Ryan Couture to 411: ‘Bellator Feels Like Home’

MMA veteran and Bellator MMA lightweight fighter Ryan Couture (10-3, MMA; 2-0, Bellator) faces one of the toughest tests of his career at this week’s Bellator 148 event. During the main Spike TV card, Couture will face longtime Bellator veteran and two-time tournament finalist Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (14-7, MMA; 7-6, Bellator) in a lightweight fight. The winner will definitely be in a good position moving forward in Bellator’s highly competitive lightweight roster. 411mania recently had the chance to speak with Couture on his upcoming fight:

Jeffrey Harris: You have been doing well in Bellator lately, and this is a huge fight for you. Bellator has a pretty deep lightweight division, so what did you think of the match-up?

Ryan Couture: Yeah, this was the biggest name I’ve fought since I’ve been with Bellator, and it’s a huge opportunity for me to put myself in the mix and get close to fighting for that title, which is the ultimate goal. So I’m excited about it. Patricky is an experienced, dangerous guy. He’s well-rounded. He’s explosive. He brings a lot to the table, and I’m going to have to be on my game to go out there and get the job done.

Jeffrey Harris: So do you see this fight as a stepping stone to maybe a contender’s fight for the lightweight title

Ryan Couture: Yeah, absolutely. It shortens that path to the title significantly. He’s constantly in that conversation. He’s one of those guys who is always booked to fight people who could fight for the title at any time.

Jeffrey Harris: In terms of the match-up what would you say are Freire’s biggest strengths and his biggest weaknesses?

Ryan Couture: He likes to try and stand and take your head off. Obviously, I’ll have to keep my wits about me there, and not play into his game on the feet. He’s also a dangerous grappler. He’s got fantastic jiu-jitsu credentials, so once I do get the fight to the ground, I have to keep my wits about me there too. I think my best best is just to keep the pressure on him and turn the fight into a ground and just try to wear him down and break his will.

Jeffrey Harris: Pitbull has been kind of off and on in Bellator. What do you think his problem with consistency has been?

Ryan Couture: You know, I’m not really sure why he’s been struggling to string wins together lately. But I definitely expect him to come out fired up and looking to get back on track after what I know was a heart breaking loss for him in December. That was such a close fight, it really could’ve gone either way. So I expect him to come out fired up and looking to take my head off. I definitely have to be ready for him to start strong.

Jeffrey Harris: You’re coming off two straight wins in Bellator and two first-round submission victories. The momentum is really on your side right now. So how are you feeling in terms of momentum and challenging yourself in training?

Ryan Couture: I’m feeling great. I think we have a recipe in training. We’ve been putting together good training camps, and I’m coming out and performing at the end of them. So that’s a great feeling to have on my side, and I’m looking forward to doing it again in a couple weeks.

Jeffrey Harris: This will be your third fight under the Bellator banner. How does Bellator feel right now with the new president Scott Coker? Does it feel like home to you?

Ryan Couture: Absolutely. It felt like a homecoming with Scott, and the rest of the Bellator crew has welcomed me with open arms. They’ve been great to work with. It’s a really awesome group of people. They make fight week a lot of fun, when a lot of time it’s just kind of a slog. You’re cutting weight and just grumpy all the time, but it’s such a great group of people to be working with it makes me look forward to flying out there that Tuesday before the fight. Getting everything done fight week, media and press and all that stuff is a lot more fun when you got a good group of people to work with. So I’m really, really happy with where I ended up and with how Bellator is treating me.

Jeffrey Harris: When you left Strikeforce and went into the UFC after Strikeforce was dissolved, a lot of fans thought you given match-ups that were too tough too quickly. They were essentially “throwing you to the wolves.” Did you get that feeling in your match-ups in the UFC? Or did you think you were maybe mismatched?

