(photo courtesy Xtreme Couture)
Now depending on where you’re at in this ever shrinking world of ours, you may want to take another sip of that morning java and squint: the above headline reads ‘Ryan’, not ‘Randy’. Yes indeedy, Strikeforce has announced today that it has signed the 27 year-old son of legendary fighter Randy Couture, Ryan, to a “multi-fight agreement.” The lightweight, who naturally (pun intended) trains out of pop’s Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, will make his pro debut against Lucas Stark (2-4) at Strikeforce’s upcoming August 13th show in Phoenix.
If you’re only a part-time MMA addict, then you might not really be aware of Ryan’s amateur career to date; the fighter decided to punt his career as a banker in 2006 to begin training in MMA. Since then he’s gone 5-1-1 in amateur competition, with all five of his victories coming way of submission. For some info on Ryan’s ‘doing it for free’ pugilistic endeavours, check out this Fix video from March. Couture made it be known at that juncture, “that if all goes well”, he would be turning pro soon after.
So, there you have it; really it’s a smart move by Strikeforce. When your pa is one of the sport’s most accomplished and beloved fighters, people are going to tune in to see how you fight. In addition, Strikeforce doesn’t have the kind of depth at lightweight that the UFC has, so really, it makes sense for Ryan to test the pro waters there first. Now if Ryan had spent the last decade plus boxing, and could talk some serious sh-t, then you might have seen him making his pro debut in the Octagon.