Couture’s decision to retire was first reported by ESPN and elaborated on during a conference call with media relating to the April 30 event.

“It’s time to focus on the other things I’ve got going on in my life after this fight,” Couture explained. “I’ve pushed it pretty far. I don’t think anyone is going to push it as far as I have over the last fourteen years.”

As far as his reasoning, “The Natural” made it clear it was simply time to move on rather than a forced issue, saying, “I feel healthy, I feel great. I can still compete at this level. I just don’t want to stretch it. I don’t want to wait until I have that injury and have doctors telling me I can’t fight anymore. I want to enjoy the rest of my life right now. I don’t want to wait too long.”

“Win, lose, or draw doesn’t factor into the equation,” he concluded after being asked whether or not a victory over Machida could change his mind.

Future endeavors for Couture include roles in a pair of upcoming films, including the sequel to The Expendables which starts filming in August, as well as a possible return to the broadcast booth alongside Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.

Pending the outcome of his fight with Machida, Couture will exit MMA with a 19-10 record (plus/minus the performance) and memorable wins including those over Tim Sylvia, Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, and Chuck Liddell in addition to many others.

News of the fight and both parties’ interest was reported by MMAFighting.

Couture had previously hinted at hanging his gloves up for good based on his rising profile in Hollywood and feeling his last two fights were “novelty” bouts (Mark Coleman / James Toney), saying on ESPN’s MMA Live, “They didn’t really matter in the division, they didn’t put me any closer to a title.”

In Machida, the iconic Mixed Martial Artist will attempt to solve an extremely motivated 16-2 riddle emerging victorious in sixteen straight appearances to open his career up. However, “The Dragon” is coming off a mildly questionable split decision loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a few months ago at UFC 123 and dropped the light heavyweight title a bout earlier by way of first-round knockout to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in May, so he clearly has a lot on the line in terms of avoiding a three-fight losing streak. Prior to the defeats the crafty Brazilian had notched a number of notable wins including those over Rua, Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz, and Thiago Silva.

Randy Couture is NOT Retiring…Yet (CagePotato.com)

Herschel Walker Returning to Ring on January 29 (MMAConvert.com)

Care to Vote on the Best Bout in WEC History? (Versus.com)

UFC Cancels Return Trip to Abu Dhabi (MMAFighting)

TBS Actor Offered Spot at New Year’s Eve “Dynamite” Event (MiddleEasy.com)

Unrelated Actress Offered Spot in MMA-Related Movie…and She’s a Top P4P Babe! (WatchKalibRun.com)

Eddie Bravo Breaks Down Dustin Hazelett’s UFC 124 Loss (MMAScraps.com)

Ryan Jimmo Fighting for Belt at Upcoming MFC Event (FIGHT! Magazine)

WEC’s Brad Pickett is Ready for a Step Up in Competition (HeavyMMA.com)

PHOTO CREDIT – Strikeforce

The last fans heard of Couture’s future was when he spoke to ESPN’s MMA Live, where he said, “You know, I’ve had an amazing year…my last two fights, in all honesty, were novelty fights. Not to take anything away from my opponents, but that’s the truth of the matter. They didn’t really matter in the division, they didn’t put me any closer to a title. And, you know, I have to make a decision at some point.”

Now news of the XTreme Couture founder’s still-expanding Hollywood career has come via a recent radio conversation with MMAJunkie, where it was revealed his next project involves a film called “Setup” with Bruce Willis that starts rolling in December which he will then follow up with “The Expendables” sequel in March.

“(MMA) is on hold for now,” he explained on the program. “You never know what (the UFC is) going to throw at me. We’ll see, and if it’s interesting, I might not be able to walk away from it.”

Couture is 19-10 and has won his last three fights, including a first-round submission of James Toney at UFC 118 this past August. He has also notched victories over Brandon Vera and Mark Coleman during the run.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

However, “The Natural” recently spoke with ESPN’s ”MMA Live” and insinuated he may finally be taking a permanent break from Mixed Martial Arts competition based on where he sees himself within the UFC’s internal rankings.

“I’ve had my wars, I’ve had my battles…I’ve been there, done that…I am competing and training, and I feel better than I’ve ever felt physically,” Couture began. “But, I don’t see myself making another run at the title, heavyweight or light heavyweight.”

He also joked about NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s approach to calling it quits, saying he didn’t want to take the flip-flop route or make a premature official announcement, but did make his feelings clear on the status of his career, saying, “I think at some point I’ve got to call enough ‘enough’.”

