Randy Couture Returns to Spike to Coach Bellator Reality Series

[EmpireWF]

:what:

SI.com has confirmed through multiple sources that UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has signed into a multi-year deal with Spike TV, a property of Viacom, to appear in multiple projects for the cable channel, as well as other possible ventures within the media conglomerate's family of networks.

As a part of the multi-faceted agreement, Couture's first role will be as a coach in the forthcoming Bellator MMA reality Series, which begins shooting in February and airs later this year.

Spike TV will unveil this industry-shifting announcement on Feb. 5 during a press conference in Los Angeles, where Couture and Spike TV president Kevin Kay will discuss details of the agreement and what the 49-year-old retired fighter's role will be on the Bellator series and possibly other Spike-broadcasted projects. The series is expected to feature a number of current and up-and-coming Bellator fighters.

Sources told SI.com that the deal with Spike and Viacom was executed in late December, much to the disapproval of Couture's former employer, UFC president Dana White. Since his retirement in April 2011 at age 47, Couture has turned his attention to Hollywood with supporting roles in The Expendables and its summer 2012 sequel, and had most recently served as an on-camera analyst for the UFC's live events on Fox. However, Couture was absent from the UFC on Fox 6 broadcast on Jan. 26, replaced by one-time teammate Chael Sonnen.
Bellator MMA (formerly Fighting Championships), a tournament-format live event series that airs Thursdays (10 p.m. ET) on Spike, debuted on the men's specialty channel on Jan. 17, garnering 938,000 average viewership during its two-hour-plus broadcast. Viacom purchased a majority share of Bellator in October 2011 to replace the programming void left after UFC owners Zuffa LLC moved its sports property to the Fox Sports Media Group in a seven-year deal reportedly worth around $630 million.

Couture (19-11) is no stranger to Spike's loyal male-driven audience. In January 2005, he and Chuck Liddell starred as coaches on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, the reality series largely credited with launching the UFC and MMA's explosive rise in popularity over the last seven years. Couture also appeared on subsequent seasons of the series, which now airs on FX. In 2007, Spike also dedicated a night of primetime viewing to Couture's storied UFC career, which saw him become the first athlete to hold titles in multiple UFC divisions.

The as-yet unnamed Bellator series is being helmed by seven-time Emmy Award-winning producer Bertram Van Munster (The Amazing Race, Cops).

Representatives for Couture and Spike TV declined to make comment until the Feb. 5 announcement.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mm...ture-joining-spike-tv-bellator/#ixzz2JNmpCDtA

Interesting..

I see this, more about Viacom and what they can offer Randy with all their media properties.

Good for Bellator, attaching his name to the new reality show will be a plus.

 

[Liquidrob]

Really good move by Bellator/Spike

Someone on the UG said this is like when Hogan went to the WCW

They need to bring Frank and Tito along now

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Dana will cry about this. Let's see how petty he gets. Maybe Ryan won't be brought to UFC, even though he won the unofficial UFC entry fight vs Noons. White will probably play the "bad decision" (it was, to be fair) card.

Or maybe they'll bring in Ryan, and immediately feed him to the lions or give him bad style matchups.

But make no mistake, Dana will cry about this and talk about loyalty. Meanwhile, what has Zuffa been doing to help him earn money?

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Dana is one of those annoying dudes that you just don't return his phone calls or put him directly to voicemail.