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Couture could be ready for Machida in 'eight weeks'

Randy Couture is not interested in fighting Jon Jones © UFC

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• Profile: Randy Couture

Randy Couture claims he could be ready to fight Lyoto Machida as early as March if the UFC offered him the fight.

Couture recently hinted he could be set to retire, revealing he had no desire to win another UFC title and that only a fight with Mauricio Shogun Rua or Lyoto Machida would tempt him back into the Octagon.

The five-time UFC champion insists his comments were not meant to spark stories about an impending retirement, but he did reiterate that only two match-ups currently interest him. And Couture revealed that he would need just eight weeks to get in shape should the UFC offer him what he wants.

"Everyone's been making a big deal about it (the recent quotes on retirement), I guess because they saw it in black-and-white or something. It's no different to what I've been saying in interviews for the past three months," Couture told MMA Weekly.

"There are two guys I've been interested in fighting: Shogun and Machida. Style-wise I match up well with those guys. They're interesting, intriguing fighters. They have terribly strong wrestling backgrounds, which makes it a much greater war for me than those that don't.

"If they offered me one of those guys tomorrow, I'd take either one of them. If they said 'let's make the Machida fight happen', I'd need eight weeks."

Couture's greater focus has been on his movie career, not to mention working with his team-mates to help the likes of Gray Maynard towards a title shot against Frankie Edgar on New Year's Day. And The Natural admits the desire to prove he is the best no longer exists.

"I'm still having fun, but is there the desire to go out and win another title? No. I'm having a blast, which is why it's more about intriguing match-ups. That's why I'm interested in Shogun or Machida rather than going out and proving I'm a better wrestler than Jon Jones, Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans. Those are frigging wars.

"It doesn't mean that I couldn't beat those guys, it's just not what it's about right now."

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