' opened up about the YouTuber-turned-boxer's skills as a fighter. He mentioned that 'The Problem Child' will need to learn other facets of MMA and won't be able to be as selective with his opponents as in boxing.
The former two-division champion said:
"He's {Jake Paul} not gonna get the luxury of protecting himself in MMA. He's gonna have to fight in MMA and certainly in the PFL if we stay true to our format. There's the question; how much MMA is he going to be able to learn? How much grappling and ground skills and defensive wrestling skills is he going to be able to learn to take adavantage of his obvious ability in boxing.
It will be interesting to see who Paul fights in his MMA debut and whether the PFL will take advantage of his name recognition by having him fight a notable fighter.
