Randy Couture made the quick transition from UFC Hall of Famer to UFC persona non grata when he signed a deal to work with UFC competitors Spike TV and Bellator.
In and of itself this would not be a big issue; it would just be another example of UFC president Dana White cutting ties with an individual that has, in White’s mind, crossed him. However, Randy is not the only Couture in the MMA game—his son, Ryan, is an active fighter and part of the UFC roster.
Ryan is booked to face Ross Pearson in his first UFC bout, a matchup that will take place on April 6 on the UFC on Fuel TV 9 fight card.
The fight is a huge step up in competition for Couture, who is coming off a controversial split-decision victory over K.J. Noons in his last bout, and odds are that he will be leaning on his father for advice in the time leading up to the fight.
It will be interesting to see if Ryan will request his father to be one of his cornermen for the fight in Sweden. The move will not be unprecedented, as Randy has cornered Ryan in the past, but the situation may get sticky as White proclaimed at the UFC 156 media scrum (which was attended by Bleacher Report), “He’s (Randy) not cornering him. Randy Couture can’t buy a ticket to this motherf***ing event.”
Randy addressed the issue with Knockout Radio (h/t to MMAWeekly), saying, “I’ve helped him (Ryan) formulate some of those game plans in some of those camps and cornered him for his last three fights, so if that’s what Ryan needs and that’s what Ryan wants, then I am certainly willing to walk across that and address that issue, if Dana tries to preclude me from being a part of Ryan’s career.”
If Ryan does request Randy as a cornerman and that request is denied for whatever reason, don’t expect Randy to slink off with his tail between his legs—especially since he has been an approved cornerman for Ryan in the past.
The unfortunate part of this all is that it puts Ryan, a young fighter stepping up to the biggest stage in the sport, in an awkward situation: the middleman between the two feuding parties.
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