Sometime after he had finished spoiling Ryan Couture’s UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, it was revealed that TUF 9 winner and TUF: Smashes coach Ross Pearson had allegedly broken his foot warming up. Obviously fearing that those namby pamby Swedes would pull him from the fight, Pearson opted to keep his injury quiet until the fight was over, a strategy commonly known in the fight game as “Ortizing.” The main difference between Pearson and Ortiz being that Pearson saves his complaints for fights he actually wins.

And although it was later revealed that Pearson did not in fact break his foot, he recently tweeted the above image to prove that he wasn’t exactly telling porky pies either. It’s not often that a foot swells up so bad that it forms a cankle, so we must applaud Pearson for his grit and determination in not only fighting with such a disadvantage, but finishing a tough dude like Couture in the process.

I mean, just look at that thing. It looks like what I imagine Rosie O’Donnell’s inner thighs look like. It looks like someone stuffed a stocking with ground beef and threw it at a red birch tree. It looks like Kirby took a particularly vicious beating on the Planet Zebes level of Super Smash Brothers. 

-J. Jones

Eh, still more exciting than the Rocky musical. Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges/Getty Images.

Let’s start off by stating the obvious: The last-minute main event of yesterday’s UFC on Fuel TV 9 was an anti-climactic ending to an otherwise gratifying afternoon of sanctioned violence. As hard as we tried to convince ourselves that Swedish prospect Ilir Latifi could be an interesting opponent for highly-regarded Strikeforce import Gegard Mousasi, the actual fight was completely unspectacular. This isn’t to say that either fighter deserves criticism for his performance, but rather, that this sort of thing will happen when a guy who earned a UFC contract by virtue of being willing to replace his injured training partner headlines an event on four days’ notice.

Despite walking out to the Rocky theme, it immediately became clear that a Balboa-esque upset – or even a Wepnerian display of resilience – was not in store for Latifi (though the cuts on his face were vintage Chuck Wepner). Latifi was completely incapable of avoiding Mousasi’s jab, which prevented him from getting close enough to The Dreamcatcher to actually put his wrestling prowess to use. As carefree as Mousasi looked – did he even blink during those rare occasions when Latifi landed punches? – he was in complete control throughout the bout, jabbing his way to a unanimous decision victory.

(UFC on Fuel 9 Main Event, Gegard Mousasi vs. Ilir Latifi via Fox Sports)

Despite Alexander Gustafsson’s best efforts, yesterday’s UFC event in Stockholm did indeed take place and we’ve got highlights of some of the better fights of the night, along with the post-event press conference and a dope fight day blog from Conor McGregor.

Matt Mitrione vs. Phil De Fries:

(Well I hope you’re happy, Wanderlei.)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our liveblog for UFC on FUEL TV 9 — or as we like to call it, “The event that Alexander Gustafsson’s eyebrow murdered.” Luckily it’s free, and there are still enough decent scraps on the card to make up for the utter randomness of the headliner, including Ross Pearson vs. Ryan Couture, Matt Mitrione vs. Philip De Fries, and Diego Brandao vs. Pablo Garza.

Heading up today’s play-by-play is George Shunick, who will be sticking live results from the “Mousasi vs. Latifi” main card broadcast after the jump beginning at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. Refresh the page for all the latest, and please throw down your own thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for being here. We definitely owe you one.

(Photo via MMA Junkie)

By Elias Cepeda

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has said that it took him some time to learn to deal with fame and people treating him differently. The multi-weight champ is one of MMA’s most recognizable faces but outside of the cage he has always seemed every bit the every man in the way he talks and interacts with fans.

Randy is well-spoken but quiet. Friendly but far from a social butterfly.

His son, Ryan, seems similar in those regards. The lightweight makes his UFC debut tonight in Stockholm, Sweden against Ross Pearson in the co-main event of the embattled UFC on Fuel TV 9 card today.

He’s following his father in the organization “The Natural” helped build but is now persona non grata in. The younger Ryan has faced extra attention heading into this fight because of the ugly falling out between his dad and UFC President Dana White.

Luckily for him, the young Couture got used to extra attention because of who his dad is, long ago. “I was a little weirded out by it at first,” he tells CagePotato.

