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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator's first reality show on Spike TV has a name, and four coaches to go along with it, as The Hollywood Reporter reports that Randy Couture will join Frank Shamrock, Greg Jackson, and Joe Warren as coaches on "Fight Master: Bellator MMA," a ten-episode reality series that will begin filming shortly.
Describing it as similar to The Voice, "Fight Master" will see 32 fighters compete for a six-figure contract and a spot in a Bellator tournament. Additionally, Couture has signed a two-year deal with Spike for a number of projects, with "FightMaster" just one among them.
The most imminent project beyond that is "MMA Rescue," which will see Couture attempt to turn failing MMA gyms into successful businesses, along the lines of Spike's "Bar Rescue" and "Tattoo Rescue" programs.
"He has an adventurous spirit and is a well-intentioned human being that when we thought of what else we were going to do on Spike, his name was the only thing that came to my mind as someone we had to be in business with," said Spike executive vp original programming Sharon Levy. "At Spike, all our talent are experts in their field, and Randy is at the top of his game."
The two-year deal will see Couture be involved with other projects as well outside of the realm of MMA, with his acting career coming into play.
"We're looking at everything we can do with him, some will be sports related and some won't - because Randy is a movie star," Levy said.
"I'm excited to be back at Spike. I had an amazing experience on Ultimate Fighter when it started, and Spike is a tremendous platform for MMA," Couture said. "It feels like I'm coming home."
Penick's Analysis: Spike and Couture still have a conference call this afternoon to officially announce these plans in more detail, but this is what is coming later this year. A ten-episode reality series with a six-figure contract certainly brings it into Ultimate Fighter territory as expected, but with four coaches they're looking for an interesting twist on things. That said, Greg Jackson's inclusion in the show comes as a bit of a shock, and it could very well have an effect on him cornering fighters in the UFC. Dana White has already said Couture is barred from cornering or coming to events, and Jackson taking part in this could do the same to him. We'll see. As for "MMA Rescue," it sounds like something that could be a train wreck, but it will get three episodes to see how it plays out. The rest of the deal makes sense, as Couture will have an opportunity to take part in other projects down the line, but he's already burned his bridge with the UFC.
[Randy Couture art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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