When asked to elaborate on the situation, the 47-year old Couture referred to his most-recent match-ups against James Toney and Mark Coleman.

“You know, I’ve had an amazing year…my last two fights, in all honesty, were novelty fights. Not to take anything away from my opponents, but that’s the truth of the matter. They didn’t really matter in the division, they didn’t put me any closer to a title. And, you know, I have to make a decision at some point. So I think I would entertain another novelty-type fight – I can still compete – but I don’t see myself making a run at the title any time soon.”

By evening’s end all three questions had been answered in as clear, concise a fashion as fans could have hoped for.

Maynard officially moved his undefeated streak into double-digits against Massachusetts’ own Florian with the takedowns and ground-control he’s become known for since debuting on the Ultimate Fighter Season 5. Though the end result was not necessarily pretty, it was certainly effective and earned “The Bully” a unanimous decision victory, as well as an eventual shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Later in the evening, former double-division champ Randy Couture locked horns with boxing legend James Toney and wasted little time introducing the “mixed” aspect of MMA into things. Toney’s dangerous stand-up was neutralized less than thirty seconds into the fight after Couture landed a single-leg takedown and eased his way into mount. From there, “The Natural” made textbook work of Toney, softening him up with a few strikes before procuring an arm-triangle choke for the the nineteenth victory of his Hall of Fame career.

In main event action, former 155-pound champ Penn promised to offer a larger threat to current title-holder Edgar than he had when the two first fought at UFC 112. However, he was ultimately unable to do so and looked far poorer in the process than he did this past April when they first competed for the belt. Penn, who had been considered by many as the best lightweight of all time and a top pound-for-pound contender entering the bout, was outworked in all phases of the fight from start to finish and again landed on the losing end of a unanimous decision loss to the Jersey product as a result.

Next up for Edgar is Maynard, the only man to beat him thus far in a fourteen-fight career. The two originally faced off in April 2008 at Fight Night 13. The bout saw Maynard use his strength, size, and comparable wrestling skills to control Edgar throughout the bulk of the action and walk away with the judges’ favor for his performance.

The full list of UFC 118 results is as follows:

Mike Pierce def. Amilcar Alves via Submission Round 3 (Armbar)
Greg Soto def. Nick Osipczak via Unanimous Decision
Dan Miller def. John Salter via Submission Round 2 (Anaconda Choke)
Nik Lentz def. Andre Winner via Unanimous Decision
Joe Lauzon def. Gabe Ruediger via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Nate Diaz def. Marcus Davis via Submission Round 3 (Guillotine Choke)
Gray Maynard def. Ken Florian via Unanimous Decision
Demian Maia def. Mario Miranda via Unanimous Decision
Randy Couture def. James Toney via Submission Round 1 (Arm-Triangle Choke)
Frank Edgar def. BJ Penn via Unanimous Decision

That’s why FiveOuncesofPain.com figured there was no better time than now to pull up a chair alongside the four-time UFC champion’s main training partner, Neil Melanson, to pick his brain on the upcoming match-up between the two pioneers of the sport.

An elite level grappler that spent a great deal of time under the wing of submission master Gokor Chivichyan in Los Angeles, Melanson is the Head Submission Coach at one of the undisputed best MMA gyms on the planet, Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

So come along as the always insightful Melanson shares his feelings on this highly anticipated 205 pound tussle for a shot at all the marbles in arguably the most stacked division in all of mixed martial arts.

Cory Brady for FiveOuncesofPain.com: What are your thoughts on Mark Coleman, and some of the problems he could potentially present to someone like Randy?

Neil Melanson: I’ve always been a Mark Coleman fan. I’ve always admired him because he was a guy that didn’t ever really evolve in the sport, and he’s still done very well over time. He’s never really had much of an easy fight. If you look at his record, he’s lost a lot, but it’s all to guys that were in the top three of their weight divisions at the time they met. He’s lost to some really tough guys, so you can’t really give him s*** for that. I don’t know how his training regimen is – if he’s kind of flaky or not- but I’ve always wanted to work with him, to teach him some submission defense, and a lot of things like that. But personally, I’m a big admirer of his. I met him about a year ago for the first time and it was really an honor to meet him.