“I had my first amateur fight, like a million other guys, but then I started getting interview requests. I didn’t expect that and it was definitely weird to do an interview for an amateur fight.”

Ryan was neither annoyed nor impressed by the attention, however. He saw it for what it was, and saw it as a learning experience. “At least I got used to it and started to learn how to deal with it,” he says.

The weigh-ins for UFC on FUEL 9: Mousasi vs. Latifi went down earlier today from the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Featuring several heated staredowns, Tom Lawlor selling wolf tickets, and the lovely Karyn Bryant, check out the full video of the weigh-ins above and the results below.

MAIN CARD (FUEL TV, 2 p.m. ET)
-Ilir Latifi (206) vs. Gegard Mousasi (204)
-Ryan Couture (154) vs. Ross Pearson (155)
-Philip De Fries (248) vs. Matt Mitrione (259)
-Mike Easton (135) vs. Brad Pickett (135)
-Diego Brandao (145) vs. Pablo Garza (146)
-Akira Corassani (145) vs. Robert Peralta (146)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 10:30 a.m. ET)
-Michael Johnson (155) vs. Reza Madadi (155)
-Adam Cella (184) vs. Tor Troeng (185)
-Adlan Amagov (170) vs. Chris Spang (170)
-Marcus Brimage (145) vs. Conor McGregor (145)
-Ben Alloway (170) vs. Ryan LaFlare (171)
-Michael Kuiper (186) vs. Tom Lawlor (185)
-Papy Abedi (170) vs. Besam Yousef (168)

-J. Jones

(Party’s over, Ryan. Time to get back to work)

It didn’t take long for new UFC lightweight Ryan Couture to get his first bout with the organization booked, and it won’t be an easy one. According to Sherdog.com, the former Strikeforce fighter will put his four-fight win streak on the line against Ultimate Fighter Season 9 winner Ross Pearson on the UFC on FUEL 9 card, taking place in Sweden on April 6th.

Pearson is coming off of a TKO win against fellow TUF Australia vs. the U.K. coach George Sotiropoulos last December. Couture last fought and won last month in Strikeforce’s final event against KJ Noons.

Fans have wondered what type of opponent Couture would get since his signing with the UFC was announced last week around the same time his father, retired champion Randy Couture, and the organization acrimoniously split when he signed with competitors Spike and Bellator.

As is usually the case with UFC matchmaking, Couture is certainly getting a stiff challenge in the much more experienced Pearson, but he’s also getting a huge opportunity. With his experience and quality of opponents Pearson may be the favorite in this fight, but it is certainly a winnable contest for the younger Couture.

Should Ryan beat Pearson, he’d immediately make himself known as a major player in the UFC’s lightweight division. How do you see the fight, nation? And is this a reasonable first UFC bout for Couture?

- Elias Cepeda

(Ryan Couture poses for a photo with his father, billionaire fragrance-baron Randy Couture.)

By Elias Cepeda

To say Ryan Couture’s MMA career has moved fast is an understatement. The son of perhaps the most accomplished MMA fighter in history, Randy Couture, Ryan left a banking job just a few years ago to train full-time in Las Vegas with his father, and only two and a half years into his professional career, he has put together a four-fight win streak against great fighters in Strikeforce.

Though his last name has created a whirlwind around him since day one, the junior Couture has kept his head down and stayed humble while working hard to perfect his craft. With the week Ryan has had, it is a good thing that he had practice at keeping cool and collected amidst craziness.

The 30-year-old lightweight upset K.J. Noons in mid-January on Strikeforce’s final card. It was assumed that several Strikeforce champions and contenders would be offered UFC contracts after that event but nothing was certain for Couture.

Like all up-and-coming fighters, it was Couture’s dream to make it to the UFC. He took some time to rest after the Noons fights, got back to light training and waited for word about his future.

“I have a rule where I take one week after a fight and do nothing but eat cheeseburgers and drink beer,” Ryan says with a chuckle. “But after that, I got back to lifting and doing strength and conditioning with Jake [Bonacci], just trying to ease back up to working on the mat because my face was banged up.”

Then, a week ago Couture says he got a life-changing call from UFC President Dana White. Ryan was offered a UFC contract, but it came with one serious caveat.

