Denny Burkholder

The Las Vegas Review Journal broke the news that the UFC filed a lawsuit against Randy Couture on Monday, charging breach of contract and dealing "injurious falsehood and trade disparagement" to the company, leading to financial loss.

The story reported that the UFC is suing Couture for a figure north of $10,000. Doesn't sound like a lot, but hey -- it's "not about the money," right?

Everyone with connected brain cells saw this lawsuit coming, although the timing was a bit of a surprise, as was the apparent final straw. Reportedly, the addition of Team Xtreme Couture to the IFL this season sparked the breach of contract claim, since Couture is contractually prohibited from competing with the UFC directly or indirectly.

Keep in mind there are vast differences in interpretation between the UFC and Couture regarding his contract terms, and that's where the UFC and Couture both stand to lose the most in this divorce -- particularly, the two fights remaining on Couture's contract and just how obligated Couture is to fulfill those. Couture thinks he'll be free from the shackles if he just sits out until the term expires. The UFC thinks he owes them the two fights, term or no term, or else he must retire forever.

In comparison to that, the IFL issue seems rather trivial -- more like the excuse the UFC was waiting for to sic the lawyers on Couture, rather than a significant breach of exclusivity.

I'm not a legal expert, but when you consider things like lost revenue from PPV and DVD sales (not so much ticket sales, because the UFC is capable of filling an arena without Couture), the UFC would certainly be able to prove more damages if they waited a while for Couture's deal to run out. By choosing to sue Couture right now for a meager $10,000+, the point of the lawsuit seems less about damage recovery and more like Zuffa firing a warning shot.

In other words, before they reach the point of suing Couture for the big stuff -- if it gets that far -- they might want to give him a taste of how serious they are about holding him to his deal, on the chance that it will make Couture think twice about going the distance with them on the issues that matter most: Where he fights next, when, and for whom.

The most interesting part of this lawsuit is the conspiracy angle, and Zuffa's pledge that they will name Couture's partners in (alleged) misdeed during the trial. One can only assume Couture's representation will be fingered in the allegations. One might also speculate that M-1 or the IFL could be dragged into this, especially if the UFC alleges that Couture -- due to his still-valid UFC contract -- did not have the legal right to even field an offer from the IFL, much less accept it, even if his IFL involvement is in name and team ownership only.

Until more information comes out regarding the specific (alleged) conspirators, the exact wording of the contract terms at issue, and the nature of UFC's cool $10,000+ in losses, it's all speculation.

In the meantime, we get Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for a UFC heavyweight title that the UFC won't admit is vacant while Couture's contract is still unfulfilled. If this lawsuit succeeds in giving Couture cold feet about the bigger issues with his contract, he might come back. It's more likely, though, that this is the tip of the iceberg.