CHUCK LIDDELL AND TITO ORTIZ TO COACH SEASON 11 OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER®

* Brock Lesnar ($450,000/$200,000) def. Randy Couture ($250,000)
* Kenn Florian ($80,000/$40,000) def. Joe Stevenson ($35,000)
* Dustin Hazelett ($28,000/$14,000) def. Tamdan McCrory ($10,000)
* Gabriel Gonzaga ($110,000/$55,000) def. Josh Hendricks ($8,000)
* Demian Maia ($40,000/$20,000) def. Nate Quarry ($25,000)
* Aaron Riley ($8,000/$4,000) def. Jorge Gurgel ($10,000)
* Jeremy Stephens ($16,000/$8,000) def. Rafael dos Anjos ($4,000)
* Mark Bocek ($18,000/$9,000) def. Alvin Robinson ($7,000)
* Matt Brown ($16,000/$8,000) def. Ryan Thomas ($3,000)

Here’s BetUS’s line on this fight at UFC 91:

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11:30p

404 Kenny Florian   -185
    405 Joe Stevenson   +145

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It’s a good choice to pick Joe Stevenson in this situation. Here’s how the fight breaks down:

STRIKING

Kenny Florian is the better striker. He has the technical advantage and reach over “Joe Daddy.” While Florian isn’t a knockout artist, he is a TKO cut artist using his abnormally sharp elbows to slit his way to victory. The best example would be his cut win over Alex Karalexis where he opened up a huge gash over his fellow TUF 1 alumnus. He might not knock you out but he could cut you or outpoint you.

GRAPPLING

This is even. Both fighters are brilliant BJJ stylists. Joe Stevenson is a compact and unusually strong fighter for his weight. His sub skills are top notch. Florian is a great submission fighter and a rear naked choke specialist in the Octagon. They’re both very good and will negate one another.

CARDIO

Florian went 5 rounds with Sean Sherk, 5 hard rounds. And this was before his cardio went to the next level in training. Stevenson should be good to go for this fight, but there was that one time he did not look superb against Josh Neer, and because of that one off night we have to give the edge to Florian in this one, who appears to always come in sublime condition. So far this looks like Florian has the edge in this fight, but the next element of the bout will be the key component.

WRESTLING

This is Stevenson’s edge and will be the determining factor in this fight. Stevenson will be able to take down Florian with his exceptional wrestling skill. Interestingly both fighters are pretty dangerous in this position. Stevenson’s ground and pound is vicious and he is famous for being the source of one of biggest bloodbaths to grace the UFC Octagon. He split open Yves Edwards in their bout and withdrew about a quart of blood from the Bahamian fighter in the process to stop the fight. Florian with his razor sharp “bows”, has cut his way to victory even off his back. We can recall the nasty cut he opened up stabbing Joe Lauzon with elbows from his back. Nonetheless, Stevenson is more dangerous from up top and will win it from there via points.

THE OUTCOME

Both guys are finishers but hard to be finished. They will fight hard and take this to the distance. What will give Stevenson the edge is his ability to decide where this fight will go, and it will go to the ground, where he will outpoint Florian to victory.

WINNER: Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28

Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar to me seems a tough fight to pick a winner in. You have a 45-year-old veteran to the sport facing off against one of the biggest fighters in the UFC, Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar has only had 3 professional MMA bouts; one of them was a loss via submission to Frank Mir. There is no doubt in my mind that if Lesnar used his movement a bit better like in his fight against Heath Herring then he would currently be sitting undefeated in the MMA world.

Since his fight with Mir I believe that Brock has learnt a few things, at least I hope he has. Hopefully those things will prove he is able to be the champion of the UFC in only his fourth fight.

I would like to see Randy Couture defeat Lesnar but to me power will beat the experience, especially when the guy with experience is 45-years-old.

Ash Anderson
MMA-Live.com

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Couture can never be counted out of any fight he’s in, and this one is no different. It’s going to be an all out war through multiple rounds. He’s going to test Lesnar’s chin with strikes early, and the key to this entire fight is whether or not Brock Lesnar can not only take those punches, but absorb them and keep fighting his fight.

If Brock Lesnar can withstand the initial onslaught that Couture will bring, then this is his fight to lose. I honestly don’t see Couture being able to physically overpower Brock in the ground game in order to impose his will. In fact, more often than not in this fight it’s going to be the opposite happening.

Despite his inexperience, despite the fact that this is only his fourth professional fight, and despite the fact that he may not deserve this shot so early in his career, I think Brock Lesnar wins this fight. I think he’s going be too much for Couture on the ground as they get into the later rounds. A combination of knees and body shots from Lesnar will open enough opportunities while wrestling to gain the mount position, and unlike in the Herring fight, Lesnar will utilize the ground and pound to force the ref to stop it, giving him a tko victory late in the fourth round.

