UFC 91 "Couture vs Lesnar" Re-Cap

UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar

Kenny Florian vs Joe Stevenson and Brock Lesnar versus Randy Couture headline this show. These are two fights that I am really looking forward to watching.

Middleweight Fight- Nate Quarry (16-2) vs. Demian Maia (9-0)

Maia is a jiu-jitsu fighter. Maia's last fight was a victory over Jason MacDonald by submission in the third round back at UFC 87. Nate Quarry was last seen humbling and chasing Khalib Starnes at UFC 83. This should be a good fight. If Maia wins this then he could really step up towards the top of the UFC Middleweights. Quarry gets a good pop from the crowd.

R1- Maia immediately went to the mat and tried to pull guard and then got on top of Quarry. Maia takes Quarry's back about one minutes into the fight. He has him in a triangle and is looking for a choke. Maia clamped it on and Quarry tapped. Dominate performance by Maia.

Winner: Demian Maia by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 2:13

Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (9-3) vs. Josh Hendricks (18-4)

This is the debut of Hendricks. He's been training with Randy Couture for a couple of weeks helping Couture prepare for Lesnar. Gonzaga has a 20 lb weight advantage and a 2 inch reach advantage.

R1- They start off with some dirty boxing. Gonzaga hits with some knees and then just pops Hendricks with a big punch and Hendricks hits the mat like a ton of bricks. Gonzaga hits him with another punch and the ref doesn't step in so Gonzaga hits him again and the fight is stopped. Gonzaga looked great in this fight.

Winner: Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:01

GSP is at the fight tonight, as is BJ Penn.

Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas

They jump right into this fight so it looks like it's a pre-show fight. Matt Brown took this fight on short notice.

R1- Matt Brown goes right after him and hit a couple of shots. Thomas recovered and got a take down and took side control fairly quickly. Thomas landing a lot of punches. Brown gets back to his feet. Matt Brown grabs an arm bar and then tries to move it to a triangle but Thomas slides to side control again. Brown grabbed a guillotine but couldn't finish and then went for a triangle right at the buzzer. Good first round. Thomas got in more punches but Brown got more near submission attempts.

R2- Brown clamped in an arm bar attempt early in the round and eventually turned Thomas over and got him to tap. Good fight and good showing by Brown.

Winner: Matt Brown by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 0:57

Tamdan McCrory (11-1) vs. Dustin Hazelett (13-4)

McCrory beat Luke Cuomo at UFC 87 by unanimous decision. Hazlett fell to Josh Koshcheck at UFC 82 and a victory against Josh Burkman. Hazelett comes out to some CCR. McCrory has a 3 inch height advantage.

R1- McCrory swings for the fences early and hit with some shots. Hazelett pushed McCrory down with a front kick and then missed a flying knee. Hazelett pushes forward and hits some nice strikes. McCrory comes back with some strikes of his own. They go to the ground and Hazelett ties McCrory up like a pretzel and eventually get the tap. Good fight.

Winner: Dustin Hazelett by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:59

Anderson Silva is at the show.

Lightweight Fight- Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

This is another pre-show fight.

R1- Dos Anjos took Stephens down in this round and controlled the majority of the round. He got a near submission towards the end of the round but Stephens held on.

R2- Stephens looked better in the second round. Dos Anjos has had opportunities to finish the fight but he just hasn't been able to get it done yet.

R3- Jeremy Stephens just explodes at the beginning of this round and destroys Dos Anjos. He just nailed him with an uppercut that rocked Dos Anjos. After that shot it was just a couple of shots on the ground and this one was over. Great punch.

Winner: Jeremy Stephens by KO R3 0:39

Wanderlei Silva is in the house tonight. Lots of big guns here to watch Couture/Lesnar.

Joe Rogan interviews 50 Cent during the break. 50 Cent seems to think that Brock is going to win the fight tonight.

Lightweight Fight- Kenny Florian (12-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-8)

This is potential fight of the night. But then again I thought that with Florian/Huerta and that one was pretty much a stinker. Stevenson just got his BJJ black belt. Florian has a 3 inch height advantage and a 4 inch reach advantage.

