Younger Couture gets first win; Riggs back on track
It's hard to believe there's a fighter who's more polite and docile away from the cage than Randy Couture. We've found one. It's his son Ryan. But much like his famous fighting father, the next generation Couture turns on the nasty when he steps in the cage. The 27-year-old, making his pro debut on Showtime, made quick work of Lucas Stark by forcing a tap via triangle choke less than 90 seconds into the fight.Couture is a pretty grounded kid but you could see he was wound up before the fight. There was a ton of pressure on him. After all, he was making his pro debut on a televised card on Showtime. Even he admitted in the lead up to the fight that he was getting the only opportunity because of his name. Once he got the win, he took a couple of deep breaths before his hand was raised. He didn't jumped around like a maniac or talk trash. He was even a little embarrassed as he asked fans to come to his afterparty."Everyone come have a drink with me at Martini Ranch, please," Couture said sheepishly.He may have been nervous before and after the fight but he showed the composure of a veteran during the short fight. Stark's striking was a bit awkward but he nailed Couture with a couple of good shots. He also landed a nice fireman's carry to dump Couture on his back. Couture reacted quickly by throwing his right leg on Stark's shoulder. Stark was stationary for a few seconds, Couture threw his other leg up and the choke was locked on. The 20-year-old quickly tapped at the 1:15 mark. There was no way to get out. Ryan was certainly more successful than the last Couture Strikeforce tried to throw in the cage. Randy's ex-wife Kim had a rough time in her two Showtime fights. She leapt onto the big stage a little too quickly. The more patient Ryan fought on the amateur scene in Las Vegas for the last few years and got six matches under his belt before he decided to go pro. He's also at his father's gym, Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, just about everyday training with guys like Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard and Martin Kampmann.Patient Riggs blasts out TaylorJoe Riggs isn't quite the aggressive killer he was during his UFC days but he still possesses some dangerous elements. The relatively inexperienced Louis Taylor knew that but still couldn't resist the urge to trade with Riggs. That was a bad move. Taylor caught a huge left midway through the third round, hit the deck and found himself getting blasted in the forehead. Trapped helplessly in a crucifix, Taylor tapped due to strikes giving Riggs his 33rd career win in a catchweight fight at 182 pounds. Riggs used to be a guy who swung for the fences. He was good enough, even at the tender age of 21-to-24, to pick up four wins in the UFC and get a welterweight title shot against Matt Hughes. Now 27, Riggs has become more of a counterstriker. That approach cost him against Jay Hieron in his last fight but against a guy with only seven fights, the mindset proved to be the correct way to go. Taylor, a wrestler by trade, could only score two takedowns and was nullified by Riggs (33-11) on the bottom. In the third round, Taylor (6-2) tried to open things up but as Showtime color analyst Pat Miletich pointed out, he was leading with his head. Riggs nailed Taylor with an overhand left. The Chicago-native immediately grabbed his face and seconds later was on his back getting pounded by Riggs.This was Riggs' first fight above 170 pounds since September of 2008. He still looked lean as a near middleweight. After the fight, Riggs lobbied for a rematch against Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz. If that doesn't happen, he wants in the proposed Strikeforce middleweight tournament.