MMA Betting Odds and Ends for Tuesday: Randy Couture Joins Bellator

Randy-Couture In a bit of a shocker, former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture has joined Bellator, and will be a coach on their first reality show, which begins filming in February and which airs on Spike TV in late 2013. The news was reported by Loretta Hunt of Sports Illustrated. It’s surprising that Couture would join Bellator, as we all know it’s one of the UFC’s main competitors and Couture was long the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, Couture was always a businessman first, so perhaps the dollars spoke louder here and he had no choice but to team up with Spike. There was no more news released about Couture’s coaching position, or who would be coaching opposite him, but it’s expected that Bellator’s reality show will follow a similar format to “The Ultimate Fighter.” It was also reported that UFC president Dana White wasn’t happy about this. Feijao Says Commission Mishandled Drug Tests Suspended light heavyweight Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante spoke out against the California State Athletic Commission’s one-year suspension that was given to him last May, as the former Strikeforce 205lb champion said the commission mishandled his urine sample and miswrote information and that he never knowingly took a PED. Cavalcante, who is the No. 11 ranked light heavyweight in the world according to the MMA Fighter Rankings, spoke out to Brazilian outlet Globe Esporte, saying he would never take a banned substance. Feijao defeated Mike Kyle via submission at the Strikeforce Grand Prix Finale, but was suspended for a year after testing positive for steroids. Feijao is currently without a fight booked but it’s expected he’ll fight in the UFC once his suspension ends as Strikeforce of course no longer exists. Weidman Wants Silva in July Chris Weidman has officially called out Anderson Silva, as the UFC middleweight contender told MMAjunkie.com that he wants to fight Silva this July. Weidman believes he’s the true No. 1 contender to Silva, the middleweight champion of the world, but Silva’s camp seems to be ignoring Weidman’s requests in favour of a fight against Cung Le, who they feel has a bigger name and would therefore sell more pay-per-views. It’s expected that if Silva vs. Le goes down that Silva would open as a gigantic favorite, but if Weidman fights Silva the fight would be much closer in the betting lines since it’s a more competitive fight, which is of course the reason the Silva camp has been evading it.

Written by Adam Martin.

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