Let’s be clear about one thing-this is about money. Couture has maintained for a long time that he left the UFC because he felt disrespected when Dana White offered Fedor Emelianenko more money than himself to join the organization. In his mind money equals respect. Nothing wrong with that, but he went a step further and professed that because of the promotion’s “disrespect” he would never fight there again and that he would hold out forever to fight Fedor.

But then Fedor signed a long-term deal with Affliction, making the Couture-Fedor superfight a pipe DREAM because the UFC will NEVER allow a co-promotional fight between the two organizations. And why should they? All it will do is prop up the UFC’s competition that’s struggling to survive. Fedor’s signing was an opportunity to get Randy back in the octagon so Dana White pounced on it and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. For all the “I’m going to fight Fedor one way or another,” and “I’ll never fight in the UFC” rhetoric, he sure did run back there awfully fast when the money bell rang. But at what cost? Couture and Dana White might have forgiven each other, but have the fans forgiven them?

Piss off the fans and don’t be surprised when they turn on you, especially in a combat sport where passivity is weakness. In MMA a fighter’s action or lack of it will invite criticism that will haunt them and eventually affect their bottom line. Any athlete, regardless of stature or sport, who refuses to play because they want more money only sinks lower into the depths of fan contempt. Emmit Smith didn’t show up for training camp? “Forget him!” the fans cry. Baseball players are on strike? “We’ll watch hockey then! And good luck getting us back into the seats when you do decide to play again, pussies!” Couture was on his way there and knew it.

Anyone would give their left kidney to make a comfortable living playing a game. So when athletes refuse to play because they want six million dollars a year instead of five million, the average fan has a hard time understanding that, especially when they’re sitting in traffic during a thirty minute commute as their nest egg slowly dissipates with the gas gauge. It simply doesn’t make sense to us.