UFC 91: Brock Lesnar Fights Randy Couture, A Lot on the Line for Both

Putting together the Couture vs. Lesnar fight for the UFC from a business standpoint is absolutely huge. The number of pay per views will probably be record breaking for the UFC on November 15 no doubt.

We know Lesnar can draw a lot because ratings at UFC 87 were through the roof (my countryman St. Pierre's match vs. Fitch played a big role in that as well). Now throw in Randy Couture who is coming out of retirement for a title defence, the sky is the limit.

However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the draw power of this fight will be great, but this fight is a very high risk affair for both fighters.

Lets face it, Brock Lesnar has shown MMA followers that he is big, he is strong and he is extremely quick for such a big guy. Putting two MMA veterans to the ground with one solid right hand in the Mir and Herring bouts is no easy feat for any fighter. He has quick heavy right hands and he can wrestle extremely well.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves either though. Lesnar has only three fights under his belt and a 2-1 record so far. Lesnar’s wins were dominant ones. He made Min Soo Kim tap out due to strikes in the first moments of Round One.

In his last win he dominated Herring from start to finish after a strong right hand landed early in the first to crack Herring’s ocular bone.

However, Lesnar was unable to finish Heath and pretty much rode the fight out by maintaining side control and not going for much.

Not going for a finish in the Herring fight was probably the smartest thing Lesnar could have done in that fight. Fans were shown in the Mir fight that although Lesnar can completely overwhelm an opponent with his sheer size and athletic ability, he is a green fighter and he can get caught in a submission.

Lesnar knew he had hurt Herring and that if he used his strength and wrestling abilities to maintain a dominant position while protecting his limbs he would cruise to a lopsided decision in his favour. Going for a finish and then being submitted or caught by Herring would have been a big step back for Lesnar.

It was in Lesnar’s one loss that people realized he has a lot to learn and that for all the strengths that are on his side, just like every other fighter he will need some time. He came out dominating Frank Mir and at 1:30 in the first round while standing over a dangerous Frank Mir, he was submitted via a Frank Mir heel hook.

Now on the other side we have the tried and tested Randy Couture. Couture is one of the scariest fighters to bet against for the mere fact that when he is the underdog he usually upsets the favourite and comes away with victory.

A few things about Couture have to make one respect the guy’s grit and desire. The guy is no major heavyweight, unlike Lesnar who has to cut to make weight, Couture shows up to heavyweight bouts at 6’1 and around 225 pounds. Lesnar will have a 50 pound advantage come fight night.

Secondly, Couture is 45 years old and somehow has found success well after his mid thirties and into his mid-forties. Couture is a fighter that knows how to win the clutch matches, he is 16-8 in mma and 9 of his 16 wins were in title fights in both the heavy weight and light heavy weight divisions.

That being said, Randy Couture isn’t invincible, the guy does have eight losses in 24 MMA bouts. What makes him so scary is the fact that he is usually the underdog or people tend to doubt whether he can win against some of the bigger stronger opponents he has faced.

Some of those opponents include Tim Sylvia, Gabriel Gonzaga, Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett all fighters who weigh in at over 250 pounds and have had strong careers fighting in mma events around the world.

What makes Randy a winner in all of these matches is his heart and his ability to come up with a fight plan and execute it. He is an excellent wrestler and has shown that he can dominate even the big guys in the clinch using his dirty boxing tactics. He fights to a fighter’s weaknesses and exploits them.

The only criticism one could have is that when his game plan doesn’t workout the way he wants it to, he tends to stubbornly stick with his plan as opposes to pulling something out.

Why is this match huge for both fighters?

Lesnar is in his fourth professional MMA fight and there are a lot of fan boys and there are a lot of haters. Plain and simple—Lesnar wins, he takes Randy Couture’s heavyweight title and whether he deserved the shot or not he shows everyone that he can beat the best in the world.

It also would act as another great stepping stone for him in the sense that he would get to defend the title right away against the winner of the Mir/Nogueira fight.

Lesnar loses to Randy and it will slow his MMA career down and he’ll have to start from the bottom and work his way up like every other MMA fighter. The main thing being that he will have lost two of his first three fights in the UFC, not a good start for any fighter.

I’m sure Lesnar feels this pressure and there is no doubt in my mind that he is training hard each and every day.

For Couture this fight is of equally massive proportions. Why? Couture has been looking for a way to fight the number one heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. In fact it was part of the reason why Couture left the UFC.

Couture signed up for the Lesnar fight with the incentive that the UFC was going to make a big effort to make a Couture/Fedor fight happen.

If Couture wins against Brock, he will have to face either Nogueira or Mir to defend his title once again and then one can only imagine that Fedor Emelianenko will be next up on the list.

If Couture loses to Lesnar, the whole Fedor fight will lose much of its appeal. I’m sure many people including myself would still like to see this fight happen, but that fight simply won’t have the same kind of buzz surrounding it.

Finally, it will bring up the question have Couture’s better days finally passed him by? Every career comes to an end and the word veteran is pretty much defined by Couture who, at 45 years old, is still a title holder and willing to step in to the ring and fight with the best.

A loss at UFC 91 to a rookie fighter like Lesnar could mean the end of the road for Randy Couture.

All in all UFC 91 will probably bring in record pay per view numbers and I know I will be watching. The Couture/Lesnar fight is of epic proportions and each fighter is putting a lot on the table in this one and unless it comes out no contest there will be a victor and someone will going back to the drawing board or maybe even into retirement.