Zuffa Sues Couture Who do you support?

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Who do you support?

  • UFC

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Randy Couture

    Votes: 10 90.9%

  • Total voters
    11
Feb 7, 2006
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#1
Having failed to work out their differences, Zuffa, LLC, and Randy Couture (Pictures) appear to be headed to a Las Vegas courtroom.

A suit filed in Clark County District Court Monday on behalf of Zuffa, which owns and operates the Ultimate Fighting Championship, alleges Couture made comments regarding the UFC that caused the business irreparable damage, and it says the current UFC heavyweight champion is in breach of the contract he signed upon his return from retirement in December 2006, Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Tuesday.

Couture announced his resignation from the UFC -- as an active fighter and champion, as well as an ambassador for the company and on-air personality -- in October, citing the desire to fight Russian Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), who is not contracted to the UFC, and a history of "swimming against the current with the management of the UFC" as reasons for his decision.

Seeking damages -- both compensatory and punitive -- in excess of $10,000, the suit against Couture also seeks an injunction against "The Natural" that would prevent him from working with any organization deemed to be competing against the UFC. The suit alleges conspiracy against several unnamed parties that aimed to work against the UFC.

A group of fighters from Xtreme Couture are scheduled to fight a squad led by Mario Sperry (Pictures) in an International Fight League matchup Feb. 29 in Las Vegas.

According to the Review-Journal report, the IFL commitment would be in direct conflict with a stipulation in Couture's deal that prohibits him from being in "direct or indirect competition" with the UFC for the 12 months following the termination of his contract.

However, an IFL official told Sherdog.com that the league doesn't have a formal relationship with Couture.

"Randy is not a signed IFL coach like Pat Miletich (Pictures) or Matt Lindland (Pictures) or Renzo Gracie (Pictures)," IFL Senior VP of Communications Joe Favorito told Sherdog.com. "We are not using Randy's full name or likeness in any advertising in any way (outside of the Extreme Couture camp brand), our focus is on the athletes and their camp, since that is what fans want to see."

Sean O'Heir, public relations director for Xtreme Couture, told Sherdog.com that Shawn Tompkins (Pictures) would lead the squad into battle, not Couture.

Couture (16-8-0), the only two-division champion in UFC history, has seen his Xtreme Couture training facility in Las Vegas explode into one of the busiest mixed martial arts factories in the world, training fighters across promotional lines.

In March of 2007 Couture returned from a one-year "retirement" to out-point Tim Sylvia (Pictures) for the UFC heavyweight belt. Couture defended the title in August, stopping Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) in the third round.

Following his resignation, Couture and UFC management publicly traded barbs about respect and money.

"I expect Randy to honor the obligations in his contract that he signed (a year ago)," UFC president Dana White told the Review-Journal. "I tried to resolve it by talking to this guy that I've had a relationship with for eight years and was unsuccessful. Now this thing's in the hands of the justice system."

Calls to Couture and his agent Matt Walker were not immediately returned.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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#2
Employment, Not Promotional, Contract at Center of Zuffa v. Couture

When Randy Couture (Pictures) announced his resignation from the UFC on Oct. 11, 2007, it seemed inevitable that the matter would be settled in court. The inevitable became official on Monday as Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, filed a complaint against Couture and yet to be named co-conspirators in Nevada's Clark County District Court.

Perhaps to the surprise of many observers, the complaint makes no mention of Couture's promotional (fight) contract with Zuffa. Instead the company's breach of contract action is predicated on its employment contract with Couture.

Under the terms of his employment contract, Couture performed duties as ambassador for the UFC and was on-air talent during UFC broadcast events.

The complaint alleges that Couture signed a three-year employment contract with Zuffa in December 2006 that included a one-year non-compete provision. Zuffa says that during the non-compete period -- which commenced when Couture "resigned" from the organization last October -- any Couture-associated "business enterprise" is prohibited from "promoting or producing events or programming related to unarmed combat, developing products or services related to unarmed combat, or otherwise conducting any business relating to unarmed combat."

Zuffa alleges that Couture has engaged in numerous violations of the non-compete provision, the most recent being the announcement that an Xtreme Couture team would compete in a Feb. 29 International Fight League event in Las Vegas. The company also alleges that Couture has permitted the IFL to use his name and likeness on the IFL Web site in promoting the event. As a result Zuffa is asking for injunctive relief.

An IFL official told Sherdog.com that the league and Couture don't have a formal relationship.

"Randy is not a signed IFL coach like Pat Miletich (Pictures) or Matt Lindland (Pictures) or Renzo Gracie (Pictures)," IFL Senior VP of Communications Joe Favorito said via e-mail. "We are not using Randy's full name or likeness in any advertising in any way (outside of the Xtreme Couture camp brand)."

Couture's promotional contract with Zuffa is not specifically mentioned in the complaint, however, there is a reference to "certain valid contracts" in the cause of action for interference with contractual rights.

When Couture announced his resignation, Sherdog.com speculated that Zuffa would likely be apprehensive about asserting or challenging the terms of its promotional contract in court. The complaint filed yesterday appears to validate that sentiment by focusing explicitly on Couture's employment contract.

