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Jed I. Goodman, MMATorch Columnist A near sell out crowd of 14, 272 attended the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to witness the dawning of a new era, the Brock Lesnar era. With a gate of 4.8 million UFC 91 now becomes the third largest event ever in Nevada. The buy rates won't be announced for at least a week, so we don't know if Dana White's 1.2 million prediction is true, but for now let's get to the Yes & No for UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar.
Yes to Randy Couture (16-9. 13-6 UFC, 7(T)KOs, 2 Subs). "Captain America" was gone for fifteen months, but showed no signs of ring rust. He put up a gallant effort, every time he was able to just get to his feet the crowd went wild, but Lesnar was too big and too powerful. Couture tried to duck a punch, but still couldn't avoid Lesnar's " big ass ham hocks" as Couture called them. There was talk after the fight about Couture stepping down once again to the light heavyweight division. With all the great talent in that division now there are some definite dream fight possibilities there.
Yes to Brock Lesnar (3-1, 2-1 UFC, 1(T)KO, 1 Sub). I have to give him credit, he is the new UFC Heavyweight champion. Lesnar continues to improve each time he steps into the octagon. He did look nervous from the get go and admitted so after the fight, but he knew this was the biggest fight of his life (and that includes any of his WWE staged fights). He didn't come out over anxious like he did in his first UFC fight against Frank Mir and didn't crumble after taking a few shots like fellow inexperienced fight Kimbo Slice. Lesnar proved he is the real deal. He will now sit on the sidelines and wait for Mir and Nogueira to fight next month for the "interim title" (whatever the hell that is now) so we can unify the belts this summer. He also becomes a cash cow for the UFC. I would expect continued huge buy rates as die hard MMA fans, WWE fans, and mainstream crowds alike all watch "the next big thing".
No to the art of Mixed Martial Arts. The sad thing to the whole Lesnar win is that it shows the biggest man wins. It goes against everything you are taught in MMA. Throw away experience and skill and bring on size. I remember watching Royce Gracie, before MMA had weight classes, and being in awe of his mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Now I may be over-reacting, Lesnar is an accomplished amateur wrestling and has been training for the sport for a couple years (he certainly is not Kimbo Slice) but it still does sting a little. I am however excited to see how much his submission defense has improved when he fights Nogueira or Mir next.
Yes to Joe Silva. UFC's matchmaker Joe Silva put together some fun match ups. We had so many quick decisions we actually got to see the entire under card. For an audience that might not normally turn in to UFC PPVs, this was a great show. They got to see decisive knock outs, submissions...and plenty of it.
No to Joe Silva. As fast paced and exciting a card as it was, some fights certainly made me feel like I was watching an old episode of WWF Superstars. You remember the Saturday morning show that featured Superstars facing only "jobbers"? I mean Josh Hendricks vs. Gabriel Gonazaga? Hendricks might as well have called himself Barry O. or "Iron" Mike Sharpe, he was clearly outclassed. Perhaps this was a test for Gonzaga...the "Werdum" test, if you will. A showcase fight to see if he still comes in prepared or if he takes his opponent lightly. Gonzaga clearly past the test.
Yes to Dana White . Smart marketing with 50 Cent. I saw White's video blog prior to UFC 91 so I knew he would be working with "fiddy" in some capacity on the card, but the way he incorporated him into the show was smart. The fight game is a business and there is constant advertising going on, even on PPV. Interviewing 50 first and then having the next two fighters, Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson come out to his new music was shrewd. A much better way to advertise than by just having a commercial. Having a 50 Cent video to wrap up the highlights of the show was another excellent move, reminds me of something Vince McMahon would do/does do.
No to the Punisher ad. This is the wrong kind of advertising for PPV. I talked about having commercials in the past, they are good for one thing...bathroom breaks. On top of everything, the movie looks terrible. I'd rather watch another Josh Hendrick's fight, hell I think I'd rather watch a Kalib Starnes fight...OK maybe not that bad.
Yes to Kenny Florian (11-3, 9-2 UFC, 3(T)KOs, 7 Subs). Excellent win. I thought he would win, but didn't think he would do it so decisively. He has now won nine of his last ten and six in a row. Thankfully we don't have to see "Joe Daddy" in a rematch with BJ Penn, a fight I don't think he is ready for. But, Florian is, he made me a believer. Hopefully they can get it on by late Spring.
Yes to Demian Maia (9-0, 4-0 UFC, 1(T)KO, 6 Subs) and Dustin Hazelett (12-4, 5-2 UFC, 1(T)KO, 9 Subs). Both picked up big submission victories. Maia locked in a rear naked choke in a little over two minutes to submit Nate Quarry. The guy has an awesome ground game, but I don't think he is quite ready for Anderson Silva. I'd like to see him with a few more fights against top ten talent first, perhaps someone with a solid wrestling game like Dan Henderson (once he fights Rich Franklin). Hazelett picked up the Submission of the night and $60,000 for his armbar submission on Tamdan McCrory (did that look nasty or what?). The scary thing is Hazelett is only 22, not even close to peaking.
Yes to Jeremy Stephens (14-3, 3-1 UFC, 10(T)KOs, 2 Subs). He gets $60,000 for the "Knockout of the Night" and what a knock out it was. Just a sick uppercut! That will be on UFC highlight reels for years to come. Stephens now has ten wins by knock out, some serious power for the lightweight. The division is stacked right now, there are plenty of great match ups out there for him, maybe someone like Rich Clementi would be good for him next.
No to Ryan Thomas (9-3, 0-2 UFC, 3(T)KOs, 6 Subs) and Alvin Robinson. (9-4, 1-3, UFC, 8 Subs) - Thomas is 0-2 in the UFC, losing to Ben Saunders and now late replacement Matt Brown , two mediocore fighters from a lackluster TUF season. The welterweight division is already stacked, it might be better for this young fighter to go back to the smaller cards where he had better success. Robinson has lost three of his four fights, his only UFC win against Jorge Gurgel (another fighter I think the UFC should cut, but probably won't because of his connection to Rich Franklin). Robinson is a talented fighter, has some great jiu jitsu but as I mentioned earlier, the lightweight division is stacked. Unless they want to use him as a gatekeeper, it might be time for Robinson to go back to the "indies" as well.
Yes to Jorge Gurgel (12-5, 3-4 UFC, 9 Subs) and Aaron Riley (27-10-1, 1-2 UFC, 6(T)KOs, 12 Subs). They each won $60,000 for "Fight of the Night". It was not my fight of the night, I enjoyed Stephens vs. dos Anjos a little more, but it still was fun fight. Riley is a veteran, he lost a decision to Robbie Lawler when he debut in the UFC at UFC: 37 six years ago. Came back four years later and lost to Spencer Fisher at Ultimate Fight Night 3. It's nice to see him finally get his first win in the octagon. For Gurgel, he did win fight of the night so I will cut him some slack, but I do think he would be better off fighting his style of fight and this did not show it.
Yes to the overall show - We got to see all nine fights. We saw incredible knock outs, brilliant submissions and a " passing of the Torch". I'm sure anyone who perhaps only watched because Brock Lesnar was on the card, is now a fan. A great show, definitely worth the PPV price.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
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