Randy Couture‘s brief run as a television dance-show competitor came to an end last night, as he and partner Karina Smirnoff were voted off Dancing With the Stars season 19 following a mediocre pasodoble performance on week 3. Their dance was soundtracked by “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III. You know, because Randy’s a fighter? This is why MMA needs a more iconic song than “Face the Pain.”
Couture looked a little stiffer than he did during his alarmingly decent foxtrot on week 1, although the giant swing into jumping somersault that he pulls off at 1:09-1:17 was pretty badass. Ah well. Genius is never recognized in its own time. And now, we’ll go back to reporting on Randy Couture news that’s actually relevant.
Randy Couture‘s brief run as a television dance-show competitor came to an end last night, as he and partner Karina Smirnoff were voted off Dancing With the Stars season 19 following a mediocre pasodoble performance on week 3. Their dance was soundtracked by “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III. You know, because Randy’s a fighter? This is why MMA needs a more iconic song than “Face the Pain.”
Couture looked a little stiffer than he did during his alarmingly decent foxtrot on week 1, although the giant swing into jumping somersault that he pulls off at 1:09-1:17 was pretty badass. Ah well. Genius is never recognized in its own time. And now, we’ll go back to reporting on Randy Couture news that’s actually relevant.
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture made his ballroom debut last night on Dancing With the Stars Season 19, and completely BEASTED it. Couture’s foxtrot with Karina Smirnoff was good enough to earn a score of 31 from the judges, placing him at a very respectable sixth place out of the 13 contestants. Obviously, Alfonso Ribeiro landed in first place with a score of 36. On the other hand, Julianne Hough said Randy was “making [her] randy,” which is more valuable than any number on a scorecard.
Watch Randy Couture’s complete dance performance above, and if you have any good captions for the photo below, shoot ’em to us in the comments or on twitter.
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture made his ballroom debut last night on Dancing With the Stars Season 19, and completely BEASTED it. Couture’s foxtrot with Karina Smirnoff was good enough to earn a score of 31 from the judges, placing him at a very respectable sixth place out of the 13 contestants. Obviously, Alfonso Ribeiro landed in first place with a score of 36. On the other hand, Julianne Hough said Randy was “making [her] randy,” which is more valuable than any number on a scorecard.
Watch Randy Couture’s complete dance performance above, and if you have any good captions for the photo below, shoot ‘em to us in the comments or on twitter.
Yes, it’s 2014 and whispers about this “dream fight” from ages past are still happening.
“That’s a fight I would personally love to see,” Coker said after Bellator 123. “But I just don’t know if it’s going to happen.”
When pressed as to why he was pessimistic, Coker cited Couture’s appearance on Dancing with the Stars. However, Coker did not that he was currently talking with M-1 and was going to be speaking with Couture next.
“All I can say is that we’re in dialogue with M-1, but that’s all I have to say at this time about that,” he said about bringing the retired Fedor Emelianenko into Bellator.
And regarding Couture, Coker was equally mum.
“We’ll see him next. We’ll talk to him and see what he has to say.”
For the record, Couture is 51 years old and Emelianenko is 37. The UFC attempted to book this fight in 2007 and failed. Affliction tried to book this fight as well but ended up going out of business.
It seems that this fight is just one of MMA’s great “what-ifs.” And now that it’s 2014, it should stay that way.
Bellator seems to be obsessed with recreating MMA from 2007. While that seems like a smart goal–MMA in 2007 was great–you can’t recreate 2007 in MMA with 2007′s fighters. They’re all too old now. Recreating the MMA boom won’t come from recycling faded stars until they’re in their late 40s (or older in Couture’s case). While names are certainly important for Bellator, new talent is even more important. They obviously need to hire some names to draw attention to the product, but this attention should then be used to highlight younger prospects in the company, not some pipe dream from seven years ago or a some ridiculous, pro wrestling-like stunt.
Bellator’s newly minted president, Scott Coker, is looking to arrange one of the biggest matchups in MMA history.
Speaking with the press after Friday’s Bellator 123 in Connecticut, Coker dropped a bombshell when asked about the likelihood of a p…
Bellator‘s newly minted president, Scott Coker, is looking to arrange one of the biggest matchups in MMA history.
Speaking with the press after Friday’s Bellator 123 in Connecticut, Coker dropped a bombshell when asked about the likelihood of a potential matchup between Randy Couture and FedorEmelianenko happening under the Bellator banner.
