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Opinion & Analysis
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Keller's Take
KELLER'S UFC 91 BLOG: Ongoing thoughts on the Couture-Lesnar headlined show as it airs By Wade Keller, MMATorch supervising editor
Nov 15, 2008 - 9:02:27 PM
I'll be blogging live throughout UFC 91 tonight. HIt refresh every few minutes to see my latest update. Also be sure to check out the live in-depth fight reports elsewhere on the Main Listing of MMATorch.com all night. Both senior columnist Shawn Ennis and editor-in-chief Jamie Penick are providing blow-by-blow results with our signature format of results, star ratings, analysis, and ramifications.
-Check out Jamie Penick's six part series previewing tonight's event. You can begin here and follow his links through all six parts.
-Be sure to check back at MMATorch.com early this coming week for our launch of our mobile website. We've got a top flight leader in the industry helping us create the most practical, user-friendly interface for the iPhone, Blackberry and all mobile devices. It'll make following MMA every day easier no matter where you are. Check out the top of the Main Listing on the home page for more details and a screen image.
-If you're watching in a large group or at a bar, I'll try to point out key comments from announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan throughout the show.
-Joe Stevenson says he is mad he's considered the underdog. He says he doesn't consider himself the underdog.
-Nate Quarry vs. Damian Maia is first up: Rogan remembers fondly the Pete Sell vs. Quarry fight as "almost like a movie war." Good description... Quarry gets take down early and gets choked out a couple minutes later. Rogan calls it "top of the food chain jiu jitsu." Disappointing showing from Quarry who never gave himself a chance... Rogan asked if his gameplan was to do what he did. Maia said no, he just came to fight whatever fight happened. Rogan asked if at 10-0 he wants a title fight. He said that's not up to him and there are many great fighters out there. He singled out Michael Bisping as a possible next opponent for him... (*+)
-They showed Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar arriving earlier. Both looked calm, all things considered.
-Man the Dec. 27 PPV line-up just loaded. Every time you see those top three matches, you think they're talking about three different PPVs, not one. There's so many good match-ups out there, there's no excuse not to have shows three-deep, though.
-Already time for Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh "Festus" Hendricks. Rogan touts Gonzaga's weight-gain as muscle, not fat, from power lifting a lot lately. He also says at age 29, he's still got a real upside. Hendricks's agent predicted a first round knockout win. Gonzaga KOs Hendricks quckly after some early exchanges. Hendricks just ate a punch to the chin and went down in a heap, the took one more punch on the mat and the ref stepped in. A good 61 seconds of a big man slugfest. Afterward Rogan said this should move him one step closer to a heavyweight title shot. Gonzaga said, "I hope so." He predicted a Couture win later. (**-)
-Early text voting predicts a Couture win over Lesnar 61-39 early on. I expect that gap to close as the nights goes on to about 54-46 by the time the fight stars.
-When hyping the Lesnar-Couture fight later, Goldberg referred to Lesnar as a "former WWE superstar." Whatever jealousy or resentment WWE wrestlers have toward Lesnar, his success so far in MMA goes add some credibility to the notion that WWE wrestlers aren't just showman - some of them are legit tough star athletes. Lesnar, though, is of course the exception, not the rule, in terms of a WWE performer being able to step into the Octagon and have any success.
-They showed GSP earlier in the crowd. They show B.J. Penn at ringside, also.
-Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas in a Welterweight bout is next. Pretaped earlier. They cut right to the start of the fight. No ring intros and very little set-up, so they're sneaking it before the next live fight... When Brown had a near armbar submission, Goldberg asked Rogan what Thomas needed to do to get out of it. Rogan: "Get his arm out of there." Awesome... Lots of near submission holds by Brown from his back in the first round... More of the same in round two. He finally rolled Thomas over and locked on the armbar. Good fight. The total opposite of the Gonzaga fight, showing the true diversity of MMA fights...
-Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory is up next live. These two are in the Tall Welterweight Division. Both are 22. Early flurry of punches by McCrory. Hazelett came back with a strong front thrust kick that sent McCrory reeling. Hazelett landed a strong right at 2:00. Hazelett won by submission with an armbar late in the round. Really impressive looking armbar work from his back. McCrory defended himself well for a minute, but eventually applied an armbar that caused gasps from the crowd on three replays where McCrory's arm was bent in a way arms shouldn't bend without snapping. Really nice fight... Hazelett said afterward he wants to have a streak of the best submissions of the night and be the best at winning with jiu jitsu... This is one of those fights that shows the art of MMA and also the sportsmanship as he could have just snapped McCrory's arm in two piece at the end there, but he applied pressure deliberately but at a pace that allowed Hazelett to tapout before his arm was broken... (***-)
-They showed Anderson Silva at ringside. The couple minutes the showed of Silva working out on The Ultimate Fighter this year with the contestants showed how special he is in a different context than usual. Those roundhouse kicks were just amazing.
-Another prelim fight - Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael Dos Anjos. A slow night for judges means a lot of prelims make the PPV. Stevens looked to be in trouble as the first round ended with his shoulder torqued badly against the fence. He came back in the second with a spirited series of rights, but none hurt Dos Anjos, who lifted him and slammed him down at 2:00. By 4:00 Stevens was on top throwing punches, but still leery of being caught in a submission hold... Stevens wins with one of the nastiest uppercuts in UFC history. That ended it, except he was so fast Stevens moved in with several more punches before the ref could step in. Rogan concurs that it was one of the nasties uppercuts ever... Stevens was so excited he charged across the Octagon and headbutted the cage. He should talk to Gus Frerotte about why that's a really bad idea. Just Google "Frerotte Headbutt" if you don't get the reference... He dedicated the uppercut to his girlfriend and their unborn child...