As far as what threat he could pose to Randy: I think it will be the ability to steal rounds. I really don’t see Coleman having a lot to offer to Randy. Especially right now, because even though [Randy] is older, he’s more technical now than he’s ever been. He may have sacrificed a little bit with age, but he’s made up for it with increased technique so it kind of balances out. What Coleman is probably going to want to do is to use his powerful double leg takedown to put Randy on his back. He’s not going to want to take a lot of risks and he’s going to try to win a decision by keeping Randy on his back for the majority of the fight. I think that’s going to be Coleman’s game plan, and we have been working on some serious remedies for that type of problem.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: So you basically see Coleman going old school Hammer House …. Well, I guess it’s not really old school because that’s what Mark does. His formula has always been to get you on your back and pound the life out of you.

Neil Melanson: Right, and I don’t really see Coleman trying to pound Randy unconscious or knock him out. I see him trying to maintain position and hold Randy a lot, and if there are any opportunities, he’ll take them. I think Coleman is going to try to turn this into a wrestling match, but Randy has made a lot of advancements in his wrestling since I’ve been working with him. The one thing Randy was lacking was his old wrestling skills. There’s a whole facet of ground fighting that is pure wrestling, and Randy had gotten so far away from it. So when I was training with him I was really waking him up to it, and now he’s like a totally different creature. The way he’s working the turtle is really good and I’ve taught him a couple of guard systems that are working really well. Randy also has a nice little submission library. Randy has a couple submissions – he doesn’t need a lot – that he does amazingly. Randy will be hunting for submissions on Mark Coleman, and he will be trying to knock him out on the ground as well. If it goes to the ground, it doesn’t matter what position it’s in, Randy will be superior. I guarantee you that.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Do you see this fight as being one of those bouts where their similar advantages on the ground could possibly create a stand up fight?

Neil Melanson: I don’t see that happening, although that’s a scenario that a lot of people could visualize. Randy is a mile ahead of Mark with his striking and that’s going to be recognized pretty quick in this fight. Mark’s going to do what he always does which is to shoot that powerful double leg and keep plowing into him. If Coleman is able to eventually get Randy to the ground, then Randy has a nice turtle and reversal game as well. It’s something I’ve been drilling with him for some time now. I’m a big advocate of the turtle and I work it a lot. I personally think it’s the next stage in the evolution of MMA. I don’t think people realize how powerful the turtle position is. When you’re fighting an good turtle-player your tactics have to be extremely intelligent because you can get reversed really easy. Randy is just getting better and better. Like recently we went for three hours, and it’s not because Randy lost track of time, it’s because we were having so much fun working on stuff and developing training methods. It’s not just me teaching Randy, because he has been doing this for years. I’m also learning from him, so we’re having a blast. He is so motivated right now to establish himself as a premier catch wrestler, and he’s been very vocal about that to me.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Bottom line, what does Randy need to make sure happens in order to win this fight?

Neil Melanson: Randy just needs to move. If Mark wants to stay on his feet for any length of time, he’s going to realize really fast that he can’t. Randy’s boxing is just getting better and better. Randy has always like to work his dirty boxing off of the cage, and it’s good, but it’s never good enough. So I talked to his boxing coaches – my wife (Erin Toughill) being one of them – and said, ‘Look, what can we do better here? He’s not landing enough and he’s not doing enough damage’. Then I began to work with Randy and started to open him up a little more. So now he’s using his boxing on the inside to set up his takedowns, and he’s using his takedowns to set up his boxing. If Mark Coleman decides to stand up with Randy he’s going to eat a lot of punches. He’s going to see a furious old man trying to kill him. One thing Randy has been lacking is really good training partners. I’ve been his main training partner and I’m just a ground fighter. I’m not a boxer. So I made a conscious effort this time to bring in guys that aren’t afraid to stand with Randy, or wrestle Randy, or do MMA with Randy. They’re big guys, and these guys have been critical. On the ground I can push Randy plenty, but now he has guys that will box him that can take the pain, and will make him pay. Randy’s sparring is more intense for this fight than it has ever been before. I’m not looking past Coleman but this is a really good camp. We’re already looking at the next fight. We’re getting our tactics ready.

The event is scheduled to take place from the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England on November 14.

After recently signing a deal with the UFC that will carry through the duration of his career, Couture has made the decision to make the move back down to light-heavyweight following back to back losses at heavyweight to Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Vera has gone 3-1 since making the move to 205 pounds after previously competing at heavyweight, with his only loss in the division coming to Keith Jardine. Vera’s most recent trip to the Octagon was a unanimous decision victory over Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102.

According to the British tabloid, The Sun, it looks like the main event of UFC 105 could now feature a light heavyweight battle between “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-10) and Brandon Vera (11-3).

