I don’t really pay attention to the extra pressure. To me, it’s just my last name.
Sounds like it could be a quote from Mike Chiappetta’s great profile of MMA’s first son, Ryan Couture. But years before Couture joined his father in the fight game, there was another famous MMA fighting duo: Ryan and Ken Shamrock. The younger Shamrock made his debut in relative obscurity, but in 2008 the two became the first father and son pair to fight on the same card. On the undercard of Ken’s embarrassing main event loss to journeyman Robert Berry at Cage Rage 25, Ryan Shamrock was stopped by the unheralded Giorgio Andrews. He would lose his third fight more than two years later as well.
Ryan Couture may never be able to follow in his father’s famous footsteps. But he can at least hope to do better than Ryan Shamrock. Couture signed a six fight contract with Strikeforce and will get to show the world what he has August 13 at Strikeforce Challengers 10. Fans will quickly see that the lightweight prospect is no mini-me:
“A lot of people assume I’m going to be a dominant wrestler, and that I’m going to want to clinch up with guys and dirty box,” said Couture, who wrestled in high school but not in college. “I think people are sometimes surprised when they see that my style doesn’t look much like his at all. That’s kind of a good thing, too. It opens their eyes and lets them know I’m not just a miniature clone of him, for better or for worse.”
If the Shamrocks are on a path better not traveled, Couture could certainly do worse than the example set by boxer Cory Spinks. Spinks was boxing’s world welterweight champion, his family’s third world champion. His father Leon Spinks and his uncle Michael Spinks were both world champions as well:
As a welterweight champion and two-time junior middleweight belt holder — who came within one round of getting a draw in a middleweight title bout with Jermain Taylor — Cory Spinks has to be considered the most successful son of a former world champion. While his colorful dad, Leon, was an aggressive fighter who reigned briefly as heavyweight champion, Cory has bedeviled opponents with his clever counterpunching style from the southpaw posture.
Couture has a long way to go before equaling Spinks, but Strikeforce has made a successful pro debut likely. His opponent, local fighter Lucas Stark, has lost four of his six professional fights.
After the jump, see Ryan Shamrock and Ryan Couture in action.
Ryan Couture v Art Martinez – Feb 15th 2009 (via XCMMA)