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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Randy Couture's decision to forego the final event on his Fox broadcasting contract with the UFC in favor of a deal with Spike TV has essentially blacklisted him from the UFC. However, Dana White's personal feelings towards the UFC Hall of Famer won't keep his son, lightweight Ryan Couture, from competing in the Octagon.
White explained after Saturday's UFC 156 event in Las Vegas that he's spoken with the younger Couture since last week's news broke, and explained his side of things while giving him an out if he had wanted it.
"After I talked to you guys, I called Ryan Couture, and I said, 'Ryan, let me put it to you this way: This is probably going to be the weirdest conversation you're ever going to have with me,'" White said (via MMAJunkie.com. "'You signed a deal with us to fight in the UFC. I want you here if you want to be here, but I need you to understand this: Me and your dad are not good. Me and your dad are never going to be good – ever, ever again as long as I walk this f***ing planet. I know he's your dad, and I don't want to – you know, I'm calling you up telling you how much I don't like your father. But if you want to leave the UFC' – because he's not cornering him; Randy Couture can't buy a ticket to this motherf***ing event, OK? So I said, 'He's not going to be around, and I just want to be up front with you. You know how I am. I want to be honest, and I want to be up front. If you want me to release you from your contract so you can go do a deal with Bellator and have your dad and maybe work with him and do whatever, I would do that for you, too.'"
"He said to me, 'Every kid who's ever strapped on a pair of gloves is dreaming about fighting in the UFC. If they say they're not, they're either lying or they're stupid. This is my dream. I want to be with you guys. Listen, he's my dad, and he's always going to be my dad, but this is where I want to be. I've worked my ass off to get here.'"
"I said, 'Well let me tell you this: This is your house. Don't ever feel like it's not. Don't ever feel like if you walk down the hallway at our show that you're not part of this team and part of this family. I'm honored that you said that, and bro, we're happy to have you.' I just felt like that was something that I had to do. I had to talk to him. The kid's either with us or he's not. And I don't mean him. I mean I want him to feel like if he stays with us, he's with us. There's no hard feelings for him because of what's going on with me and Randy or anything like that. I just wanted to reach out and make him feel comfortable if he wanted to stay, and I wanted to give him the option if he wanted to go with his dad, too. I didn't want him to be in some situation where it's like, 'Now these guys get in a fight with my dad, and I'm stuck in this contract with them.' You know what I mean?"
Penick's Analysis: It's certainly going to be an awkward situation for Ryan, especially not being able to have his father in his corner when he has been for much of his fighting career. However, White laid it out for him, and gave him the option of whether he wanted to stay with the UFC in light of this news, or if he wanted to get out to go over to Bellator. I think Ryan made the correct decision for his career. It's a big chance for him to compete in the UFC, and it's his life and his career he needs to think about. While there could be some strain on things because of the now-contentious relationship between his father and the UFC, that's on Randy as well for doing what he needed to for his career.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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