In the past few weeks, the UFC has been struggling to find a decent main event fight for UFC 105 ever since they decided to move the upcoming UFC lightweight title fight between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez to UFC 107 in December. The company decided to move the lightweight title fight after Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was forced to delay his much-anticipated bout with Rashad Evans so he could take time off in order to film his role as “B.A. Baracus” in the forthcoming “A-Team” movie.

The UFC was also reportedly considering a Nate Marquardt vs. Dan Henderson main event for the show, however a contract dispute between the UFC and Henderson has forced the company to look elsewhere for a main event. The company then asked Rashad Evans if he would interested in facing Couture on the show, but he declined the fight in order to focus on an upcoming battle with “Rampage” in the near future.

A Couture/Vera fight would mark the second time each man has fought in the past four months. They both recently fought at UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon on August 29. On that card, Vera managed to pick up a unanimous-decision victory over Krzysztof Soszynski, while Couture dropped a hard fought decision to former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

At the post-UFC 102 press conference, the UFC had announced that they had signed the 46-year old Couture to a six-fight extension. Couture then mentioned that he would be interested in fighting in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. If this match-up does indeed go down, it will mark the first time Couture has appeared in the UFC’s light heavyweight division since losing to Chuck Liddell at UFC 57 back in February of 2006.

It was confirmed at the post fight press conference, that Randy Couture has signed a new six-fight, 28 month contract, which replaces his existing contract. After an eleven month absence from the cage, Couture signed a three fight deal back in September 2008. This new contract appears to serve as a deal to keep the five-time champion in the UFC until retirement.

Although details were not discussed, Matt Walker, Couture’s agent, stated the deal was “a great showing of respect to an icon of the sport.”

Couture’s loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on Saturday night, was the first confirmed fight of his new contract.

Couture said he would let the dust settle before he would make a decision on his next opponent in the heavyweight division, but also hinted he could possibly return to light-heavyweight.

Couture was quoted as saying, “I’m interested in interesting fights. There are a lot of guys in both divisions that are interesting to fight.”

Although the decision loss was not outcome Couture wanted, it proved that the 46 year old Hall of Famer still has what it takes to compete at a high level.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

The six-time UFC champion and the dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt got after it right off the bat during the main event that took place in Portland, Oregon, exchanging powerful strikes that left both men battered and bruised when it was all said and done. A see-saw battle that saw Couture avoiding submissions and doing his best to work his trademark ground and pound while on the canvas.

In the end the judges saw the bout in Nogueira’s favor, awarding him with the unanimous decision victory, and throwing the decorated veteran right back into the mix of the UFC’s heavyweight division in the process.

While Couture ended up on the losing end of the decision, he showed that he is far from done in the fight game at forty-six years of age. Whether “The Natural” hangs them up for good, or possibly decides on a switch back down to light-heavyweight will surely be decided in the coming days. From what he showed this evening though, there appears to be no reason for Randy to call it quits just yet.

It should be no mystery to anyone vaguely familiar with this sport that Nogueira is well known for one thing: Finding a way to submit some of the best big men on the planet. In 31 professional victories, 19 have come by way of submission for the Brazilian born pain pharmacist. Respected heavyweights such as Heath Herring, Tim Sylvia and Mark Coleman have been humbled by Nogueira in the past, making it no mystery as to what the former PRIDE and UFC interim champion’s clear cut path to victory will be tomorrow evening in Portland.

Don’t think for a second that this truth hasn’t been drilled into Couture’s head over the last couple of months by a man that goes by the name of Neil Melanson. Neil may not be a name familiar to the average Joe just yet, but that is sure to change in coming months as the impact of the Gokor Chivichyan and Karo Parisyan trained submission specialist has had since his recent arrival at Xtreme Couture has been profound.

Schooled under the umbrella of “The Toughest Man Alive” Gene Lebell and his vicious Judo influenced style of submission fighting that is still widely untapped in the world of MMA, Melanson brings a practical, somewhat old school style to training that war dogs such as Couture can fully appreciate. A “let’s use what REALLY works, and throw out the rest of this garbage” approach to twisting limbs and forcing tapouts.

While Melanson admittedly comes from a different variation of submission fighting that the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt does, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the utmost respect for Nogueira and everything he has accomplished both in the world of submissions, and the world of mixed martial arts.

“On the ground Nogueira is one of the guys that I’ve looked up to for years, and he really is amazing,” admitted Melanson during a conversation with FiveOuncesOfPain.com in the days leading into UFC 102. “He has made a lot of adjustments to his game because people don’t want to stay on the ground with him anymore.”

