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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Randy Couture's MMA career could officially be over. After much wavering from the UFC Hall of Famer on whether or not he would continue his fighting career with his movie career bringing him more offers, Couture may have made his decision.
On Twitter Tuesday night, Couture made what could be the definitive statement on the matter.
Said Couture: "Thanks to everybody who's been tweeting about seeing my fights I must have missed the memo :) I think I'm at the end of it Yall. It's time."
It's the second time Couture retired from the sport. The first came in 2006 after his second loss to Chuck Liddell, though he returned 13 months later to capture the Heavyweight Championship from Tim Sylvia. Couture will now concentrate on his film career, where he's got two films on the docket that he'll be working on in 2011.
Penick's Analysis: It just makes sense for him at this stage to close off the possibility. He's 47 years old, and has accomplished more in the sport than most anyone as a multi-time champion. His in-cage abilities and performances will be missed, but I think it's nowhere near out of the question that we'll see him return to the broadcast booth at some point, or at least have some presence in the sport going forward. But if this is truly the end, all that's left to say is thank you to the natural for the years and performances that he gave us all as fans of MMA.
UPDATE: According to ESPN's Josh Gross on Twitter, Couture hasn't entirely ruled out a return, and would be willing to fight Lyoto Machida or Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. However, with Machida coming off of consecutive losses and the UFC not giving him a title fight it looks like the end and Couture wants to move on. But don't rule out an eventual return for "Captain America."
[Randy Couture art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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