The final pay-per-view tally will likely still be higher once the numbers trickle in. Still hard to fathom at the Fertittas and White paid $2 million for the struggling organization back in the day.

Main Event Fighters:

Brock Lesnar ($450,000/win bonus $200,000) defeated Randy Couture ($250,000) his win bonus would have been $250,000

Main Card Fighters:

Kenny Florian ($80,000/win bonus $40,000) defeated Joe Stevenson ($35,000) win bonus would have been $35,000

Gabriel Gonzaga ($110,000/win bonus $55,000) defeated Josh Hendricks ($8,000) his win bonus would have been $8,000

Dustin Hazelett ($28,000/win bonus $11,000) defeated Tamdan McCrory ($10,000) his win bonus would have been $10,000

Demian Maia ($40,000/win bonus $20,000) defeated Nate Quarry ($25,000) his win bonus would have been $25,000

Preliminary Fighters:

Aaron Riley ($8,000/win bonus $4,000) defeated Jorge Gurgel ($10,000) his win bonus would have been $10,000

Jeremy Stephens ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Rafael Dos Anjos ($4,000) his win bonus would have been $4,000

Mark Bocek ($18,000/win bonus $9,000) defeated Alvin Robinson ($7,000) his win bonus would have been $7,000

Matt Brown ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Ryan Thomas ($3,000) his win bonus would have been $3,000

Total disclosed fighter payroll: $1,118,000

In addition, the UFC handed out the following $60,000 bonuses:

Fight of the Night
Aaron Riley and Jorge Gurgel for their back and forth entertaining slugfest.

91 Knockout of the Night
Jeremy Stephens for his absolutely devastating uppercut knockout. Quite honestly, even though Stephens is a lightweight, he likely would have knocked out a heavyweight with how clean and strong of a shot he caught Dos Anjos with.

Submission of the Night
Dustin Hazelett for his nasty looking armbar on the “Barncat”

Well, UFC 91 is in the books, and we have a brand new UFC Heavyweight Champion in Brock Lesnar.

During the stare down, Lesnar looked WAY larger than Couture, who finally looked every bit his 45 years of age. The first round was mostly clinching and feeling out between the two fighters, with each man landing the odd punch here and there. The crowd was firmly behind Couture.

The second round started, and Lesnar started landing a few shots that appeared to wobble Couture, but the Champ responded with a few shots of his own. The end came as Lesnar stepped in to punch Couture, and Couture ducked, but not far enough, as one of Lesnar’s “ham hocks” caught Couture on his ear and send him crashing down. Lesnar followed up with about 20 hammer fists and rabbit punches before the referee stepped in and waved off the action.

Lesnar will now face the winner of the Mir/Nogueira interim Heavyweight Title match at UFC 92 to determine the undisputed Heavyweight Champion at a later date.

Couture didn’t immediately comment on his future, but at age 45 and two fights left on his contract, it makes sense to only make “mega” fights for him…soon. Perhaps Anderson Silva?? That would be a monster fight if there ever was one.

Kenny Florian took on Joe Stevenson in the co-main event, and Florian was extremely impressive. He took virtually no damage on the feet or on the ground and left without a mark on him. Stevenson was intent on taking the fight to the ground, thinking it was his best chance. However, it was Florian who quickly achieved full mount. As Stevenson tried to get back onto his feet, he grabbed the cage with both hands, leaving his neck wide open and Florian quickly secured a choke for the win. Florian is now guaranteed a 155lb title shot, but the date is far from being settled, thanks to 155lb Champion BJ Penn’s foray into the 170lb division. Should he dethrone George St. Pierre at UFC 94, all bets are off for when Florian’s title shot could come.

Damian Mia defeats Nate Quarry by rear naked choke, Rd 1.
Quarry said he had to avoid the ground with Maia, and that Maia would have to get past his fists before he could take him down…but…it didn’t take long. Maia got Quarry down, secured a body triangle, and promptly choked Quarry out. That makes four subs in four fights in the UFC and Maia is on a roll, but I’m not sure sure he’ll get a title shot any time soon, especially if the UFC is intent on making “big” fights to maximize 185lb Champion Anderson Silva’s remaining fights. Maia, while dangerous, has little to no drawing power.

Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Josh Hendricks by TKO, Rd 1.
Gongaza doesn’t have the best striking technique, but he does have lots of power, and Hendricks appeared out before he hit the mat after eating a big shot from Gonzaga.

Dustin Hazelett defeats Tamdan McCrory by armbar, Rd 2.
McCrory landed some shots on Hazelett on the feet, but as soon as it hit the ground, Hazelett showed why he’s an up and comer by turning the Barn Cat into a pretzel.

This pay-per-view incredibly showed every fight. None of them on the main card went the distance, so there was time to show the prelims as well. Talk about a satisfying card!!

The official weigh-ins for UFC 91 were held today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Vegas, and there was no drama, as everyone made weight. Randy Couture as met with cheers, while Lesnar was met with boos. I don’t think they actually hate Lesnar, he’s a popular guy, just that they love Randy that much. Said Lesnar, who embraced his pro wrestling bad guy persona a bit as the crowd chanted, “Randy! Randy!”:

I’m just ready to get in the Octagon and take that belt away from Randy tomorrow night. I just visualize my hand being raised. That’s all I’ve got to say.

This is a monster of a pay per view, with 1.2 million buys expected…and at $44.95 a pop, that translates to about $54 million. Pretty good, compared to the $2 million the Fertittas and White paid to buy the ailing promotion at the time.

Official Weights:

Randy Couture (220) vs. Brock Lesnar (265)

Couture makes his long awaited return against Lesnar, the no-necked colossus, who resembles a brick sh$t house with a buzz cut. Lesnar is improving by leaps and bounds, and while he’s nowhere near Couture’s savvy and experience, it should be enough to overcome the 45 year old. Simply put, Lesnar is too strong, too fast and he won’t be caught by a surprise knee bar this time, as Randy’s strength also happens to be Brock’s strength. Its good medium man vs good big man, and the big man will take it, by TKO in round 4.

Joe Stevenson (156) vs. Kenny Florian (156)

See comments below. Florian is too big and too smart for Stevenson, and he’ll grind out a unanimous decision, much like he did to Huerta. While it’ll look like Stevenson “can’t get off” during the fight, but it will be due to Florian’s cerebral fight strategy.

Gabriel Gonzaga (256) vs. Josh Hendricks (238)

Gonzaga is fighting a virtual unknown here; if he wins, he should have won. If he loses, he tumbles down the ladder to where he may never recover. Gonzaga by unanimous decision.

Demian Maia (185) vs. Nathan Quarry (185)

Quarry, while definitely a gamer, is no match on the ground for Maia. Watch for Quarry to tap out or go to sleep sometime in the first round.

Dustin Hazelett (170) vs. Tamdan McCrory (170)

Hazelett has impressed me lately, as he pushed top 5 fighter Josh Koscheck to the brink when they fought. Look for the Jorge Gurgel trained product to tap McCrory out in the 2nd round.

Undercard:

Jorge Gurgel (155) vs. Aaron Riley (156)

The student has already surpassed the teacher as Hazelett is on the main card and Gurgel flounders with a mediocre record on the undercard. Gurgel by 2nd round submission.

Jeremy Stephens (155) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (155)

Hmm, Stephens by 2nd round TKO just because I wouldn’t know Rafael from Michaelangelo or Donatello. Or Leonardo.

Alvin Robinson (155) vs. Mark Bocek (155)

I have to go with the Canadian kid on this one, Bocek by unanimous decision. Bocek impressed me during his gutsy loss to the very dangerous Mac Danzig this April.

Ryan Thomas (170) vs. Matt Brown (171)

Matt Brown by 1st round TKO, by way of jumping, spinning, butt-pliers.

