NEW YORK – UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture sees a flawed system in MMA.
Francis Ngannou was the last heavyweight to actually win a title off a UFC champion in the octagon. Since then, Ngannou, Jon Jones, and now Tom Aspinall have vacated their belts without ever fighting each other.
Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko was a big fight that got away, and the former two-division UFC champion says promoters are preventing the best from fighting the best.
"I think it lends itself to the flaw in our sport," Couture told MMA Junkie. "And the fact that each one of these promotions just created their own little exclusive fiefdom, where's they're setting the rankings and titles, and they have a stable of fighters that if they're on your good side, they're going
to get ranked and they're going to get a shot at that title. Prizefighting is all about getting the two best fighters, regardless of what stable they're in, to be able to compete against each other. The Fedor fight should have happened. When he was in Pride and I was in the UFC, that should have been allowed to happen.
"And because those promoters weren't willing to risk their reputation in the sport, it never happened, and that lends itself to this kind of closed system that's not true prizefighting. It's more akin to WWE and all about talking smack than it is traditional prizefighting where the IBO guys could have put his belt on the line against the WBO, and now let's see who the real champ is that carries both those belts around now. That's traditional prizefighting. I don't think we have to worry about that with Ki (MMA) because of the grand prix format."
Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) relinquished his heavyweight title after ongoing complications with his vision. He was poked in the eyes during his no contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 last October, and has since struggled to get medically cleared.
"Unfortunately, that's fighting," Couture said. "That's training, that's competing. That's one of the worst injuries I sustained is against Ricco Rodriguez, is that elbow to the eye and the fractured orbit. It took me six months to recover from that. ...So, I feel for Tom. I got to meet Tom a few years back in Manchester at an expo, a fan expo there. What a nice guy. That was before he made his his title run. He was still an up-and-comer then. So, great guy, enjoyed being around him. I hope he recovers well, and I hope he gets back in there somewhere. Maybe it'll be here (Ki MMA)."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Randy Couture: MMA more akin to WWE, not 'traditional prizefighting'