The fact that a ground fighter as accomplished as Nogueira is held in such a high regard by Melanson adds validity to his argument that Couture will be in for few surprises come tomorrow night. Neil is fully aware of what Big Nog brings to the table, and he has prepared Couture for every worst case scenario possible.

“I think I’ve done a great job of preparing Randy for the ground,” said Melanson. “I’ve really educated Randy on how to smother the guard, and how to stay away intelligently; without hovering or leaving himself vulnerable for timing based attacks. Focusing on how to beat Nogueira’s half guard, and just how to survive. We spent the first just on defense; surviving submission, surviving bad positions. It wasn’t even until the second month that we got more into the offensive mindset.”

Of course the saying goes,”If it aint broke, don’t fix it”, but what about tweaking it just a little bit to be more proficcient? According to Melanson, this is exactly what he did to the ground attack of one of the most brutal ground and pounders in the business, explaining,”The other major thing with Randy that we changed was his ground and pound. I know it sounds weird because Randy is known for his ground and pound, but I changed the way he does his striking on the ground to make him more violent.

“Every time you throw a punch inside someones guard, what happens is you leave yourself in a hovering position after you retract the punch where you can be counter-attacked by a good submission artist. That’s what you see most of the time. Well what I taught Randy to do was to smother the counter-attack, similar to what Fedor does, and after Randy throws that punch to follow up with a shoulder slam and smother the hips.”

Outside of his last bout with Frank Mir, Nogueira has shown an ability to absorb a phenomenal amount of punishment without being stopped. While stopping a man as capable on the ground as Antonio on the ground with a flurry of punches is unlikely, the addition of elbows on the bottom in the UFC add an extra element Nogueira hadn’t dealt with in his days fighting in Japan. Melanson agrees, and also feel that there is a very good chance that ‘there will be blood’ in the Octagon in Portland when it’s all said and done.

“If Randy gets to zero degrees flat on Nogueira, I believe there’s a very high percentage that he will split him open with his elbows,” said the Xrteme Couture Head Jiu-Jitsu Instructor. “He does not hover any more. He smothers, and when he plays away, he plays all the way away; which is going to help him avoid a lot of submissions. By doing that, Nogueira is probably going to come into the half guard, which we know isn’t that hard to predict because it’s the smart thing for Nogueira to do. All of this has been formulated and drilled into him many times, so nothing should be surprising here. If Randy gets in a bad situation, we’ve really hammered it so he should be able to get out of it.

“My thing with this fight is: Randy’s not going to go out there and score with Nogueira on the ground. He’s going out there to do damage. If he chooses to stay on the ground with Nogueira, he’s going to do DAMAGE. If it goes to the ground you’re not going to see Randy chipping away at somebody. You’re going to see Randy doing damage, escaping position, confuse Nogueira and pick him apart on the feet. That’s what we’re hoping is going to happen. We either get a stoppage on a cut, a TKO, or even a knockout.”

Although it has been noted that Nogueira has been an extremely difficult man to finish throughout the course of his battle-charted career, the fact that the normally iron-chinned veteran was wobbled by punches that he normally would have shrugged off in his last trip to the Octagon must be formulated into the equation. Something Melanson is more than aware of, stating,”I don’t know where Nogueira is physically right now with all of the wars he’s been in. He may be susceptible to the flash knockout. Just because of the way he would drop so much with Mir. Once you get into that phase where your programmed to do the flash knockout, it’s kind of like with Ken Shamrock where you’ll see him just get clipped, and he’s out for just one second so he really doesn’t think he was out. It’s very subtle. The brain is basically training itself. Once you’ve been knocked out really hard, the body remembers that and it will shut down. That’s why a guy like Chuck Liddell, who used to have a great chin, is just getting dropped. Because after he got knocked out that first time by Rampage, his body is starting to remember, and it programs itself. I think with Nogueira it’s very probable that the same thing happened.

“I don’t know what you can do about that. Once you’ve reached that point your body is just done. Nogueira has been in some unbelievable wars throughout his career. It’s crazy because most of his fights came in Japan so a lot of people don’t really know how great he really is, but he is one of the greatest of all time. He is a legend. I think he’s just taken too much damage, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but maybe it’s time for him to hang it up, but we’ll see.”

Whether the fight ends in a flash knockout or TKO via cuts, one thing is for certain: You’re going to have to take it from Nogueira, he’s far too proud to give you anything. Men like Nogueira are just cut from a different cloth. Antonio is a living, breathing definition of Bushido. A true warrior, willing to die in the cage if that’s what the situation calls for.

