In Dallas, Texas, to corner several Xtreme Couture fighters, including middleweight Frank Trigg, Randy Couture said he hopes to fight Fedor Emelianenko as early as October 2008.

"Unless the UFC wants to do a co-promotion with M-1 and make the Fedor fight happen, I'm going to have to wait 'til my contract expires," Couture told HDNet's Ron Kruck. "I have no intention of breaching that contract; that expires in July. My employment contract expires with them in October. So I would assume the soonest you'd see me fight Emelianenko would be in October."

Couture gave up his standing as UFC heavyweight champion on Oct. 11 via fax from South Africa, where "The Natural" was on location shooting a feature film. The two-division champion also resigned from his roles as ambassador for the UFC and on-air personality during the promotion's broadcasts.

While Couture sits on the sidelines for another 10 months, Emelianenko, widely regarded as the No. 1 heavyweight in MMA, will make his live debut on HDNet Fights with a return to the ring on New Year's Eve against 7-foot-2, 350-pound novice Hong Man Choi