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Randy Couture is waiting for his UFC contract to expire before he fights Fedor Emelianenko. (AP Images)

Even though he has resigned from the octagon, UFC heavyweight champion Randy "The Natural" Couture (16-8-0) is still under contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship – which is why he's waiting to fight top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (26-1-0).

In Dallas, TX to corner fighters for Mark Cuban's HDNet Fights event, Couture spoke with The Fight Network about his plans to fight Emelianenko in October of 2008, after his contract with the UFC expires.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen with me right now," he said. "I have a contract with the UFC that I have to honor. I can't breach that, or I'll end up in litigation."

In the mean-time, Fedor will fight 7-foot-2 Korean giant Hong Man Choi (1-0-0) on Dec. 31 in Saitama, Japan.

"Obviously, [Choi's] a big guy, and it's still a fight; anything can happen in a fight," Couture explained. "You're looking at a 7-foot guy. The guy can hit you from across the ring when the bell rings. I hope that goes successfully for [Emelianenko], because I want to be the first guy that beats him."

Fedor does have a loss by TKO to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (19-12-1) from Dec. of 2000. Ring doctors were force to stop the fight due to a large cut over Emelianenko's eye. Fedor avenged the loss in April of 2005.

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