The issue of this coming Thurday’s (December 8th) Congressional hearing on mixed martial arts just got a lot more interesting. According to Congressman Markwayne Mullin in an interview with Bloody Elbow’s Amy Dardashian, the UFC’s representation threatened to no-show the hearing upon learning that Randy Couture would be there as part of the panel discussing the sport. While the UFC would not respond to Bloody Elbow’s request for comment on the record, a company source told Dardashian on background that Mullin’s story was not true. The hearing, which is designed to educate Energy and Commerce Committee members about MMA, will be broadcast live on C-SPAN and streamed on the committee website.
According to the web page for the hearing, the other witnesses will be:
- Neuropathologist Dr. Anne McKee.
- UFC Vice President, Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitsky.
- Lydia Robertson, who serves as the Treasurer of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports.
Couture has had numerous business disputes with the UFC under both of its previous ownership regimes, but the seemingly permanent fracture came in January 2013. Couture, who had been working as an analyst for Fox cards on a per-show basis, signed a deal with Bellator to be a coach on Fight Master, their own twist on The Ultimate Fighter. It even got to the point where the UFC attempted to ban him from cornering his son Ryan, who was under contract at the time, but athletic commissions overseeing corner licenses put the kibosh on that panning out until Ryan was cut anyway.
