As many of you may recall, on October 11, Randy Couture abruptly "resigned" from his contract with the UFC via a faxed letter. Initially, it appeared that Couture felt that since the UFC had been unable to procure the services of Fedor Emelianenko, there were no longer any challenges left for him inside the Octagon.

Two weeks later (on October 25), however, Couture conducted a press conference in which it became evident that his real reason for leaving was a perceived lack of respect from the UFC, especially in the financial department. Couture made a number of claims about his signing bonus when he returned to the UFC this year as well as his pay-per-view cuts from his two fights in 2007. Couture, a popular figure among MMA fans, was widely backed by a fan base that is also skeptical of UFC President Dana White.

Five days after Couture's press conference, the UFC responded. UFC trotted out not only White, but co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta and CFO John Mulkey as well. The promotion refuted almost everything Couture alleged and did the most damage by providing hard evidence to back its claims. And from what has happened since, it appears the UFC delivered the knockout blow in the court of public opinion.

Since then, Couture has gone silent. There was no response to the UFC's press conference. Public sentiment quickly changed in favor of the UFC. Recently, in fact, we've heard from White that he and Couture will be discussing bringing the heavyweight champ back into the fold.

Without a doubt, this entire sequence of events was a PR disaster for Couture. His silence since the press conference is all the evidence one needs to understand this. What's unfortunate is that everything that happened was of Couture's own doing. This maelstrom was started by him and done in a very public manner. It was an elective procedure on his part. And, apparently, not very well thought out.

I don't know who, if anyone, in the Couture camp OK'ed his initial moves, but Couture desperately needs better PR advice. While the UFC gained credibility, Couture ended up looking very silly.

In the end, this was less of a war and more of a skirmish. The UFC brought out the big guns in its October 30 press conference. But, that may not have been necessary because it turns out Couture had very little ammunition of his own.