Eleven months after defiantly resigning as UFC heavyweight champion over a perceived lack of respect from the company's executives, as well as the inability to get a fight with top-ranked Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Randy "The Natural" Couture ended his embittered court battle with Zuffa LLC Tuesday, signing a new three-fight contract moments before it was officially announced to the media.

"Both the company and myself are trying to move forward," Couture said during a teleconference to announce the deal. "I think we understand each other. Certainly, I would much rather fight in the Octagon than anywhere else. Spending the last year in legal fights is not a place I've had a very good time. And, so, I'm certainly under time constraints too. I'm 45. I can't sit around in courtrooms very long. I want to fight."

Couture (16-8) is scheduled to make his return Nov. 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas against burgeoning heavyweight star Brock Lesnar, who despite having just three bouts in his career and a 1-1 record in the UFC makes for an intriguing challenger in a five-round title fight.

A potential blockbuster in terms of gate receipts and pay-per-view revenue, UFC president Dana White anticipates 1-1.5 million pay-per-view subscriptions for what he labeled the biggest bout in UFC history.

"Obviously Randy Couture, coming back after all the stuff that had happened, is one of the most popular fighters in UFC history," White said. "And after Brock Lesnar's beating of Heath Herring, a lot of people are interested in Brock Lesnar now, not just WWE fans. But If you look at the amount of buzz and energy that will be created with this fight when we really start breaking it down and looking at it, and the amount of WWE fans that never watched a UFC that will that night to see if Brock Lesnar can beat Randy Couture, it's a big fight."

For Couture, a fight versus the mammoth former World Wrestling Entertainment personality represents a first step towards fulfilling his resolution with the UFC, and it opens a "path of least resistance" in his quest to fight Emelianenko, who is currently under contract to the Affliction organization.

While sources tell SI.com that negotiations between UFC executives and Emelianenko's American representatives, led by Dennis Spencer of Washington D.C.-based SFX Media, are at an advanced stage, White said Tuesday that he was not in a position to promote Emelianenko while the fighter remained under contract to Affliction for bouts promoted in the U.S.

SI.com has learned that under the terms of Couture's new deal, a bout with Emelianenko is expected to come following the Lesnar fight. However, during Tuesday's teleconference White repeatedly said the Couture-Lesnar winner would meet either UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or his challenger, Frank Mir, following their tussle in December.

Affliction, which holds the option of two additional bouts with the Russian after his destruction of Tim Sylvia in July, is negotiating but has not yet sealed an extension through 2012, a source said. Even still, Emelianenko's contract with Affliction is said to contain an out that could allow the Russian to fight against Couture inside the UFC, though White said he would not entertain a co-promotion to make a bout between any of his fighters and Emelianenko a reality.

Last fall negotiations between Vadim Finkelstein (Emelianenko's Russian manager) and the UFC failed when both sides could not agree upon several stipulations, most notably exclusivity for UFC to promote the top heavyweight in the world. With two bouts remaining on his contract, Couture responded by faxing a letter of resignation to the UFC's Las Vegas offices on Oct. 11 from South Africa, where he was shooting the straight-to-DVD feature film The Scorpion King 2.

Couture and UFC officials waged a tense war of words in the media, each side holding news conferences to make their case. First came Couture, whose complaints centered on "respect." As defined then, "respect" clearly manifested in how well the five-time UFC champion was compensated for his fights.

Speaking to the media in his Las Vegas gym two weeks after tendering his resignation, Couture publicly addressed his concerns for the first time. To highlight what he considered mistreatment by UFC officials, "The Natural" suggested that unlike other top UFC fighters he had not received "off the book" bonuses. ("Off the book" does not imply tax-free; these bonuses were delivered to fighters at the discretion of UFC management, and were not covered as part of the fight purse.)

UFC officials responded with their own media session where they countered Couture's claims with figures that supported their case.

Increasing tensions brought both sides into civil court: the UFC claiming Couture breached the terms of his promotional contract; the champion, aided by billionaire Mark Cuban, seeking to define the terms of his fight contract.

But Tuesday, both White and Couture said as far as they were concerned, those issues had been resolved.

"We are no longer in a court battle with Randy Couture," White said.

Legal proceedings, including a looming arbitration hearing in a Nevada, will officially end Wednesday when dismissals are entered from both parties, said an attorney for Couture.

"I feel like I've been walking around under a black cloud for the last year, so to have the cloud dissipate and see a little sunshine for a change is pretty nice," said Couture, who has recently returned to the gym in anticipation that he might fight for the first time in over a year.