6:03 PM EST

HDNet (and Dallas Mavericks) Owner Mark Cuban, the Texas-based billionaire who also owns the small but promising HDNet Fights has filed a lawsuit against the UFC to get a declaratory judgment concerning the contractual status of Randy Couture.
Couture, who is the UFC Heavyweight Champion -in- exile,  quit UFC in October. Couture claimed a number of disagreements including not only money, but especially UFC’s inability to sign Russian MMA phenom Fedor Emelianenko, generally regarded as the number one heavyweight in the world.  The 44-year-old Couture plans to wait until his fight contract and broadcasting and good will ambassador contract to run out so he can compete with other fight organizations, or at least a "last match" against Fedor. The fight contract expires in July,2008.  The broadcasting and good will ambassador contract expires in October, 2008.

Zuffa, parent company of UFC contends that Couture will remain under contract to the Ultimate Fight group until he fulfills the terms of his fight contract, which has 2 more UFC fights left in the agreement. Zuffa/UFC contends that due to a retirement clause in Couture’s contract, the UFC contends that he can’t simply wait for the contract to expire.

A preliminary hearing has been set for March 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cuban and the Texas-based HDNet Fights organization have now filed suit in district court in Dallas, Texas. While Zuffa/UFC's lawsuit centers on Couture’s employment contract and its one-year non-compete clause, Cuban has asked for clarification on the status of Couture under his promotional contract.

The result of all this legal maneuvering could end up being a Couture vs Emalianenko fight promoted by one of Cuban's companies in association with M-1 Global, which is the organization Emalianenko is contracted to.

UFC has not yet commented on Cuban's lawsuit.

 
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