-They showed Wanderlei Silva sitting front row. Then they showed Lesnar pacing backstage and Couture shadow boxing.
-Rogan interviewed 50 Cent at ringside. He talked about his new album and then said he's really excited about the main event. He predicted Lesnar. He couldn't quite explain why, though... Regarding 50 Cent's new album, Rogan said: "Buy it, don't download it, bitches"...
-Joe Stevenson vs. Kenny Florian in a lightweight match-up is next live as the co-main event. Man, this night is flying by... When Stevenson complained about people on the Internet calling him an underdog, Florian said he doesn't care about what people on the Internet have to say.. Florian wins late in the first round just past 4:00 with a sleeper. Stevenson had Florian backing up throughout the first few minutes of stand-up. Florian slammed Stevenson to the mat and had him in trouble with a full mount. Stevenson didn't want to get punched anymore, so he turned and gave up his back. Seconds later Florian clamped on the submission. Florian, as a result, gets a shot at B.J. Penn's title... Florian afterward told Rogan he wants a shot at Penn's belt. He doesn't have to ask. He said if Penn is the master, he wants to kill the master. He said he's working hard every day while others are criticizing. "I'm training every day. That is my life," he said. Then he invited people to his afterparty. They showed Penn in the crowd smiling... (**-)
-Lots of short fights with clear, decisive finishes. Will that continue into the main event? The adrenaline has kicked in and the heartbeat has picked up... Rogan called Lesnar "a freak super athlete"...In pre-fight soundbites, Lesnar said because of his 50-plus point weight advantage at fight time, "it will be easy" to defeat Couture... Goldberg points out that only ten fighters have fought for the title with fewer than ten pro MMA fights, and only three of them won: Frank Mir, Mark Coleman, and Couture... Couture also sounded really confident in his pre-fight promo...
-Great first round. Close. Lesnar took Couture down late. Lesnar got punched early and was slightly reeled by it. Lesnar seemed more winded. Great energy in the crowd. Very pro-Couture. Just amazing to watch.
-Great second round. Brock wins via ref stoppage at 3:00. Brock rocked Couture early with a straight jab and then an elbow. Couture recovered and stood his ground against the fence for a while. Back at center-ring, Couture remained aggressive. Lesnar didn't look scared, but he did seem possibly slightly more winded than Couture. Lesnar took Couture down with a vicious punch to Couture's left temple, then pounced and smothered him with the barrage of hammer fists. The ref stepped in.
-When Rogan asked how it feels to be UFC Hvt. Champion, Lesnar said, "It sounds really good. I can't believe it." He thanked Randy. He said it takes a lot of balls for him to take a year off and come back to fight him. He said, "I may come across as a cocky SOB, but I'm just confident." Couture said Lesnar is a big powerful guy. Rogan asked if he's going to retire or continue fighting, and maybe drop down a division. Couture said he's going to think about it, but "I still feel I'm getting better." He sounded like he wants to keep going. He said he made some mistakes against Lesnar that he wishes he could take back.
-Rena Mera (a/k/a Sable) joined Lesnar right after the ref stoppage. Goldberg referenced her as formerly Sable from WWE.
-Okay, fight thoughts: Lesnar's chin still hasn't been tested. I'm starting to wonder if it ever will. He just seemed absolutely huge standing next to Couture. Lesnar didn't seem dominant as if it were inevitable he was going to win, but after seeing that, I would bet Lesnar would win 3 out of 5. Couture could have a better chance in a rematch knowing what he was getting himself into and being able to counter Lesnar's experience disadvantage by playing against what may be a limited selection of effective gameplans. Lesnar is for real, but until he takes some punches, we won't know his pain tolerance or KO resistance. But like I said, I'm beginning to wonder if anyone will ever land any punches on him. He was the definition of a beast out there... I was glad to see him be respectful toward Couture. Not that I expected anything less, but there were no guarantees. After winning, he leaped onto the top edge of the Octagon and looked out into the crowd as if to try to show them up for booing him and doubting him. Then once Couture got up about two minutes after the fight ended, Lesnar walked up to him and thanked him for the fight and put his arm around him. Couture smiled and they exchanged some kind words... Couture seemed disappointed right after the fight and when he stood. He really felt he was going to win this fight. His interview suggests his frustration was with himself and mistakes he's already processing in his mind. That's why I think he's going to really work toward a rematch. He might not be ready to pass the torch without testing Lesnar one more time...
-Up next for Lesnar is likely Antonio Noguera. Then, win or lose, I'd like to see a Couture-Lesnar rematch next August or September. Give Couture a money match in between, perhaps against a big name light-heavyweight, and if he looks solid, even in a loss, make some money and make some history with a rematch of this fight. That was a real adrenaline rush to watch... (****)
-There's going to be a lot of pressure for UFC to figure out how to get Lesnar and Fedor in the ring at the same time within the next couple years.
-Oh, be sure check in on your mobile phone in a couple days for our debut of our new mobile version of MMATorch.com, customized by an industry leader in mobile site design for iPhone, Blackberry, and other mobile devices. Check out the top of the Main Listing on the home page for more details and a screen image of the new-look mobile version of this site!
-They showed prelim ight Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley - lightweights. Gurgel took a really brutal kick to the crotch that they stopped the fight momentarily for. He recovered nicely and threw some awesome body kicks.
-Thanks for joining us today, and please consider bookmarking us and stopping by daily for more news, columns, blogs, and audio updates throughout every week.
I'll be blogging live throughout UFC 91 tonight. HIt refresh every few minutes to see my latest update. Also be sure to check out the live in-depth fight reports elsewhere on the Main Listing of MMATorch.com all night. Both senior columnist Shawn Ennis and editor-in-chief Jamie Penick are providing blow-by-blow results with our signature format of results, star ratings, analysis, and ramifications.