Big news dropped earlier this week that UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture had inked a deal with Spike TV and UFC rival Bellator.
Sports Illustrated’s Loretta Hunt broke the story and detailed that Couture’s first venture with Spike and Bellator would be a stint as a coach on the upcoming Bellator reality series, which will begin shooting this month.
It came as no surprise that this fact did not pass without a comment from UFC president Dana White. “I’m happy that he’s gone, that he’s gone forever,” White said of the former UFC champion.
If you think that was where White would let things end you would be wrong. “I don’t respect him (Couture) at all, not even a little. The only time that Randy Couture is ever a man is when he sets foot in that cage. As soon as his big toe steps out of that cage, he’s the furthest thing from it.”
As far as why White feels this way about the Couture, White said that around Christmas time Couture sent him a text informing him that he had not signed a deal with Bellator or Spike, but that he was talking to two other networks and that White should relax and the two would talk after Christmas. White then said, “To this day, we still have not talked.”
For those that think there will be fallout that will affect Randy’s son Ryan, a fighter who has transferred to the UFC with the shuttering of Strikeforce, White said that isn’t going to happen.
In fact White called Ryan and told him, “I want you here if you want to be here, but I need you to understand this, me and your dad are not good. Me and your dad are never going to be good, never, ever again. If you want me to release you from your contract so that you can go do a deal with Bellator I would do that for you.”
According to White, Ryan’s reply was that “This is my dream. I want to fight with you guys. This is where I want to be, I worked my whole life to be here.”
White then reassured Ryan that he was a part of the UFC family and was happy to have him as a part of the UFC.
White then closed with, “That’s it, that’s the whole story and I don’t ever want to talk about it again.”
**all quotes obtained first-hand by BR MMA.
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