In a conference call today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, UFC President confirmed the winner of the 155lb bout will be guaranteed a title shot at BJ Penn. Said White:

This fight is going to be amazing, and the winner of this fight will face B.J. Penn for the lightweight title after B.J. fights Georges St. Pierre

In the lead up to Florian’s last bout with top contender Roger Huerta, it was widely speculated the winner of the fight would get a crack at Penn, and Dana White said as much…but after Florian took the decision, it was announced that BJ Penn would be taking on 170lb Champion Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight belt. Rather than rest on his laurels, Florian agreed to a fight with former number one contender, Joe Stevenson.

Stevenson is on the comeback trail after losing to Penn for the vacant lightweight title back at UFC 80. During the fight, Stevenson was doing so-so until an elbow from Penn opened up a geyser of a cut on Stevenson’s forehead, changing the course of the fight. Stevenson last defeated Gleison Tibau by guillotine choke at UFC 86. In fact, three out of his last four wins have come by guillotine choke, so watch for that in this weekend’s bout.

Prediction: Florian by unanimous decision. Stevenson just doesn’t have the range nor the striking technique to force Florian out of his game plan. Watch for Florian to do what he did to Huerta, fight a smart fight and not mix it up on the ground much with Joe Daddy.

And it looks quite solid. The headliner of course is the monster Heavyweight Title bout pitting the returning Randy Couture against the “Vanilla Gorilla” Brock Lesnar.

Co-main event is Kenny “I Finish Fights!!” Florian vs Joe Stevenson in a lightweight tilt. Florian likely had earned himself a title shot after defeating Roger Huerta at UFC 87 in August, but wants to stay active since BJ Penn is fighting for the welterweight title in January, and the earliest Florian’s shot could come would be in April/May 09. That would be a layoff of about nine months, so props goes to Kenny for staying active.

Main card (Televised):
155 lbs.: Kenny Florian (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (29-8)
185 lbs.: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. Nick Catone (5-0)
265 lbs.: Gabriel Gonzaga (9-3) vs. Josh Hendricks (14-4)
185 lbs.: Demian Maia (8-0) vs. Nate Quarry (10-2)

Under card (May not be broadcast):
170 lbs.: Dustin Hazelett (11-4) vs. Tamdan McCrory (9-1)
155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (12-4) vs. Aaron Riley (26-10-1)
155 lbs.: Jeremy Stephens (13-3) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (11-2)
155 lbs.: Alvin Robinson (9-3) vs. Mark Bocek Record (5-2)
185 lbs.: Matt Riddle (1-0) vs. Ryan Thomas (9-2)*

Matt Riddle has had to withdraw due to a knee injury.

A third, mega 205lb fight between Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson may go down at UFC 91, joining Couture vs Lesnar as co-headliner.  Bout agreements have been sent to both fighters and are simply awaiting their signatures.

Silva and Jackson have quite a bit of history together, fighting twice under the Pride banner in Japan. Silva won both those fights convincingly with brutal knockouts.

Jackson however, has hinted at various issues such as crooked referees to a lack of drug testing in Pride. As well, Jackson said he was unprepared at that time, training with grapplers and ground fighters while preparing for a stand-up buzz-saw like Silva.

If this fight goes down, Jackson will get the chance to perhaps prove his theories, and exact some revenge at the same time. His career needs it.

Kim Couture, Randy’s wife puts an interesting spin on the upcoming fight between her husband Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 on November 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

It’s surprising to me, shocking that they’d throw a guy in there with only three fights.  I kind of feel sorry for the guy.  He poses some interesting problems but that’s what Randy is good at, is taking care of those problems.  He’s no bigger or tougher than (Gabe) Gonzaga or Tim Sylvia.

Well, Lesnar is bigger than Gonzaga.  Quicker too.  And I don’t ever see Tim Sylvia being able to drop Heath Herring with one shot like Lesnar did.  Oh, and Lesnar is stronger than them as well.  What Lesnar lacks in experience, he makes up for with freakish speed, gorilla strength and all-around athleticism.  Randy will have his hands full.

Credit: themmanews.com