However, UFC President Dana White has steadfastly stated that he believes Couture's promotional contract to be valid, specifically that the agreement has two fights remaining. White has also refused to strip Couture of the heavyweight title in a move that is believed to be designed to strengthen his legal position visa vi the company's promotional contract. Couture has publicly stated his belief that the promotional contract is for four fights or 18 months.

"Randy's lawyers are currently reviewing the lawsuit, obviously, they will respond when appropriate," said Couture's agent, Matt Walker. "I would like Randy's lawyers to finish their analysis before giving you more information. But I would say that, as a general statement, there will be a response at a time and place of Randy's choosing."

In addition to breach of contract, the complaint alleges two other causes of action against Couture: conspiracy to commit tortious acts and injurious falsehood and trade disparagement. The undetermined co-conspirators are also accused of conspiracy to commit tortious acts and injurious falsehood and trade disparagement, as well as interference with contractual rights.

The complaint says that sometime prior to Oct. 11 Couture "devised and began implementing a tortuous scheme and artifice whereby he and others acting on his behalf would fabricate a false and fictitious history of events in which Couture was purportedly lied to and otherwise personally abused by Zuffa in a series of bad faith acts and unfair dealings."

The complaint goes on to state that "the purpose of these false claims was to form a pretextual basis for Couture to claim that Zuffa's senior management was not honest in its commercial dealings and thereby provide Couture with a pretext for dishonoring his own obligations owed to Zuffa. In so doing, Couture and others in concert with him committed a series of intentional torts and breaches."

Zuffa alleges that Couture made false statements -- specifically mentioned are comments made to Sherdog.com on the date of his resignation as well as a press conference and appearance on HDNet -- that were intended to and did in fact result in "inestimable harm" to Zuffa and the UFC. In particular Zuffa alleges that Couture's statements cost the company "certain business opportunities as well as the loss of business reputation and good will" by discouraging others from working with the company.

The complaint specifically lists four "injurious falsehoods and disparaging statements" made by Couture: that Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White lied to Couture; that Zuffa paid bonuses to fighters that were "off the book"; that Zuffa did not pay Couture a signing bonus; and that Zuffa mistreated Couture and other professional fighters. Zuffa says that Couture knew these statements were false but made them anyway with the intent to harm the company.

The complaint goes on to allege that Couture was induced by as yet undetermined third party defendants to violate his contractual obligations to Zuffa by disclosing confidential information and promoting MMA events in direct competition with Zuffa.

The complaint, and ultimate litigation, appears to be an attack on rival competitors as much as Couture himself. An alleged conspiracy between Couture and unnamed parties is at the heart of the complaint. It begins with a recitation of accomplishments by Zuffa since acquiring the UFC before saying that "regrettably, however, several organizations have sought to unfairly compete against Zuffa and to improperly capitalize on the immense popularity of Zuffa's UFC brand by intentionally interfering with Zuffa's brand and contractual rights. Such is the case here."
 
Feb 22, 2006
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#3
well id like to see the fight between randy ad fedor, and he shouldnt breach his contract cause they cant get fedor, he should have made a kind of clause in his contract that if they couldnt get fedor by the 3rd fight then he could breach, but unfortunately since he signed his life over before thinking about the possible chace of not fighting fedor then its his fault and should finish his contract our. i support randy since hes my favorite fighter, but gotta stand by you word and signature.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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#6
but fellas randy is in the wrong on this one you can't just break your contract cause you want to fight some where else when just resign with the ufc 6 months earlier I look at it like the Players in the NFL can't just resign from their team when under contract and decide to go to another team because they don't feel like they're getting respected. Why should Randy Couture be any different? Dana is doing the right thing by holding Couture to the contract that he signed with the UFC
 
Jul 24, 2005
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#7
^^^^^True that Dana is a childish piece of shit.
dana looking out for whats best for the ufc and what will happen if the ufc co-promote a show with m-1 and couture loses that makes the ufc looks bad and m-1 will gain some of the ufc fans I think it's a no win for dana. But also it enough money for everyone to be made if fedor & randy fight happen
 
Feb 7, 2006
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dana looking out for whats best for the ufc and what will happen if the ufc co-promote a show with m-1 and couture loses that makes the ufc looks bad and m-1 will gain some of the ufc fans I think it's a no win for dana. But also it enough money for everyone to be made if fedor & randy fight happen
well that why randy is trying to wait out his contract so he can fight fedor. If Dana really wanted to bring this fight to the fans like he did with royce gracie vs matt hughes then he should co promote but since dana does not care about the sport of MMA then Randy will have to fight Fedor when his contract is up. But still Dana is a shady childish bitch and you can't denie that. How the hell are zuffa gonna sue the IFL for having Xtreme Couture team in their org they don't own his team or gym.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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#9
I don't know but when this case goes to court its going to be along and stall out process that randy can't win the ball is in the ufc court randy started talking too much at the ifl grandpix about what he was going to do and that shit will hold up in court as intent to breach his contract.