Ryan Couture: They definitely didn’t give me an easy path, but I didn’t feel like it was unfair treatment at all. I was coming into the UFC off a match-up with KJ Noons. That’s a really tough fight too. I didn’t feel like the level of competition was stepped up drastically at all. I thought it was a logical progression. And then I think getting [Al] Iaquinta in that second match, on paper I think we were pretty evenly matched. He had the better night, the better showing at that time, but I thought the matchmaking was fair. I think maybe under different circumstances they would’ve brought me along slower and build me, but there’s no telling with them. They don’t do that for very many people. I don’t feel like I was treated unfairly at all.

Jeffrey Harris: So what was that transition like when you were out of the UFC and rebuild yourself from the ground up. I mean since that time, you’ve been on an incredible winning streak, and you’ve finished your last four fights. So how do you feel about that?

Ryan Couture: It was a little bit disheartening at first getting that call and getting that release. But I kind of saw it coming. I knew I didn’t perform in those two opportunities that I had there, so I had a feeling that was what was coming my way. So I tried to use that as an opportunity for growth, and my learning curve in my professional career maybe did get steeper than perhaps it should have because I was in Strikeforce and then the buyout happened. They started ramping things up and maybe started progressing me a little faster than might’ve been ideal. I thought of it as a chance to go back to the drawing board, get some of those confidence building wins that I needed, and fine-tuning things in training. And so far, it’s really been paying off.

Jeffrey Harris: What do you think of Bellator’s lightweight division in terms of depth and competition?

Ryan Couture: Yeah, I think it’s been Bellator’s deepest division for a while, and it just keeps getting deeper all the time as they keep signing new talent and bringing on more tough guys. I’m excited. It’s great to be a part of such a talented field of competitors, and I’m looking forward to showing what I’ve got and how I match up with all those guys.

Jeffrey Harris: How is training going right now, and is the weight cut on track?

Ryan Couture: Yeah, weight’s right on track. I feel like we’ve got the game plan figured out, so I’m just sharpening up and getting my repetitions on executing. I’ll be dialed up and ready to go on fight night.

Jeffrey Harris: Who are you working with in training camp right now?

Ryan Couture: Coach [Robert] Follis is overseeing things and kind of calling the shots and orchestrating everything. [I’ve] got Coach Dennis Dave running practice right now. Eric Nicksick also helps out and helps keep an eye on me, keep me on track. I’ve also got Gilbert Otto[?] doing my strength and conditioning. He’s been fantastic and helped me a lot over the last couple of years. And then a great group of training partners, the whole team at Xtreme Couture, they’ve been extremely helpful.

Jeffrey Harris: With the new era of Bellator MMA, do you prefer not having the tournament layout to possibly earn a title shot, or would have rather had that coming in?

Ryan Couture: No, that tournament format, I didn’t really care for the idea of that fighting every five weeks for three fights straight is just such a grind and so hard on your body. It’s like one, big super long training camp with a couple fights peppered in. Trying to stay healthy through something like that would’ve put a lot of hard mileage on my body. So I prefer that they’ve gone back to a little more traditional format of building the fights at a more reasonable interval and building up contenders that way. So I’m excited about it, and I feel like I’m in a really great position to make a run at it and establishing myself for that title shot.

Jeffrey Harris: For this fight, where do you think Pitbull is most dangerous? Is it the overall striking or the pure knockout power?

Ryan Couture: I think that knockout power is definitely the best thing he’s got going for him in this match-up. If I get caught sleeping and leaving my chin sticking out there at the wrong time, he’s going to take advantage of that and put the lights out. So definitely got to stay sharp and focused in there and can’t afford to get lazy with my hands. I’ve got to protect my chin. Everything he throws, he puts 100 percent on, and that makes him dangerous.

Jeffrey Harris: Anyone you would like to thank or give out shout to?

Ryan Couture: Just as always, a big thanks over to my whole team at Xtreme Couture. They’ve been awesome and they got me ready to roll.

Thanks for Ryan Couture for taking the time to speak with us. Bellator 148 will be broadcast on Spike TV on January 29. The prelims will be shown on Spike.com