Dana White: UFC Planning Rich Franklin vs. Randy Couture, Not Chuck Liddell
In the wake of reports that Chuck Liddell would not be fighting rival Ultimate Fighter 11 coach Tito Ortiz and would instead return to action against Rich Franklin, likely at June’s UFC 115, UFC President Dana White took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to deny the rumors and confirm that Franklin will likely fight Randy Couture next.
“Not true! We are doing couture vs franklin not chuck. Nothing happened to tito. Tito and I are cool,” wrote White.
The matchup between Franklin and Couture was first reported last month and was originally believed to be in the works for UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver, but later reports indicated it would likely take place in August.
The status of the previously-announced bout between Liddell and Ortiz, expected for UFC 115, is uncertain.
According to earlier reports, Ortiz was unable to complete taping for TUF 11, which debuts on March 31 on Spike, and Franklin was reportedly brought in as a replacement.
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Pictured: Dana White
Tags: Chuck Liddell, Dana White, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz
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Wonder if that will still be on FN 22?
so who is fighting Chuck then?
Either Tito, or someone else. Dana did come out to say specifically that Tito v. Chuck was happening, so that may still be off… it will take some time to sort this out.
I also think it’s possible that some TUF related info got leaked and Dana is just trying to cover that up to keep the interest in TUF.
i want 2 c randy n rich fight but i wouldnt mind cn chuck n rich thowdown
In the future, no fighter bashing. Opinions are alright, but that was unacceptable. -BSBiz
I think there was some heat between Tito and Chuck, and for some unknown reasons,the fight will be post-poned. So Dana is still trying to keep the hype going strong until the fight does come to. Probably a lot of old arguements and hype. I expect this to happen when Rampage and Rashad fight. Its good business.
Sh!t like this makes me wonder just what the He11 is going on over at Zuffa?!
What’s going on with Tito, Chuck, and Dana? Are Tito and Dana fighting or did someone get hurt? I don’t know whats the deal?
i have met randy couture in las vagas when we got pictures he held my arm with a strong grip it was cool
Maybe its possible that Tito got hurt rolling with one of his guys in the TUF house or something, and therefore won’t be cleared to fight until some later date, such as June?
This might also explain the semi-cryptic nature of the announcements to date, because they don’t want to spoil any of the show…
I have been wondering about an injury myself. It is very possible that it occured in training. In all honesty I see that as the most likely issue.
this pisses me off so bad. im tired of the coaches on the ultimate fighter not fighting eachother. tito ortiz is a drama queen there is no telling what happened. i do believe chuck doesnt have it anymore and whoever he does fight is gonna knock him out
honestly, i’ve always felt the coaching is/could be a little better when they aren’t fighting. though it does add a little to the tv entertainment aspect when they do fight.
I agree.
Also, I’m thinking that the idea of TUF, aside of course from promoting MMA and the UFC, is to highlight fighters the viewers haven’t seen before, and maybe unearth tomorrow’s MMA superstars today.
When the opposing coaches are scheduled to fight after the TUF season wraps, the attention is drawn from the contestants and onto the opposing coaches.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except when one of the opposing coaches decides to duck out of his signed fight to do a movie or something, but the UFC has other avenues such as All-Access, Primetime, and Countdown to feature fighters in a big upcoming fight, so why should they also co-opt TUF to do basically the same thing that those other shows do?
IMO the UFC should let TUF and its contestants take center stage, and if they need to feature “name” fighters as coaches for whatever reason/s, then they can use retired fighters, or men from different weightclasses to avoid the need for them to square off at the post-TUF PPV…
K Honestly…Is UFC 115 still happening on June 12 in Vancouver?! I’m trying to book off some vacation time here and everything keeps changing with this event! It’s coming sooner than it seems!! I think it’s by time they CONFIRM something…not just rumours..I NEED to know!!! Dana PLEASE just tell us the truth…I really want to know, please?
…ps…went to see GSP in MONTREAL!! WAS AWESOME!! Vancouver better happen…it was sooo much fun!!