Wow. We all knew that the fallout from Randy Couture’s deal with Bellator would be swift and harsh, but if Dana White’s words during the UFC 156 post-fight media scrum were any indication, the UFC HOFer might find himself SOL (Author’s note: I get paid by the acrostic) when his son makes his promotional debut as well.

But before we get into that, lets talk about what went down during the UFC 156 post-fight press conference first (video above). Following his parlay-destroying victory over Alistair Overeem earlier in the evening, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was not afraid to add insult to injury when questioned on his strategy heading into the third round, stating almost matter-of-factly that Overeem lacked heart:

I work a lot in the gym and I had a good strategy, because we know Overeem [doesn't] have good cardio and no heart. When he punches, he’s a lion, but when [you] punch him, he’s a cat, you know? 

That’s right, Antonio freaking Silva just used the power of metaphor in English to call Ubereem a pussy. Might I direct you to this Scanners gif?

For obvious reasons, Dana White remained noncommittal to the idea of a Silva/Velasquez rematch, but simply stated that he “wouldn’t be opposed to that.” While it’s a decent idea in theory considering Silva’s most recent win, putting a guy who got taken down by Overeem on multiple occasions against the best wrestler in the division — one who practically killed Silva when they first fought, by the way — does not exactly scream “necessary matchup.” Then again, crazier things have happened in heavyweight rematches.

Now, let’s move on to Dana White pretty much banishing Randy Couture from all future UFC events…

(Jeez, I haven’t seen such poor fight choreography since Sonny Corleone went to town on that punk Carlo for beating on his kid sister.) 

If our past few posts are any indication, it doesn’t really matter what the subject of this article is, because you Taters will inevitably turn the comment section into a discussion on a feller who goes by dipsetkilla, whether he fucked your mom or not, and how gay you would be based on whether he fucked your mom or not. Personally, I think we should have dipset and bootystar (remember him?) engage in a winner-takes-all battle of incoherent superiority. Then again, dipset is probably hitching up his trousers and throwing a five dollar bill on my mother’s nightstand as we speak, so clearly I have a dog in this fight. Maybe I just miss bootystar and such whimsical gems as: “I bet the gladiator got asked cuz he was caught starring at the pork barrel sausage in the littereen next to his bald headed one yed jack of pades” but I digress.

Aaannnyyway…a pair of bouts have been added to Strikeforce’s stacked (LOL!) final card that will feature Luke Rockhold vs. Mr. Glass, Daniel Cormier vs. some dude, Josh Barnett vs. Imhotep, and Whoshisface vs. Whatshisname. We don’t mean to over-hype these fights, but needless to say, they will forever change your definition of the word “Superfight.”

(Alternate titles for the event include “Strikeforce: All’s Well That Enswell” and ”Strikeforce: Operation Frequent Wind. / Photo via Showtime Sports.)

Strikeforce continues to blow its talent wad for what might be the last event of its existence. As MMAJunkie reported on Friday, a compelling lightweight battle between KJ Noons vs. Ryan Couture has been added to January 12th lineup, and will likely take place on the Showtime Extreme-televised preliminary card.

Since coming up short against Nick Diaz during their Strikeforce welterweight title fight in October 2010, Noons has gone 1-2 at lightweight, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Josh Thomson at the Tate vs. Rousey card in March. Still, his sharp boxing and significant experience edge could make him a very tough match for Couture, who is riding a three-fight win streak. Couture won a split-decision over Joe Duarte in his last Strikeforce appearance at Rockhold vs. Kennedy, and was most recently spotted looking at a paint-clad Natasha Wicks with an expression that seemed to say, “You’re hot and everything, but my dad’s already manhandled you, so I don’t know.”

UFC Hall of famer and rock hipster Randy Couture stopped by Spike’s MMA Uncensored television program recently and discussed a wide range of topics. Our favorites were when he talked about his former teammate Chael Sonnen fighting Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title, Alistair Overeem getting a title shot when he returns from his failed drug test suspension and the future of Strikeforce and, specifically, one of their lightweight prospects Ryan Couture.

Randy said that he was “not terribly surprised,” that Chael got the TUF coaching gig opposite Jones and a promised title shot. “This is a business and Chael Sonnen is going to bring it and hype up any single fight that he’s in.”

Couture also believes that Chael has a fighting chance against Jones, if he can employ the right game plan.

