Ryan Couture, son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, took on Patricky “Pitbull” Freire at Bellator 148 last weekend. Freire is a very dangerous striker and showed off his skills against Couture, ending the fight with a nasty left hand which snatched the consciousness from his opponent in the first round. Below is the finish courtesy of Zombie Prophet:
https://twitter.com/ZProphet_MMA/status/693263423434391553
Before being knocked out Couture had already been staggered by “Pitbull.” Freire was coming off a close loss coming into this bout and had previously stated that he aimed to end the tough Couture’s night early:
Couture has a reputation for being tough. He has been stopped only once in his professional career, so Freire’s dream of a quick knockout victory may be difficult to bring to fruition.
He has little fear of Couture’s striking, nor is he afraid of the idea of Couture dragging things later than the opening round and attacking with his submission-heavy game, he said.
He’s taller, same as Derek Anderson, Freire said. He leaves more openings when striking, though he has good knees and kicks. I think he’s more versatile. But I don’t think he’ll take chances with me on the feet. I imagine he’ll try to tire me out, take me down, and try for a submission, since he enjoys jiu-jitsu. I would welcome that. I’m a black belt and I’ve been practicing jiu-jitsu since I was a child. He won’t catch me by surprise.
source: mmajunkie.com
Below is Sherdog’s play by play account of the fight:
Couture lands the first punch of the fight about 30 seconds into the round, a stiff jab on the mouth of Pitbull, who circles the edge of the cage. Freire comes out to the middle and lunges at Couture with a Superman punch, but the American covers up. A quick combination sends Couture backpedaling, but as Freire closes in, he throws a kick and gets tripped to the floor. Pitbull scrambles back to his feet and dashes away before Couture can clinch. A straight left-right hook combination scores for the Brazilian, then a straight right has Couture staggering backward. Couture dives on Freire’s legs and gets sliced open by what looks like a standing elbow to the bridge of the nose. Couture steps into the pocket with a lazy low kick and pays the price, as Freire absolutely demolishes him with a left hook to the jaw. The unconscious Couture collapses to the ground in a heap, and Patricky Freire has added another knockout to his highlight reel.
source: sherdog.com
