The UFC have confirmed that Randy Couture will make his UFC return on November 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Couture will face Brock Lesnar in a five-round fight with Couture’s UFC Heavyweight Title on the line.

Dana White made the announcement during a media conference call just moments ago. Couture had been at odds with UFC over contractual issues since the back end of last year.

 
Couture left the UFC last October, faxing a letter of resignation from South Africa where he was filming a movie.

At the time, he felt he had been shown a lack of respect from UFC officials. He also cited the hope of a fight with international star Fedor Emelianenko as reasons for his departure.

But the UFC refused to let him resign from what in their opinion was a valid contract which still had two fights to fulfill.

That led to a lengthy legal battle between the legendary fighter and the UFC.

But last week, news broke that Couture could be ready to return, with speculation mounting over the past couple of days that he would return for UFC 91.

Portland, OR had been touted as a possible location for the show.

It was also announced during Tuesday’s media conference call that the winner of the Couture-Lesnar fight will face the winner of the December fight between Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir in 2009.

 
Phil Lowe
phil@wwepreview.com