R1- Florian gets some strikes in early but Stevenson stalks him down against the cage. Stevenson went for a slam but Florian grabbed onto the cage to avoid the slam but still got taken down. Florian quickly sprawled back up to avoid damage. Florian got a take down and took half guard. Florian mounted and began to ground and pound on Stevenson and then Stevenson turned over and Florian took his back. Stevenson went to stand up and Florian got a Rear Naked Choke and tapped him out. Fantastic finish by Florian. Good fight.

Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:03

Post-fight Florian says he wants BJ's belt.

UFC Heavyweight Title Fight- Randy Couture © (16-8) vs. Brock Lesnar (2-1)

Brock comes out to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. Lesnar has a huge 45 pound weight advantage and a 6 inch reach advantage. Lesnar has a 81 inch reach. Lesnar is the heel in this fight as he got a round of boos when he was introduced. Couture got a heroes welcome. Big "Randy" chant by the crowd right before the round starts.

R1- They clinched almost immediately. Crowd chants "Randy". Not much in the first minute and a half. Brock landed some knees and Randy got in a good punch when they clinch was broken. Lesnar dove in and went for a take down. Brock finishes the take down with a slam and Randy grabs half guard but Brock slips out and Randy slips out the back also and reverses position and tries to take Brocks back but Brock dumped him back on the ground and took half guard again. Lesnar lands some good punches in half guard. Couture gets back to his feet with about 45 seconds left in the round. Good first round. Brock controlled most of the action so I'll give him the round 10-9. Couture hung in there and kept away from getting a lot of damage.

R2- Lesnar stuck Randy with an elbow about 15 seconds into the round and he looked a little stunned. Brock rushed in but Randy clinched him against the cage. Brock hit a knee and Randy responded with a punch cutting Brock under the eye. Brock caught Randy with a knee as they broke clinch and then hit him with a couple of punches and he went down and Lesnar just nailed Randy with hammer punches and then the ref stopped the fight. Great finish by Lesnar. Ref probably could have let the fight go on a little longer but it's tough to call something like that.

Winner and new champion: Brock Lesnar R2 3:07

Lightweight Fight- Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley

Another undercard fight

R1- Good even first round. Gurgel started to come on towards the end of the round. Gurgel didn't try to take down Riley at all.

R2- Riley definitely took this round as he dominated until about the last 30 seconds when Gurgel took Riley down.

R3- Riley opened up about a minute into this round with a great combo that almost finished Gurgel. Good fight. Aaron Riley is going to win this one via decision.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 in favor of Aaron Riley on all 3 judges score cards.

Winner: Aaron Riley by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek

Under card fight.

R1- Bocek gets a take down early into the fight. Robinson reversed the position after about a minute and a half and then Bocek took the advantage right back. Bocek lands some good elbows from the half guard position. Bocek clamped on a submission at the end of the round but Robinson lasted. Bocek takes this round 10-9.

R2- Bocek gets a quick take down and gets side control. Bocek got a guillotine in on Robinson. Bocek then took his back and looked for a Rear Naked Choke. Robinson fought back and got on top of Bockek with about 30 seconds left but Bocek moved him back over onto his back. Bocek up 20-18 so far and has dominated on the ground.

R3- Bocek slammed Robinson without 30 seconds of the round starting. Bocek got in some good Ground and Pound about half way through the round and then got a Rear Naked Choke and tapped out Robinson. Great showing by Bocek.

Winner: Mark Bocek by Rear Naked Choke R3 3:16

Just a great show from UFC. Definitely the best show UFC has put on this year. Brock/Randy was a good fight. Florian/Stevenson delivered a good one round fight. Maia and Gonzaga looked great in victory. Jeremy Stephens got a highlight reel knockout. Brown/Thomas, Hazelett/McCrory, Bocek/Robinson and Riley/Gurgel were all decent to good fights. Not a bad fight on the show and we got 4 under card fights.