The good news is that we’ve got topless photos of Natasha Wicks for you. The better news is that since she sorta went the topless/body paint route in order to support an organization that helps people with cancer, so you don’t have to feel like a complete creep for checking these out on a Sunday morning.

It Ain’t Chemo “provides cancer patients with comfort and care supplies, advice and emotional support,” according to its website. It was founded by a firefighter and cancer survivor named Kevin Hoyt and enlists the help of celebrity endorsers like Wicks and athletes like Ryan Couture to raise awareness of its organization.

The idea behind the organization’s name and tagline is that we should remember those that are struggling more than we are. Ie. Had a crappy week at work? Well, at least it ain’t chemo therapy. They sell some dope apparel on their site to raise money for their services. Check them out.

Also feel free to check out photos of Wicks wearing very little other than some It Ain’t Chemo-themed body paint at a recent fundraiser party after the jump.

By Crooklyn

(“Hey Ryan. My wife saw a poster for your fight in the women’s bathroom at Macy’s. Cool, right”)

Ryan Couture is gearing up for the toughest fight of his career. When he meets Conor Heun in the cage on Saturday night, he’s almost assured a grueling brawl. Speaking this week with the son of UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture, who is blazing his own trail in MMA as one of the sport’s top prospects, the veteran-like confidence and focus he displayed was immediately evident. The grounded 29-year-old  says he is not taking anything for granted in this fight, and that he has prepared himself to go the distance with a very formidable opponent.

Check out what the 3-1 well-rounded Strikeforce prospect had to say after the jump.

With a chest like that, Shawn Jordan deserves a special place in our hearts

Let’s pretend that you’re a novice MMA fan. You just started watching the sport after being at a bar that was showing “one of those UFC events”, and you want to follow this sport more closely. Specifically, you want to be able to watch the sport’s brightest prospects fighting on the same card while it’s still mostly for recognition. Then let me tell you everything you need to know: The UFC 135 Facebook prelims begin at 5:30 ET. You’re welcome.

For those of you who really want to be hardcore fans, and want to know about the brightest prospects of the minor leagues fighting to be somewhat more famous minor league prospects, we got your back, too. Strikeforce Challengers 19 went down last night in Las Vegas last night at the Palms Resort Casino. While most of the fighters were pretty rough around the edges, the crowd was still treated to some decent fights.

In the main event, light heavyweight prospect Lorenz Larkin remained undefeated by edging out Nick Rossborough for a unanimous decision victory. Despite accepting the fight on short notice, Nick Rossborough kept the fight close throughout the first round by utilizing the clinch against the shorter Larkin. However, Larkin managed to wear Rossborough down with leg kicks throughout the second round, and opened up a cut on Rossborough’s forehead with elbows in the third. Lorenz Larkin is now 12-0 in his MMA career, while Nick Rossborough falls to 20-15.

(One of the above people has no clue that Strikeforce Challengers even exists.) 

Depending on what kind of MMA fan you are, the Strikeforce Challengers series is either one of the many great ways to scout up and coming talent or one of the many open wounds that is bleeding Strikeforce to death. Regardless, Strikeforce Challengers 19 goes down tonight from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features the likes of Ryan Couture, Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High, and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between undefeated Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough. So if you determine whether or not to buy pay-per-views based on the originality of fighter’s nicknames, then this is the card for you.

These guys know what I’m talking about.

With all of the MMA available this weekend, you had to expect to sit through at least a few decisions. Maybe even a few overreactions to a subpar performance. Last night, Strikeforce Challengers 16 delivered on your expectations. Fans at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington sat through six straight unanimous decisions, with every fight on the televised portion of the card ending this way. Yet despite the lack of stoppages, most of last night’s fights were still pretty entertaining.

Fodor vs. Terry was a very entertaining scrap, with both lightweights landing hard shots throughout the fight. However, whenever the fight went to the ground, Caros Fodor clearly controlled the action, earning him the decision. The AMC Pankration prospect improved to 11-3, with four consecutive victories under the Strikeforce banner. Excuse me for pointing out the extremely obvious, but Fodor really deserves a step up in competition.

