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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Randy Couture may not be done yet. According to a report from Ariel Helwani, Couture has verbally agreed to a bout with Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in Toronto on April 30.
The fight has not been finalized, and negotiations are still on-going, but if the fight is set it could serve as the night's co-main event.
Couture had made some comments on Twitter and Facebook last month that suggested he was ready to hang up his gloves to concentrate on acting, but the right fight at the right time was always going to see him give it another shot. He had also reportedly been interested in a fight with either Machida or Light Heavyweight Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but initially it wasn't expected that the UFC would make that fight.
Couture hasn't fought since defeating boxer James Toney at UFC 118 last August. The multi-time champion and UFC Hall of Famer is 3-0 in his last three fights since moving back to the light heavyweight division following consecutive losses to Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Machida will look to rebound from consecutive losses of his own. After losing the Light Heavyweight Championship in a knockout loss to "Shogun," Machida dropped a split decision to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in November.
UFC 129 is set to take place from the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Penick's Analysis: This is a great fight if it gets finalized, and is one of the two fights Couture was going to come back for. Machida now has a chance to get a big win over a big name fighter in front of a massive audience. For Couture, he has a chance to prove that he can still compete in the sport at an elite level at 47. This would be a fight that could really help sell out the Rogers Center, along with what will likely be a main event between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields.
[Randy Couture art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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