According to a Feb. 7 report from Sherdog, new Bellator MMA coach Randy Couture is happy he doesn't have to deal with UFC President Dana White anymore.
“I’m happy to not have to put up with and keep my mouth shut and deal with Dana as well," Couture said. "It goes both ways. I have a ton of respect for the [UFC]. In a lot of ways, I still have respect for Dana and the passion that he has for the sport and the things that him and Lorenzo [Fertitta] have managed to do for the sport over the course of their tenure since 2000, [but] certainly there’s plenty of things I don’t agree with.”
Couture admits he received several interesting texts from White when it was announced he would be coaching Bellator's new MMA reality show.
“I had some rather interesting and classic texts that came to my phone," Couture said. "This was kind of a couple weeks ago when things started leaking.”
Couture loves the concept of Bellator MMA's new reality show, as the fighters are allowed to choose which camp they want to train in.
“I like the concept of the show," Couture said. "I like their emphasis on the training and on the athletes themselves. I think the progressive tournament does that in some ways because you get to pick your guys early and follow them and their success or failures all the way through. I think it’s focused on the right things. Obviously Spike carved out a niche by putting on TUF. When everybody else was pushing back and wasn’t willing to give the sport a chance on television, cable or otherwise, Spike stepped up and they created a niche for themselves in the programming. When the UFC skipped over to Fox, it left a void and I think this is Viacom’s attempt to fill that void and to continue to operate in that space.”
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