“He has the heart of a lion, and he does not break mentally,” said Melanson. “Nogueira does not break mentally. He can get frustrated. Like Fedor frustrated him, but he’ll always try to win the fight. It’s the same mindset with guys like Jon Fitch, or even Thiago Alves in their fights with Georges St. Pierre. Sure, they got dominated in that fight, but in that fifth round they were still trying to win that fight. They don’t break. There are some guys that will just lie down when things don’t go their way, and that’s not Randy either. I’ve really hammered him on the ground; trying to break him, and trying to get him frustrated, and he was so mad. But he would get mad and try to tear my head off, not mad and storming off of the mat.”

Although Melanson has trained Couture to do intense physical harm to Nogueira on Saturday evening in recent months, the author of several top rated submission technique books doesn’t rule out training with Big Nog sometime down the line. In fact, it’s something Neil would welcome with open arms should the opportunity arise in the future, explaining,”We’ll see. I really hope it goes Randy’s way, and hopefully after a little bit, I would love to train with Nogueira too. Like I said, I love the guy, and I think he’s awesome.”

Could a drop to 205 pounds be in UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture’s future?

How realistic a move that is may be left to fans’ speculation, but “The Natural” has made one thing certain – he is intrigued by the possibility of stepping into the Octagon against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida.

The former double-division UFC champion expressed his interest during a recent interview with local Oregon media outlet “On Portland“.

“[Machida's] got a very unique style – it’s very unorthodox. He stays pretty true to his karate background and makes it work for him. He’s got great footwork, great balance. He’s very patient. I think he’s terrific,” said Couture of Machida after flashing a coy smile when the subject initially came up.

“I could certainly go back down to 205 if that was something (the UFC) wanted to see. I’d be interested in competing against him. I think he’s a tremendous competitor and somebody I’d like to fight.”

The Xtreme Couture training center’s patriarch’s current focus is undoubtedly on his upcoming clash with fellow Mixed Martial Arts legend Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira at UFC 102, but the seeds for Couture’s possible return to the light heavyweight division and subsequent in-cage chess match with the undefeated Machida have officially been planted.

UFC 102 is scheduled to take place at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon on August 29 and will air live on pay-per-view.

The event will be the first ever UFC to make its way to Oregon.

“We’re extremely excited to be heading to Portland,” said UFC President Dana White in the announcement. “When you get two mixed-martial-arts legends who are all heart and have wanted to fight each other for years, plus the fact that Randy has roots in Oregon, that tells me that not only will the crowd be electric, but it’s also a night where the fighters will be looking to cement their legacies.”

The August bout will be the first return to action for Couture since he lost the heavyweight championship to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 in November of 2008. Couture had compiled two consecutive victories in the UFC’s heavyweight division just prior to that loss over the likes of Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Nogueira will be making his return after losing the UFC interim heavyweight championship to Frank Mir in December of 2008 at UFC 92. He also had a victory over Sylvia just prior to his most recent loss, along with wins over Heath Herring in the UFC and Josh Barnett in PRIDE.

The bout between Couture and Nogueira will be just one of five match ups expected for UFC 102 pitting Brazilians against Americans.

A full list of the bouts expected for UFC 102 are listed below:

Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia

Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva

James Irvin vs. Wilson Gouveia

Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer

Matt Veach vs. Evan Dunham

Our Live Event Chat Room will be providing up to the minute live coverage of tonights 12 fights.  You can enter the room and chat with other FiveOuncesofPain.com readers HERE.

Tonight’s fight card is as follows.

Due to the event having 12 fights tonights start time is  7:30PM  EST.

Main Card Bouts:
Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision
Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO-4:28, Round 1.
Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) – 3:53, Round 1..
Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) – 2:29, Round 2.
Luiz Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision
Undercard Bouts:

Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision
Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) -2:27, Round 1.
Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision
Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (RNC) – 4:57, Round 1.
T.J. Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision
Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision

YOU CAN ENTER THE 5oz  Live EVENT Chatroom CLICK HERE!!! for full coverage.

