(Laugh it up, kid. Jewelry and silk shirts make you look 20 years younger. I could pass as your brother.)

Strikeforce announced today that it has signed Ryan Couture to a contract and that the lightweight prospect who holds an amateur MMA record of 5-1-1 will make his professional debut on August 13 at the next Strikeforce Challengers event at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona.

The 27-year-old who trains out of his dad, UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture‘s Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, Nevada will take on Lucas Stark at the event.


Ryan didn’t begin training seriously until after college around 2006, which is surprising, considering the fighting pedigree in his blood.

After graduating from Western Washington University with a mathematics degree and working for a period of time at a bank in Bellingham, WA, he soon realized his desire to work in the family business and in 2008 he packed up and moved to Vegas.

In his final amateur bout Couture fought through being choked out at the bell in the second round to pull out a draw against 10th Planet black belt Sean Bollinger in a Tuff-N-Uff 155-pound title fight on March 26.

The main event of the Challengers card will feature a 182-pound catchweight bout between former UFC middleweight-turned welterweight, Joe "Diesel" Riggs and Bellator vet Louis "Handgunz"Taylor.

182 pounds? Why not 180 or 185? Oh, Strikeforce, you continue to baffle me.

Also on the card will be a number of Strikeforce female standouts including Miesha "Takedown" Tate, Carina "Beauty But The Beast" Damm, Hitomi "Girlfight Monster" Akano and Maiju Kujala.

In a release sent out last night, the promotion refuted claims that Damm has been forced off the card due to visa issues and it indicated that they are working diligently on securing the proper paperwork for the Brazilian fighter.