Both fighters met during a commercial project of Affliction (clothing company and major MMA-fighters' sponsor).
Interview to Randy Couture(April2008):
Q: Now that Fedor is a free agent, does that change anything as far as the potential fight goes?
RC: That doesn't really matter to me as long as it happens. I don't care where. I talked to his people at the commercial we recently did. I even agreed to fight him twice. We can fight once in a cage here in the States, and we can fight in Japan where he's very popular in a ring. I don't care as long as we get the fights.
Q: Fedor's last big organization was the Pride Fighting Championships. A lot of other guys have also come over from Pride, but they have not had great results. Why do you think that is?
RC: I think that is a little different animal over here, they hype for the fights can be nerve-racking. The American crowd is very fanatical. I think the cage is a big difference. The cage can be your best buddy or your worst enemy depending on the position you're in. I don't think a lot of people gave that enough credence, and some of them paid the price for that.
Q: Very true. I remember in your fight with Gabriel Gonzaga, you definitely used the cage to your advantage to really wear him out.
RC: Yes. I felt like Gonzaga's a big strong guy especially with good kicks. I felt like I didn't want to stand out in front of him. I wanted to close the distance and smother him, and the solid barrier of the cage allowed me to push him up against it, smother him and use the Greco background that I have to take him and keep him out of his strengths.
Q: We talked about a possible fight with Fedor. Is there anyone else you'd be interested in fighting?
RC: That's really the fight for me at this stage. I'm 44 and looking at the end of my career. I want to fight the best guy in the world and be considered the best guy as well. That fight is the only way that will happen. It doesn't make sense, the UFC is criticizing me for not fighting Nogueira, and I have a lot of respect for him. I think he's a great fighter, but he's been beat by Fedor twice. That fight doesn't make sense for me right now. If I have more fights left in me after Fedor, maybe I'll fight Nogueira then, but right now, it just doesn't make sense.
Q: The UFC has publicly said that are sending you offers to fight Nogueira. Are they really doing that?
RC: They have sent me an offer to fight Nogueira. Yes, that's what they do. They are going to try.
Q: How do you react when Dana White and Nogueira call you out to fight Nogueira?
RC: I'm not surprised by that. He (White) starts making other derogatory comments, and that's a little surprising that he would need to go there. He wants me to fight for him and make his organization money. At this stage of things, I'd like to see the way fighters get paid change. Fighters are the ones that are putting it on the line. The UFC has done a lot of great things for our sport, but we're at a point now where the biggest fights need to happen regardless of the organization the fighter is tied up with, and the fighters need to be paid. Why should Mayweather or De La Hoya make $20 to $40 million dollars for one fight? And mixed martial artists are doing so much in the mainstream in a professional sport and not be compensated in the same way. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Q:You mentioned Brock Lesnar a little bit earlier, what do you think about his potential in the UFC?
RC: I think he's got great potential. He was a great collegiate wrestler. Pro wrestling is still very physical. He's a great athlete. I think the Mir fight was a silly choice, especially for a wrestler, style wise. Put Lesnar in there with a good striker, somebody that he can use his strengths against and I think Lesnar would have been successful. The one athlete you have to watch for as a wrestler is a world-class submission guy, and that's who they put him in with a world-class submission guy. I wasn't surprised by the outcome, but I don't think Lesnar will be discouraged. He'll be back and he'll be a force.
Q: How do you feel about Lesnar getting such a big contract without having an established name in MMA?
RC: I mean again, the UFC is about selling pay-per-views and putting butts in the seats as they should be, but that's why I question why they would put him in with Mir and not protect that investment a little bit. I don't think the UFC thought Frank has a lot of heart left. Some of his performances the past few years have been lackluster, but if you looked at his last fight, he showed that he is getting himself back on track to become the top fighter again.
Q: Do you feel there are any similarities between your situation and what is going on with Tito Ortiz right now?
RC: I'm not too familiar with Tito's case. Maybe there are some similarities, I'm not sure. I've had my own hands full. I haven't really kept up with Tito's deal.

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