Randy Couture tells story of choosing to stay with UFC instead of signing with PRIDE

While it can be hard to remember a time when Randy Couture wasn’t at odds with the UFC, there was a lengthy period where he was one of the promotion’s most identifiable stars. His star power makes it no surprise that he was offered a PRIDE contract when the Japanese promotion was at its peak.

Ultimately, Couture’s decision to stay with the UFC came down to looking beyond the big money up front and a decision based on staying in front of American fans.

His stint in the UFC began in 1997 when Couture (19-11 MMA, 16-8 UFC) won the night’s heavyweight tournament.

“Getting into MMA in and of itself was kind of on a whim,” Couture told MMAjunkie Radio. “I got put on the alternate list back then. They called me up at the last minute, on three weeks notice and said, ‘Hey, you’re on our alternate list. We can’t fill the spot. Do you still want to fight?’ And I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s go.’ Three weeks later was UFC 13.”

As his notoriety grew, PRIDE came calling.

PRIDE was well known as being able to shell out big money for fighters. The offer made to him, Couture says, was enticing, but Dan Henderson’s situation was key in convincing him to remain in the octagon.

“There was a moment when I was being offered a contract by PRIDE in PRIDE’s heyday,” Couture said. “It was a sizable monetary contract for that time. I had to consider it, for sure. The UFC came back, they had first right of refusal and all that stuff. It ended up making more sense for me to end up staying in the American marketplace.

“I’d been long-time friends with (Dan) Henderson who’d been fighting in PRIDE for quite a while, but relatively unknown really in the American market because most of his fights had taken place in Japan and there wasn’t a lot of crossover back then. So, even though they may have been offering me a little bit more up-front money, it made more sense in the long run for me to stay in the American market and stay with the UFC. That could have gone a different way. If I’d made the decision to go to PRIDE and try out PRIDE back then it would have been interesting.”

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