Dana White Calls Ryan Couture, Tells Him Father Unwelcome At Events, Offers UFC Release | UFC NEWS
“I called Ryan Couture and I said, ‘Ryan, this is probably the weirdest conversation you are ever going to have with me. 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 again as long as I walk this ****ing planet. I know he’s your dad and I don’t want to call you up and tell you how much I don’t like your father, but, if you want to leave the UFC,’ because he, Randy, is not cornering him. Randy Couture can’t buy a ticket to this mother ****ing event. I said, ‘He’s not going to be around and I just wanted to be up front with you. I want to be honest and be up front. If you want me to release your from your contract so that you can go do a deal with Bellator, and have your dad maybe work with you and come up and do whatever, I will do that for you, too.’ He said, ‘ Every kid that has ever strapped on a pair of gloves is dreaming about fighting in the UFC. And if they say they’re not, they are either lying not they are stupid. This is my dream, I want to be with you guys. He’s my dad and he’s always going to be my dad. But, this is where I want to be, I worked my whole life to get here.’ And I told him, ‘This is your house, don’t ever feel like it’s not.’ That was something that I had to do, I had to talk to him. The kid is either with us or he is not. And I don’t mean, ‘Oh, you’re either with us or you’re not with us,’ I mean, I want him to feel like if he stays with us, he’s with us and there is no hard feelings for him because of what’s going on with me and Randy or anything like that. I want him to feel comfortable if he wanted to stay. And I wanted to give him the option to go with his dad, too. I don’t want him to be in some situation where like he says, ‘this guy is getting to fights with my dad and I’m stuck in a contract with them and I’d rather (not.)’ That’s the whole story, that’s it, and I’d rather not talk about it again.”
- Dana White via last weekends UFC 156 media event.
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Wow. a big F-YOU to Dana.
Now I am going to go give my Dad a hug.
Kind of Hypocritical. If Dana wanted a fighter from Bellator he would have him. Now that Bellator needs a fighter from him, he is making it a big deal. I understand that Couture is a hall of fame ufc fighter but dont be selfish. Randy couture got famous for fighting. He helped make the ufc and I believe he should be able to help whoever out and still be able to corner his son.
I think your right Dana white is really not being cool about this
I’m pretty sure that he cannot bar Randy from buying a ticket to an event! Dana, if you ever have kids, I hope they steal all your money, burn your house down and confine you in a home. You don’t ever mess with a family relationship like this. You truly are a piece of crap!
To jim, Nick, Jeff… DAMN STRAIGHT!!! Dana is probably doing this to make Randy look like the bad guy (when he has done so much for the UFC), and him look like nice guy. Dana can never do three things in life: share, find a woman who can put up w/ his crap, and say **** you in a polite way.
Brutal but honest… Damn
I kind of agree with what Dana did here. He and Randy are on bad terms and the guy doesn’t want him at his events. I dont agree with Dana being mad at Randy for doing the Bellator gig, Randy has a chance to make good money after hes retired from fighting..why wouldnt he do that? Reguardless though the two are fighting and Dana just wants Randys son to be able to make a free choice about what he wants to do with his career without feeling like hes stuck in a contract. Even if Danas being a sissy about the whole Randy thing he seems to be doing a stand up job in making sure his fighter wants to be there, fighting for his company, competing at his best so he can move up in the division.
It’s hard to say what went on between DW and Randy on the past; who knows maybe Randy is a sniveling weasel when it comes to things. whatever, at least the kid isn’t being too caught up with it in regards to his contract. will suck not to have the old man cornering him though.
Wow Dana way to be a total d*ck to the man who helped make your company what it is today. So what he signed a deal with another company mans gotta pay the bills and he is no longer fighting so what! Not cool man
If a company has the rights to do what they feel is best for their company (Eddie Alvarez, Bigfoots no win bonus) then a fighter or employee should be able to do what’s in their best interest. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander as far as I know Randy was contractually allowed to do what he did so its pretty much well played Randy bad luck Dana. Dana isn’t exactly showing me what a good man does outside his profession either