Tonight’s scheduled card from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio is as follows (with final weigh-in results in parenthesis):

MAIN CARD -

• Quinton Jackson def. Keith Jardine via unanimous decision
• Shane Carwin def. Gabriel Gonzaga via KO (punch)~1:09~Round 1 (257.5)
• Matt Brown def. Pete Sell via TKO~1:32~Round 1
• Matt Hamill def. Mark Munoz via knockout ~3:53~Round 1
  
• Gray Maynard def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision

PRELIMINARY CARD -

• Tamdan McCrory def. Ryan Madigan via TKO ~3:35~Round 1 (170)
• Kendall Grove def. Jason Day via TKO ~1:32~Round 1
• Jason Brilz def. Tim Boetsch via unanimous decision
• Brandon Vera def. Michael Patt via TKO~ 1:27~Round 2
• # Shane Nelson def. Aaron Riley via TKO ~ :44~Round 1
  

The news was first reported by MMAWeekly.com, which is citing sources close to Couture’s camp. A location for UFC 101 has yet to be finalized, but MMA Weekly added that Portland, Oregon is a potential destination.

The 46-year old Couture had been rumored for several bouts in recent months, including a possible fight vs. Mirko Cro Cop this June in Cologne, Germany at UFC 99.

If finalized, the fight would mark Couture’s first bout since losing the UFC heavyweight title to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 this past November. Fighting for the first time in nearly a year and a half, Couture was TKO’d at 3:07 of round 2.

Nogueira is also coming off a loss in his last bout, a fight in which he lost the interim UFC heavyweight title after suffering a second round TKO against Frank Mir this past December at UFC 92.

During a recent interview with Arianny Celeste for the video web site RawVegas.tv, Couture confirmed that the rumors are indeed true.

“(It’s a ) possibility,” Couture responded when asked about reports linking him to a bout against the former PRIDE star.

However, the five-time UFC world champion stopped short of saying that the matchup has been finalized.

“I’m working on a movie this spring (in) March, April, and May,” revealed “The Natural,” before adding, “… It depends on when I finish the movie.”

While his movie commitment will take first priority, a fight with Cro Cop is one that is attractive to Couture.

“If I can get a full camp in before the Germany fight (then) I would love to fight Cro Cop. He’s a huge star in the Germany. The question is whether I can get a full camp in.”

While many fans are intrigued by the possibility of a Couture vs. Cro Cop fight, there appears to be a strong possibility that the fight will not happen.

UFC 99 is tentatively schedule to take place at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on Saturday, June 13. Assuming Couture finishes his filming commitments by early May, the 46-year old would have just slightly over five weeks to prepare for the event.

If filming were to extend into May, fighting in June would no longer be a viable option for Couture. It also remains to be seen if the UFC would be willing to sign a fight that could not be finalized until just 5-6 weeks in advance of an event, as the bout’s impact on ticket sales would be limited.

As of now, just two bouts have been reported for UFC 99; a 195 pound catchweight bout between former PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva and former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin as well as a lightweight contest between Caol Uno and Spencer Fisher.

In Part I of our interview, Tompkins discussed the preparations he’s current making in getting four fighters ready for Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” on Jan. 24; his thoughts on whether Vitor Belfort has enough left to make a run a major middleweight title; and his feelings about famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach’s assessment of Fedor Emelianenko’s striking.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): You’re a pretty busy many these days as you are helping multiple fighters get ready for Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” on January 24. Can you talk a little more about that?

Shawn Tompkins: I’m in the middle of one of my biggest training camps that I have ever had to date. I’ve got Mark Hominick, Chris Horodecki, Jay Hieron, and Vitor Belfort all preparing for big fights on January 24 for the Affliction card. We’re full steam ahead and we’ve got about three weeks left as of today. It’s all going good and everyone is healthy, which is the key.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Belfort is such an interesting case. He’s had so many ups and downs in his career and is a former UFC light heavyweight champion. He comes out of Brazil and trained there for years and I wanted to know how you came about working with him?

Shawn Tompkins: Vitor wanted to come out originally to work with Randy Couture because Vitor has really turned to religion and he really respected the way Randy carried himself as a human being.

Ultimately, that’s what made him decide to come to Las Vegas. At the time I was working with Wanderlei Silva and a couple of other Brazilians that I was starting out with as well and my success as an MMA coach got back to him. He had his management connect with me and we worked together for a couple of days and see if it would go together. We’ve worked great together ever since.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Vitor has made the move to 185 and he’s still in his early 30s. However, he’s been in so many wars over the years that he might be old for his age and I wanted to ask if you felt if he has enough left in him to make a run at a middleweight title?

Shawn Tompkins: Absolutely. And I’ve been telling people this since the last Affliction card where everyone has been like “Wow, the old Vitor is back.” I truly believe that it’s not the old Vitor and it’s a brand new Vitor that is more determined and more motivated. I think the 185 pound division causes him to have to work harder between fights and maintain.