(Barnett has his throat-slash. Roy Nelson has his belly-rub. Lorenz Larkin just stands there and poops in his diaper. Props: Strikeforce)

Tomorrow night, Strikeforce returns to the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington for one of the most compelling ‘Challengers’ events in recent memory. “Fodor vs. Terry” kicks off on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET, and features a pack of exciting prospects. Here’s a quick rundown of the five-fight main card, plus videos of some of their recent performances…

Caros Fodor (10-3) vs. James Terry (10-2)
Fodor is a Washington native who trains under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration. Eight of his ten victories have come by way of submission, but he was able to score his first stoppage-via-strikes in his last fight, battering a worn-out David Douglas until he earned a standing TKO in the third frame. He’s a perfect 3-0 in the Strikeforce organization, and will be looking to move another rung up the lightweight ladder against Cung Le protege James Terry, who has won his last three fights, two by first-round knockout.

(Caros Fodor’s TKO of David Douglas, 4/1/11)

(James Terry’s KO of Josh Thornburg, 4/1/11)

(Higgins enjoying the bright lights of Showtime)

Dropping the “Cage Potato” name may not impress the ladies, but it’s good enough to get you a little action from the folks at Strikeforce. Yours truly was sipping a Rockstar tallboy cageside at last night’s Challengers event, and for those of you who missed it I’m coming correct with a recap of the action. Sure, the Challengers series lacks the big-name fighters and forbidden psychological technologies of its big brother, but that doesn’t mean it’s low on action.

The turnout at the Cedar Park Arena, just outside of Austin, TX, looked more like that of a regional show than an event being broadcast on Showtime. Tickets went on sale 2-for-1 on Thursday, which is never a good sign. The fans that did turn out seemed largely there to support local fighters and drink some beer, but that’s to be expected for a Challengers card that doesn’t pack a lot of names that the casual fan would recognize aside from “Couture”.

Say what you want about his fighting prowess, but his Tamdan McCrory impression is spot-on.

By Cage Potato Contributor Seth “Insert Pop Culture Reference” Falvo

Normally, we media types tend to be skeptical of these Strikeforce Challengers cards. However, tonight’s card in Cedar Park, Texas couldn’t possibly come at a better time. Aside from keeping itself in the minds of MMA fans, Strikeforce can begin to sell the fans on its non-Emelianenko fighters. This card provides two very interesting options.

The event is headlined by a lightweight scrap between Lyle Beerbohm and Pat Healy. Undefeated in his first sixteen fights, former meth addict turned professional fighter Lyle Beerbohm has a story that practically sells itself. The fact that he’s only gone the distance twice doesn’t hurt, either. His opponent, former Maximum Fighting Championship welterweight champion Pat Healy, most recently fought against Josh Thomson as an injury replacement for Lyle Beerbohm. Don’t sleep on Healy because of his 25-17 record; he has victories over Dan Hardy, Paul Daley, and Carlos Condit.

("So, what’s your dad do? He’s in risk management? That’s cool, I guess." PicProps: Strikeforce)

The most shocking fact to emerge from Strikeforce Challengers 10 on Friday? Joe Riggs and Ryan Couture are the same age. Actually, Couture is a month older. Yet while the fresh-faced Couture made his professional debut last night, Riggs – who is about as grizzled and world weary as a dude under 30 can possibly be – was taking part in bout No. 44 of his nine-year career. Luckily for both, they were fighting opponents brought in specifically to chum the waters.

If you had complicated feelings about Couture’s first-ever pro fight airing on national television, you weren’t alone. On one hand, nobody likes Jacob Dylan. On the other hand, it feels a little unseemly to harbor a grudge against a guy as apparently likeable as the younger Couture just because he won some kind of genetic MMA lottery. Luckily, Ryno solved our emotional torment for us in just a minute, 15 seconds last night, proving he belonged in the cage with a glossy smooth triangle choke victory over local boy Lucas Stark.

(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.

(Props: Cagewriter)

Ryan Couture (whose dad is this guy you may have heard of) fought for the Tuff-N-Uff 155-pound amateur title in Las Vegas over the weekend, and in a bizarre turn of events he managed to get briefly put to sleep and yet still come back to finish the fight.  Couture took on Eddie Bravo student Sean Bollinger, and while the Xtreme Couture fighter was getting the better of the stand-up for most of the fight, he found himself entangled in Bollinger’s rubber guard on several occasions. 

