Couture vs Liddell IV

www.RearNakedNews.com

There have been various reports claiming a Heavyweight fight between Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell is possible for a proposed show in Cologne, Germany on June 13. This one smells funny to me. Thus far the UFC has been reluctant to stage any huge fights out of the United States.

By a huge fight, I mean a definite PPV seller like this would be. There have been some good fights, but none were the type that could sell a PPV on its own. Couture/Liddell IV in Vegas is a 600K+ PPV without even knowing who else is on the card.

I'm finding it hard to believe the UFC would essentially waste one of Couture's final fights on a card outside of the USA. Cologne, Germany is six hours ahead of Eastern Time. There is virtually no way *(see note below)* you could hold a live event that matches up well with viewers in the States and have the fighters/fans in the arena at a reasonable hour.

This is a PPV killer. You are talking tens of millions in lost revenue. There would still be people who buy it, but the numbers would take a significant hit. It does not seem logical to me for the UFC to throw away all that money.

The explanation being thrown around for having the fight in Germany is absolutely ridiculous. Apparently it is because Randy Couture speaks German and would do well promoting it. Gimme a break. It's not like the UFC would need to promote much to sell out a show in Germany. I'm sure Randy has a helluva German accent, but it is not worth losing millions of dollars over.

My theory behind this story is the UFC planted it with the Euro press. The first time it was seen was in The Sun, which does not have the best track record for predicting future MMA bouts. A source within the UFC probably told The Sun they were considering the bout for the Cologne event and then the reporter ran with it. It's a good way to get Euro fans excited about the UFC coming to their town. In fact, I bet the same tactic was used about a week ago when all those false Anderson Silva vs Chuck Liddell rumors began to fly...Guess where they originated from? Yup, The Sun.

**The best scenario I could come up with for a possible Live Cologne event would be a 12am start in Germany for the main card. This would mean the PPV kicks off at 6pm ET. The problem is you'd have two aging fighters heading to the cage at 3:00 a.m. There are also curfew laws to consider and it still would not be an ideal start time in the States. Seems like a lot of things to worry about when you could very simply have the fight in Las Vegas and make a ton more money.**