The shocking news of Randy Couture’s exit from the Ultimate Fighting Championship hit like a tidal wave on Thursday. MMAWeekly caught up with Ron Frazier, one of the head trainers at Xtreme Couture, after the news hit to get his comments on Randy’s monumental decision.
“I wasn’t really surprised that much in the news,” Frazier stated. “With the option of not being able to fight Fedor, with the movie career going so well, and with the opportunity to spend much more time with his wife and his family, it wasn’t surprising. At the end of the day, good for Randy.”
Couture stated emphatically in his letter to the UFC that losing the fight with current top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko was a major reason for his exodous. Frazier also stated that without that fight, Couture has little left to prove.
“You always want a fighter to go out on top and when he fought Chuck Liddell [the third time], we all knew a couple months ahead of time that he was going to retire after that bout, win or lose,” said Frazier.
“Unfortunately he lost, but we wanted him to go out on top. What better way? He came back. He shocked the world. He beat two guys no one thought he could beat. There’s no great challenges left, except for fighting Fedor. So why not ride off into the sunset?”
The opportunity to fight Fedor really did seem like the last major hurdle for Couture to leap and with the recent announcement of his alleged deal with M-1 in Russia, it seems for now like that possible match-up is dead.
“Knowing him personally and working with him for almost three years now, I knew he thrived on challenges and so if he couldn’t fight Fedor, it wouldn’t surprise me if he called it a day,” Frazier said about Couture’s desire to fight Emelianenko.
While the MMA community continues to dwell on the loss of Couture in the UFC, Frazier points out how tough it has become for the legendary fighter to even take time for a full training camp to prepare for a bout.
“He really has to clear out his calendar to fight now,” said Frazier. “When we want to make an eight-week training session, all the appearances, all the stuff he does for all the Xtreme Coutures all over the country, kind of has to come to a stand still. He doesn’t have to do that anymore.”
Couture mentioned his new career in the movie industry, but his team at Xtreme Couture has become one of the premiere camps in the world and Frazier is assured that he will continue his role there.
“He’ll still be very active in the fighters we have going there,” said Frazier about Couture’s involvement at the gym.
The biggest question on everyone’s mind is regardless of the UFC is will we ever see Randy Couture fight in MMA again?
“You learn with professional athletes to never say never,” Frazier said about a possible Randy Couture comeback.
“I wasn’t really surprised that much in the news,” Frazier stated. “With the option of not being able to fight Fedor, with the movie career going so well, and with the opportunity to spend much more time with his wife and his family, it wasn’t surprising. At the end of the day, good for Randy.”
Couture stated emphatically in his letter to the UFC that losing the fight with current top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko was a major reason for his exodous. Frazier also stated that without that fight, Couture has little left to prove.
“You always want a fighter to go out on top and when he fought Chuck Liddell [the third time], we all knew a couple months ahead of time that he was going to retire after that bout, win or lose,” said Frazier.
“Unfortunately he lost, but we wanted him to go out on top. What better way? He came back. He shocked the world. He beat two guys no one thought he could beat. There’s no great challenges left, except for fighting Fedor. So why not ride off into the sunset?”
The opportunity to fight Fedor really did seem like the last major hurdle for Couture to leap and with the recent announcement of his alleged deal with M-1 in Russia, it seems for now like that possible match-up is dead.
“Knowing him personally and working with him for almost three years now, I knew he thrived on challenges and so if he couldn’t fight Fedor, it wouldn’t surprise me if he called it a day,” Frazier said about Couture’s desire to fight Emelianenko.
While the MMA community continues to dwell on the loss of Couture in the UFC, Frazier points out how tough it has become for the legendary fighter to even take time for a full training camp to prepare for a bout.
“He really has to clear out his calendar to fight now,” said Frazier. “When we want to make an eight-week training session, all the appearances, all the stuff he does for all the Xtreme Coutures all over the country, kind of has to come to a stand still. He doesn’t have to do that anymore.”
Couture mentioned his new career in the movie industry, but his team at Xtreme Couture has become one of the premiere camps in the world and Frazier is assured that he will continue his role there.
“He’ll still be very active in the fighters we have going there,” said Frazier about Couture’s involvement at the gym.
The biggest question on everyone’s mind is regardless of the UFC is will we ever see Randy Couture fight in MMA again?
“You learn with professional athletes to never say never,” Frazier said about a possible Randy Couture comeback.