The most dangerous of those encounters came at the end of the second round, when Couture found himself locked in a triangle choke as the clock ticked down.  Watch closely at the 5:55 mark as Couture’s arms go limp just after the bell rings to signal the end of the round.  Bollinger sees him sleeping on the mat and jumps up to celebrate, thinking it’s all over, but Couture quickly comes to and the ref helps him into his corner to prepare for the final round.

The fight ended in a draw after the third, but we have to admit, it may have been one of the most exciting and technical amateur fights we’ve ever seen.  Couture is now expected to turn pro, and a rematch with Bollinger is probably in his future.  With five-minute rounds instead of three, using the round-ending bell as an alarm clock may not be such a great strategy.

Related:
– Ryan Couture’s MMA Debut: "Game Over! Tap, You Bitch!"
– Ryan Couture vs. Jimmy Spicuzza

Colt Toombs (seen above in the black shorts) is the son of pro wrestling great/star of one of the greatest B-movies ever made, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, which is reason enough to expect great and crazy things from him.  But as you can see, Colt is also a young MMA fighter with pretty decent stand-up.  This Friday he steps in at Sportfight XXVI "Domination", where he’ll be taking on Matt Slosser at 145 lbs.  Normally, we wouldn’t care about the son of a famous person who’s competing at a regional MMA event.  But not only is this Piper’s kid we’re talking about here, he’ll also be competing on the same event as Ryan Couture, who takes on Nick Albert in the lightweight division.  Talk about a stacked card.  All they need is Brooke Hogan to sing the national anthem, and this will be a historic night. 

It sure looks like Piper’s son can fight, but the real question is, can he cut a promo like this?

CagePotato readers Jeb R. and Jamie sent in the above footage of Bob "Boooooooo!" Reilly‘s press conference from Friday, in which the New York Assemblyman compared MMA to prostitution, argued that the sport would actually be economically harmful to the state, and claimed that it would breed more violence in society. All incredibly valid points from a well-informed, not-at-all-senile government official. (Reilly also says that he could fill the Pepsi Arena for a dogfight, which, if that’s true, he might consider leaving the bureaucracy field for the more glamorous and lucrative world of fight promotion.) It’s one thing to read about this joker on our website; it’s quite another to hear these specious non-arguments come out of his mouth. Again, sign our petition if you haven’t yet for some reason, and if you can keep your emotions in check and your arguments high-minded, feel free to get in touch.

Below: Randy Couture‘s son Ryan increased his amateur MMA record to 2-0 on February 15th with this second-round submission victory over fellow lightweight Art Martinez at a Tuff-N-Uff event in Las Vegas; the fight starts at the 3:48 mark. Watch as Couture almost locks in a triangle in the first round, then an armbar, but Martinez manages to survive until the bell. (Damn those two-minute rounds.) It’s all good, though — Couture immediately takes advantage of some bad positioning by Martinez in the second frame, and it’s tap or nap.

(Props: XtremeCouture.wordpress.com)

After the jump: UFC announcer Mike Goldberg unwinds after Saturday’s show by working some Muay Thai combos with a training partner. In a crowded bar.

Ryan Couture vs. Ricky Perez – Watch more Free Videos

Randy Couture‘s son, Ryan, was successful in his amateur debut this past weekend, submitting Ricky Perez in the first round. The reaction from Ryan’s friends in the crowd is, let’s just say, enthusiastic.

I always have mixed feelings watching the children of famous people attempt to do what their famous parents do. On one hand, Couture’s son probably has great genetics and excellent training to help him along. On the other, he’s always going to be known as Randy Couture’s son.

Just think about what he’d have to do in order to get out from under that cloud as an MMA fighter. If he became the greatest fighter in the history of the sport, if he defeated the children of Fedor Emelianenko and Chuck Liddell on the same night and then beat up Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson‘s love child on his way back to the locker room (naturally I assume that the Ortiz/Jameson offspring will be a screaming drunk in the audience) that might do it.

Who knows, sometimes the child eclipses the father, and that is one hell of a triangle choke. But for every Peyton Manning there’s a Gloria Hemingway. Best of luck in avoiding that fate, little Couture.

(Props: MMA Rated)