By Brett Okamoto

Sun, Oct 12, 2008 (2 a.m.)

They say we fight most with the ones we love. Mixed Martial Arts group Xtreme Couture is taking that idea to a new level.

“I am so sick of looking at these guys in the gym. I’m not kidding man,” said Mike Pyle, one of the faces of the MMA team. “I love them, but I’m playing Playstation for awhile.”

Xtreme Couture, the group recruited and promoted by legendary MMA fighter Randy Couture, showed Saturday night what hours in the gym can do as they dominated the fight card at Night of Combat II at the Thomas & Mack Center. Out of a nine-event fight card, the team gathered seven wins.

“I thought the fights were terrific,” Couture said. “The last half of that card would have been top notch for just about any card anywhere. Fans got a treat and the guys performed well.”

The night was full of highlights from the faces of Xtreme Couture, including New Yorker Jay Hieron’s return to the sport after a seven-month stretch without a fight. Hieron almost ended up having to wait longer as his opponent was a late scratch, but Kim Couture, Randy’s wife and coordinator of the event, found a replacement in Chris Kennedy, whom Hieron beat by unanimous decision.

“I know everyone is going to come up here and thank Kim and Randy, but really, deep down from the bottom of my heart, I love you guys,” said Hieron, who was arrested on drug charges in 2003 before turning his life around with MMA. “They have never judged me for where I’ve come from or what I’ve been though. They came to bat for me again here tonight, finding a replacement fighter. I would go to war for you guys.”

Xtreme Couture’s John Allesio needed just 45 seconds to dispose of Gideon Ray when he connected with a left hook that ended the fight early by knockout. Before retreating from the ring, Ray had to be restrained by his own trainers after a fan taunted him.

Pyle and fighter Josh Haynes both improved their records with wins Saturday night. Since the team trains on Sunset Road in Las Vegas, its members said they considered it a home victory.

“I love fighting at home,” Haynes told the crowd after his win by submission over Sean Salmon. “You guys in Las Vegas are the best.”

In addition to a Las Vegas home crowd, Xtreme Couture fighters enjoy another perk: the 45-year-old MMA icon in their corner.

“It’s actually harder for me in the corner,” said Couture, who has a fight in November. “I get more nervous in those situations. You scream and yell, and you want them to do this, you want them to do that, you want them to be successful. That’s a lot tougher than me going and fighting myself.”

The team now is looking forward to its next fights, whenever or wherever they might be. When asked where fans would be able to see him fight next, Pyle responded, “In a cage or a ring, I guarantee it.”

Couture said his team will be back.

“We get in there and sweat and bleed together on a daily basis,” Couture said. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s always been about the camaraderie amongst the fighters, that family feeling.”