It’s also been a long time since Vitor has had a real team behind him. I think where Vitor went well in the past is that after he had some success — and this has happened many times with other fighters — he surrounded himself with people that just say “You’re the greatest! Everything you do is perfect! You’re good — you’re good” and they don’t push him. And they don’t set it up and he has to come into the gym and do what he has to do rather than what he wants to do. I think he’s really matured and changed in that way.

As far as his body holding up, he’s a physical specimen. He doesn’t carry his age through any of the wars that he’s had. Sure, he’s had some tough fights but I don’t think he’s had any wars that will feed on him later in his career.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): You mentioned Chris Horodecki at the top of the interview and he” be fighting Dan Lauzon on Jan. 24. He’s come out and promised a surprise for Lauzon and while I know you can’t give the surprise away, can you give us a hint as to what we can expect?

Shawn Tompkins: What people are going to see ultimately is a more well-rounded Chris Horodecki. He gained a huge fanbase during his IFL days but I was really doing Bas Rutten a favor by putting Chris Horodecki in there at such a young age. Obviously, it worked very well for Bas and I and Chris. But now since April we’ve had some time to really just sit down and focus more on his training and career and round him out more so that he’s not just a kickboxer.

He’s a great kickboxer but we really spent a lot of time on improving his ground game as far as his jiu-jitsu and his wrestling. If anybody looks at Dan Lauzon, that’s his strength. I think we’re doing a really good job with our training of Horodecki. He’s a great kid and he’s a single-minded person. He knows what he’s good at and he knows what he needs to get better at.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Horodecki is one of the best fighters in the world under the age of 22, yet he’s got several years of experience. How young was he when he came to you?

Shawn Tompkins: Chris and I started working together when he was 12 years old. I tell people this a lot, and he does too, we’ve got a real father/son relationship. We’ve won together and we’ve lost together. So there’s nothing we haven’t seen and we both know that there’s a lot of room for improvement and I’m always very excited in his fight camp when I put them together because I take them very personal and I always like to see him improve.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): The main event on that card is Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski and famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach recently broke down Fedor’s striking in an interview with SI.com. He specifically talked about how Fedor strikes from a flat footed position and he also indicated that he felt his aggressive nature could be used against him. What is your assessment of Fedor as a striker and do you agree with what Roach said?

Shawn Tompkins: First of all, I respect Freddie Roach more than any other trainer in the business and that’s in boxing and martial arts. When he says something it’s generally gold. But I will go against him in a way where he says Fedor’s punching isn’t technical and that it isn’t good because obviously, he’s the greatest. There are some cases with certain people that when everything they do wrong turns out right and that’s what you have in Fedor.

As far as an aggressive nature with Arlovski, I think that’s a positive for Fedor. If you look at the past with Arlovski, when he doesn’t do well is when he gets hit and gets hurt and that’s when Arlovski falls a part. He’s a very confidence-driven fighter. He needs to be winning in order to do well and look good.

I just can’t see Arlovski winning the fight. I think it’s a really bad fight for him but I think it’s a fight that he has to do. Best of luck to him, obviously, and I think Freddie Roach is a great trainer and I have respect for him at the upmost but I just don’t think he understands Fedor like the rest of us in the MMA game do.

Other reports surfaced shortly thereafter and claimed that neither Liddell or Couture were pleased with the prospect of fighting one another for a fourth time. Additionally, there have also been rumors of a possible superfight with Anderson Silva to take place in early 2009

Now, according to an interview with the UK-based Fighters Only, Liddell claims that no one has even talked to him about the prospect of fighting Silva or Couture.

“Nobody’s talked to me at all about Randy or Anderson Silva in any recent talks,” Liddell told the British publication. “I know there was something about me fighting (Silva) in February, that’s definitely not true. I’m not fighting until March or April. The rumor about me and Randy in June, no one’s said a word to me, and I don’t want to wait until June to fight. So we’ll wait to see what happens and I’m gonna talk to Dana (White) about that. I haven’t heard anything about it. I don’t know where it came from or who was talking about it, but to me at this point it doesn’t make sense.”

It’s unclear as to who Liddell will fight in the coming year as there are only a few options. A potential rematch against the winner of Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson fight is always a possibility. Liddell’s fight against Silva was one of the best fights of 2007 and a rematch would likely produce fireworks again. A rematch with Jackson would allow Liddell a final chance at redemption against the man who took his title from him as Jackson has beaten him twice before.