And Now He’s Fired: Ryan Couture Released From the UFC Following Back-to-Back Losses [UPDATEish]


(Here we are, just a couple of wild and crazy guys!) 

After collecting an impressive 6-1 streak in Strikeforce, Hyan Couture (son of “Handy”) was among the faces to make the transition to the UFC when the promotion was bought out by Zuffa earlier this year*. Unfortunately, it seems that Couture will also be joining the small-but-growing list of Strikeforce fighters who weren’t able to hack it in the big leagues, as the UFC confirmed his release following two consecutive losses earlier today.

Couture last competed at UFC 164 in August, where he dropped a unanimous decision to TUF 15 *finalist* (ouch) Al Iaquinta on the Facebook preliminary portion (Daaaaang!) of the card. In his UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, Couture was TKO’d by TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson in the second round.

Although we’re sure this has absolutely nothing to do with the UFC’s ongoing war of words with Randy Couture and company, it will be interesting to see just how many wins Randy Lite will have to score in smaller promotions before he is invited back. Or, if he is invited back (DUN-DUN-DUN).

UPDATE: Three more profiles have been removed from UFC.com. To see who they are, join us after the jump.


(Here we are, just a couple of wild and crazy guys!) 

After collecting an impressive 6-1 streak in Strikeforce, Hyan Couture (son of “Handy”) was among the faces to make the transition to the UFC when the promotion was bought out by Zuffa earlier this year*. Unfortunately, it seems that Couture will also be joining the small-but-growing list of Strikeforce fighters who weren’t able to hack it in the big leagues, as the UFC confirmed his release following two consecutive losses earlier today.

Couture last competed at UFC 164 in August, where he dropped a unanimous decision to TUF 15 *finalist* (ouch) Al Iaquinta on the Facebook preliminary portion (Daaaaang!) of the card. In his UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, Couture was TKO’d by TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson in the second round.

Although we’re sure this has absolutely nothing to do with the UFC’s ongoing war of words with Randy Couture and company, it will be interesting to see just how many wins Randy Lite will have to score in smaller promotions before he is invited back. Or, if he is invited back (DUN-DUN-DUN).

Anyone have the slightest idea where Couture will land? The best bet is probably Bellator — in which case, he can forget all about being invited back for a multitude of reasons – but we could just as easily see Couture winding up in a lower level promotion like Legacy Fighting Championships. Worst case scenario: We see Couture powerbombing his way through the Super Fight League’s elite (that’s a thing, right) in a year’s time. Ah, to be an MMA fighter.

[UPDATE]

As first passed along by BloodyElbow, the following profiles have also recently been removed from their respective rosters on UFC.com:

Papy Abedi: 1-3, with all 3 losses coming via stoppage to Thiago Alves, Dylan Andrews, and…

James Head: 2-3, with a notable victory over Brian Ebersole and losses to Nick Ring, Mike Pyle and Jason High

Ben Alloway: After scoring an impressive front kick KO over Manuel Rodriguez in his UFC debut, this TUF: Smashes alum has dropped two straight to Ryan Laflare and Zak Cummings.

*Does anyone else feel like it’s been years since Strikeforce was bought out? Maybe the days are slipping away from me, or maybe watching Tarec Saffiedine’s grow into a future serial killer has skewed my sense of time. In any case…damn. 

–J. Jones