While looking for a banner picture for this article I stumbled across a few great shots of Randy Couture at a poker table which I would use and then say something clever like: ‘Does Randy Couture have an Ace up his sleeve for Machida ?’ but no, the pictures belonged to Full Tilt poker. If you haven’t heard, the government has shut them down. I can’t even access the site for pictures of MMA professionals playing cards. Whats next, the government knocking on doors on Saturday nights to see if people are hosting card games in their kitchens? I understand it goes deeper than that, but man, talk about not being able to go out on your own terms.
Luckily the formerly Full Tilt Poker sponsored Randy Couture wants to go out exactly how he wants to. It looks like Randy’s final match is in front of 55,000 in Toronto at UFC 129, not a bad way to end a career that started in front of a few thousand in a small arena in Augusta, Georgia back in 1997. Here is what the hall of famer told ESPN:
“I believe this is my last fight,” “I know the UFC is probably going to have other ideas, especially with acquiring Strikeforce and all that. They’re probably going to try to draw me into another fight but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I want to stick to my guns and this is the last one.”
“I will miss the competition immensely but I want to go out on my terms I want to go out when I think it’s time to go out and not because I lost this fight or lost that fight or because I had an injury that precludes me from training the way I want to train.
“I want to make the decision on my own.”
Props to Randy for a great career regardless of the outcome of April 29th.
[source]
