DaytonDailyNews.com

CINCINNATI — Dana White knew the questions were inevitable, so the Ultimate Fighting Championship's president and chief executive officer made a pre-emptive strike.

UFC 77: Hostile Territory takes place Saturday at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena, and Thursday's press conference was supposed to focus on the pay-per-view event. However, White knew the conversation would eventually turn to Randy Couture, the UFC's heavyweight champion who abruptly resigned from the organization last week.

While on a movie set in South Africa, the 45-year-old Couture sent a resignation letter to White. Couture said the UFC's inability to sign top free agent and potential opponent Fedor Emelianenko played a part in the decision. More importantly, though, Couture said that UFC officials had lied to him about what other fighters were being paid and that he wasn't getting a fair deal.

With a captive audience, White gave his side of things:

• He hasn't talked to Couture since the resignation: "I haven't talked to him at all ... I've called him twice and left messages, and he hasn't called back."

• He wasn't surprised by the announcement: "I talked to him a few weeks before, and he was feeling like he had nothing left to prove ... The things that he said and the approach he is taking and the way he has done it — that's what's surprising."

• Couture never requested a new contract before he decided to resign: "When he came out of retirement (in March), he asked to redo his contract ... so he just got a new contract that he was thrilled with. He just signed a new contract eight months ago, and now apparently he's not happy with it. He never came and said, 'Can we do another contract?' "

• Couture is the second-highest-paid fighter, even though he doesn't believe it: "He is the second highest-paid fighter behind Chuck Liddell ... Couture is a multimillionaire. Don't ever feel sorry for a multimillionaire."

• Couture will remain under contract to the UFC: "He definitely belongs to me. He's under contract to me. No doubt about it."

• White is irritated by Couture's claims that he was lied to: "The thing that upsets me the most is when he said (UFC owner) Lorenzo Fertitta and I lied to him ... Lorenzo Fertitta and his brother (and co-owner) Frank Fertitta have never lied to anybody, and they're good people. The sport exists right now because of those two people."

• Losing Couture will have a negligible financial impact on the UFC: "Does it hurt the company? Yeah, we probably had one more big fight left with him, but I don't think it hurts us long term at all."

Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content-partner site of Yahoo! Sports.