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Congressman: UFC tried to influence witness list, threatened to walk if Couture speaks

Representative Markwayne Mullin, the former mixed martial artist turned congressman, sponsoring the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, says the UFC tried to influence a congressional committee to blackball former UFC champ Randy Couture from speaking at a hearing this Thursday.

“They had threatened to walk because they didn’t want us to have Randy Couture on the panel,” Mullin said. “We want them to participate but they can’t be dictating who we can and cannot have on the panel. This isn’t an ‘I gotchu hearing,’ this is giving perspectives across the board.”

Mullin is referring to an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing scheduled for this Thursday on Capitol Hill before the subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.