“I had such mixed feelings,” he explained to former UFC and Strikeforce fighter Josh Thomson and former MMA referee John McCarthy on their “Weighing In” podcast.

“You start balancing, how much of this is hype? You start talking about the real numbers, look at the flu that happens every year, or so many other ways that people die. Where does this register on that same scale? We’re making such a huge deal and, literally, tanking our economy on a worldwide level over it.

“At the same time, everybody else is on lockdown. Why do you think it’s OK to go out and try and put on a show and put athletes in harm’s way, potentially, with so many unknowns? I don’t know. I had mixed feelings about it.”

“I felt like there was some selfishness going on in pushing this as far as they did,” Couture continued.

“Finally, ESPN had to step up and, literally, pull the plug on it and say, ‘We’re not gonna broadcast it,’ to get it shut down.

“Now, we’re still hearing talks about ‘Fighter Island’ and all of this other crazy stuff. ‘Pandemic Island’ is what we should call it. I think we’re all in this together, so why should anyone be exempt? The UFC is no different than any of the rest of us.”

It’s tough to decipher what’s real and what’s not,” said Couture.

What’s a power grab and a money grab, and what’s the genuine precautions to keep people safe? There’s a very fine line there.”

For as many blows as Couture has taken, he sounds like a very reasonable person.  

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