The Natural’ Randy Couture has been a multi-division five-time UFC champion but has struggled with the UFC brass for decades. On a recent podcast episode with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, the US-born Couture spilled the beans of having his rights taken away by the UFC.
Randy Couture on UFC Contracts and Rights
Randy Couture is a celebrated figure in both wrestling and MMA. As an amateur wrestler, he earned three NCAA Division I All-American honors and served as a four-time Olympic team alternate. In the UFC, he was a three-time Heavyweight Champion and two-time Light Heavyweight Champion, making him the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes. His career was marked by notable victories over fighters like Chuck Liddell and Tim Sylvia, and he became the oldest champion in UFC history at age 43.
But his work outside of the UFC are just as notable to his career. Randy Couture was able to obtain his own likeness and worked with EA Sports on an MMA video game without the involvement of the UFC. He has also worked closely with MMA organizations such as Affliction and the PFL and spent time as an actor.
Discussing what happened behind closed doors dealing with the UFC brass with ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Couture explained:
“I was one of the first guys to speak up about fighter pay and these crappy contracts. When they bought the company in 2001, I kind of got on the outs with them right away over their ancillary rights and the stuff in those contracts. Then I took them to task again in 2006. I knew I wasn’t being told the truth.
“Originally, it was the ancillary rights. They basically wanted to own my rights in every single category forever … It meant I’d have to ask Dana White’s permission to do a movie, write a book, be in a video game—anything outside of stepping into that cage and fighting for them. That didn’t make sense to me, so we fought them over it. Back then, I got erased from the posters.”
‘The Natural‘ has been removed from any UFC highlight reels and is never mentioned on the broadcast. Randy Couture added that this is standard when dealing with the UFC, he said:
“They wanted it with everyone. I was no exception … They don’t want to talk about that stuff. It’s a black eye for them. Most fight fans don’t even know what goes on behind the scenes. The UFC isn’t advertising the fact that their fighters aren’t happy with pay or the restrictive contracts.”