Despite the beef between his father, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and company president Dana White, Ryan Couture has a home with the world's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion.
White recently revealed Ryan had the option to bolt to Bellator and Spike TV with his Hall-of-Fame father, however, the younger Couture decide to fulfill his lifelong dream and stay with the UFC.
The catch is, Ryan won't have "The Natural" in his corner shouting instructions because according to White, Randy will not be allowed to corner his son during his fights, let alone "buy a ticket to the mother fu**ing show" now that "The Expendables" star is sleeping with the enemy.
Ryan appeared on The MMA Hour to talk about his future with the UFC as well as the ongoing feud between his father and White and also dished on his upcoming bout against Ross Pearson which his set to go down at UFC on FUEL TV 9: "Gustafsson vs. Mousasi" in Stockholm, Sweden on April 6, 2013.
His words:
"Obviously it's good to know I have a home in UFC. I'm happy to be there and I definitely wasn't hoping to be released. I feel like it's been a long process and I've worked hard to get there. I really want to make a go at it and be successful there. So I'm happy to know I have the opportunity. The flip side of that is that dad's not welcome in the corner is unfortunate. That's definitely a loss both personally and professionally, but we'll do what we gotta do there. The UFC's where I want to be, and if that's what it takes, then I can work with it."
Regarding his upcoming debut against "Real Deal," Couture says he wasn't surprised at the matchup, saying he has never been given easy fights to begin with and he doesn't see it as such a huge jump in competition when compared to his last opponent, K.J. Noons:
"I just fought K.J. Noons so I don't feel like it's that huge of a jump from that fight. I'm excited about it. I have a lot of respect for Ross and I always enjoy watching him fight. They haven't given me an easy fight in maybe ever, so I had a feeling it'd be somebody tough. It's an interesting progression of what we've had to work on for the last couple of opponents. I've been fighting pretty consistently heavy-handed, dangerous strikers. This is just another evolution of that process so I think it'll be a fun continuation of the things. I've been trying to build on it in training, and I think we're going to put on a hell of a show."
Couture is currently riding a four-fight win streak while Pearson got back on the winning track with his third-round knockout victory over George Sotiropoulos last December at UFC on FX: "Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson."
How about it Maniacs, will Randy's absence in Ryan's corner affect him when he steps into the Octagon for the first time? Or will it be a non-factor once the cage door slams shut?
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