Ryan Couture is likely done with competing in the cage, as he gets set to run the family business.
Ryan Couture’s fighting days might be over, but not his involvement in MMA.
The veteran recently announced in an interview with MMA Junkie Radio that he’s now the new CEO of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. – one of MMA’s top gyms for quite some time.
Couture (12-6 MMA), son of former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, is excited to take over the family business.
“It’s always been dad’s plan since I left my bank job in Washington and relocated here to work for the business,” Couture told MMA Junkie Radio. “It was always his goal, his plan to hand it over to me eventually.
“I kind of got sidetracked and decided to have a fighting career and showed a little less interest in the business side of things over a few years. Since my fight career has sort of been winding down and I’ve been investing a lot of focus into the business and taking a much bigger role here, we just kind of finally progressed to the point where it was time to pass the torch. So here we are.”
Couture last fought in November 2018, where he picked up a unanimous decision win over Haim Gozali at Bellator 209. The 37-year-old is not ready to fully commit to retirement but does think his fightings are a thing of the past, as he hasn’t felt the urge to compete in a long time.
“I haven’t really felt ready to come out and officially declare that,” Couture said. “It’s been since 2018 that I haven’t felt that itch to look for a fight, so I think it’s pretty much safe to say I’m done competing. I’m just happy to be focused on running the business and open when time permits when things settle down in this transition that I’ll be able to get back to teaching more and still be on the mat and be involved in that way. But yeah, I don’t see me fighting anymore.”
Couture says he’s no longer with Bellator and now a free agent. He leaves the door open for a potential return to MMA, but doesn’t think it’s likely. The 28-fight veteran fought for three major organizations – Strikeforce, UFC and Bellator. Couture shared the cage with many notable names such as K.J. Noons Al Iaquinta, Ross Pearson and Patricky Freire.