So there you have it, Lesnar by tko in the fourth….

Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief (more predictionsat MMAtorch.com)

the MMA digest brings you a 26 part “Technique of the Week” video series. Check out the techniques from these modern day MMA masters at Eternal Unlimited’s site at eternalunlimited.com/themmadigest

UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture will discuss Saturday’s UFC 91 fight with Brock Lesnar on Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period”.

The show premieres tonight at 9pm ET/PT, and re-airs at 11pm ET/PT, and 12:30am ET/PT.

Here is another UFC 91 prediction from a member of the MMA Media, Kris Karkoski of MMAFrenzy.com 

“Though Couture, at 45-years-old, has many factors working against him including age, size, speed, and athletic ability the UFC heavyweight champion has a significant advantage in experience and I think he’s able to craft a gameplan to defeat Lesnar. In MMA anything can happen and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time as a fan and blogger of the sport it’s Couture’s ability to overcome the odds time and time again. Couture’s shown he can defeat bigger opponents and though Lesnar is the biggest fighter he’ll have faced in his professional career, cutting to make the 265-pound limit, I think Couture survives an early onslught and TKO’s Lesnar in the championship rounds.”

Here is another UFC 91 prediction from a member of the MMA Media, Pramit of FightTicker.com:

“While it might be easy to scoff at Brock Lesnar’s relative MMA inexperience going into his title fight against Randy Couture at UFC 91, Lesnar is certainly no Kimbo Slice. In fact, while it’s not necessarily easy for me to say this, Lesnar has proven in his short career that he might actually deserve the hype.

Lesnar is only 1-1 in the UFC but both fights showed us a fighter with innate talent that may be difficult for future opponents to overcome as Lesnar adds experience and more tools to his skillset. Lesnar is already a very, very solid wrestler but he also has tremendous strength, quickness, and athleticism. Add to that what appears to be a developing stand-up game (see his right hand that caught Heath Herring) as well as good cardio fitness and what you have is the makings of a true force in the fight game.

Does Lesnar have a lot to learn? Yes. We haven’t seen much in the way of his stand-up game (beyond that right) and no evidence of any real submission game or the ability to defend or attack on his back.

Which leads us to Couture. While Couture is getting up there in age and has been off from the fight game since his dominating title defense victory over Gabriel Gonzaga in 2007 (a span of over a year now) and has been tangled up in legal battles during that time, Couture is the consummate thinking man and professional. He can compete at a high level no matter where the fight goes. And, we all know Couture will walk in with a flawless gameplan. Couture has already proven (in defeating Tim Sylvia earlier in 2007) that he can take time off and not get rusty and that he can more than hold his own against the bigger fighters. So, I don’t believe age or cage-rust will be factors in this fight.

I’ve counted out Couture before and I’ve been wrong and regretted it. This time, I’m going with the wily veteran to win a grueling five-round decision over the man who may be the future of the division.”

Pramit Mohapatra
Owner, FightTicker.com

Here’s the case Brock Lesnar defenders are making for the man they feel will by the next UFC heavyweight champion:

SIZE.
The sheer mass of a 275 pound fighter will be very difficult for Randy Couture to deal with. He had problems in the past with bigger heavyweights and found his home at 205. There is no bigger a heavyweight than Lesnar. This is something Couture must be prepared to deal with. And it’s hard to simulate that gargantuan size in the gym.

STRIKING POWER.
Randy Couture is the better striker based on past experience, but Brock Lesnar is the powerful one. He sent Heath Herring flying in their bout and Frank Mir was hammer with a big fist of Lesnar as well. Couture migt be able to outstrike Lesnar from a technical standpoint but the power game belongs to Brock.

STRENGTH
Controlling guys in the clinch has been Couture’s bread and butter, but Lesnar will be very difficult to do so. His strength is unreal and it will cause many problems for Couture in this fight. Technique overcomes strength most of the time, but sometimes there are exceptions. Brock Lesnar and his ungodly genetics might just be one of those.

WRESTLING
Couture might taste his own medicine this fight. Taking guys down and grounding and pounding the hell out of them has been Captain America’s calling card for years. This time around he is facing a bigger, stronger, faster and more talented wrestler who is 15 years younger than him. All these factors make for a very explosive wrestler who can take down and hold down Couture and pound him.

SPEED
When you have a supremely talented wrestler who is an incredibly gifted athlete and has massive size and strength, you have an extremely tough problem as a heavyweight opponent. When you say a 275 pound fighter is going to be fighting you might assume he’s a big lumbering beast who is slow on his feet, but Lesnar has amazing speed behind him. He is going to be hard to stop, and difficult to outmaneuver. Couture can no longer use any speed he may have used in the past for offensive and defensive tactics. He’s fast and as long as he doesn’t slow down as time goes on in the fight, he will use this competitive advantage to his victory.