‘You know, that’s a fight I personally would love to see, but I just don’t know if it’s going to happen,’ Coker said during the press conference. ‘Randy? He’s dancing with the stars now. I mean, he’s not going to want to go fight Fedor now that he’s hanging out with some good-lookin’ girls dancing every night. But we’ll see him next. We’ll talk to him and see what he has to say.’
While Couture is indeed slated to appear on the upcoming season of the hit dance competition show, the more mysterious and potentially troublesome variable in this equation is the Russian heavyweight Emelianenko.
Emelianenko and his management team, M-1 Global, are notoriously private and difficult to work with, but Coker and Bellator appear to have cracked the code. Regarding talks with the Russian’s camp, Coker said the gate has been lifted and negotiations are ready to pass.
“All I can say is that we’re in dialogue with M-1, but that’s all I have to say at this time about that,” Coker said.
Of course, a fight between Couture and Emelianenko would have been massive when both fighters were in their primes, but this matchup still represents a hugely intriguing bout for MMA fans across the globe.
At 34-4 (1), Emelianenko is one of the most successful heavyweights of all time, and he went undefeated from April 2001 to June 2010, a stretch encompassing 28 fights and victories over legends such as Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Couture (19-11), on the other hand, never enjoyed the sustained winning streak of Emelianenko, but he was an integral part of the UFC’s emergence as a global powerhouse in the MMA space. Combined, the UFC Hall of Famer won the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight title a record five times, including a title-fight victory over Tim Sylvia at the age of 43 in 2007.
Both fighters have fallen off a bit toward the end of their careers, but there’s no doubt that if Bellator can make this fight happen, fans will eagerly tune in and invite their friends to watch history.
UFC legend Randy Couture will be appearing on Season 19 of ABC’s long-running dance competition series Dancing with the Stars. ABC announced the news Thursday, revealing the full cast of celebrities (more or less) who will face off in the show’s popula…
UFC legend Randy Couture will be appearing on Season 19 of ABC’s long-running dance competition series Dancing with the Stars. ABC announced the news Thursday, revealing the full cast of celebrities (more or less) who will face off in the show’s popular tournament.
Couture isn’t the only athlete on the cast, either, as he is joined by American track star Lolo Jones and Nascar great Michael Waltrip. Past that lot, it is the usual mashup of actors, actresses, comedians and reality TV personalities, including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Alfonso Ribeiro, Back to the Future’s Lea Thompson and Pretty Little Liars’ Janel Parish.
Couture has been keeping himself quite busy of late in the realm of television. In 2013, Couture signed a controversial deal with Spike TV to be a regular presence on their MMA programming. The deal netted him a coaching spot on Bellator’s The Ultimate Fighter-style tournament series and a starring role on the new Gym Rescue series alongside fellow former UFC champion Frank Shamrock, but burned his recently rebuilt bridge as a friend to the UFC.
Couture has also appeared on the silver screen numerous times as well, most notably with his recurring role as Toll Road in The Expendables series.
Also worth noting is that this isn’t the first time a UFC fighter has appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Chuck Liddell, who shared one of the UFC’s all-time greatest rivalries with Couture, appeared on Season 11 but lasted just a few weeks before being cut from the series.
Dancing with the Stars Season 19 kicks off September 15. Keep an eye out for more details on Couture’s run as they develop.
The cast of Dancing With the Stars Season 19 was announced this morning, and to our great delight, it features 51-year-old UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture. The Expendables and Gym Rescue co-star (and expert tail-puller) has been partnered up with Karina Smirnoff for the season, which debuts September 15th on ABC.
Couture will wage ballroom warfare against an eclectic bunch of celebrities (and “celebrities”), including legendary pothead Tommy Chong, Olympian Lolo Jones, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s Alfonso Ribeiro, who will surely be busting out the Carlton Dance at some point.
After the jump: Some photos that Chuck and Anna Trebunskaya shot for SI after Season 9, just because they’re awesome.
(“And you say you’re self-taught? IMPOSSIBLE.”)
The cast of Dancing With the Stars Season 19 was announced this morning, and to our great delight, it features 51-year-old UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture. The Expendables and Gym Rescue co-star (and expert tail-puller) has been partnered up with Karina Smirnoff for the season, which debuts September 15th on ABC.
Couture will wage ballroom warfare against an eclectic bunch of celebrities (and “celebrities”), including legendary pothead Tommy Chong, Olympian Lolo Jones, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s Alfonso Ribeiro, who will surely be busting out the Carlton Dance at some point.
