UFC 91: Lesnar walloped Couture in 2

In just fourth MMA match, Lesnar reaches top of the sport
Dave Deibert, TheStarPhoenix.com
Published: Sunday, November 16, 2008
The future of mixed-martial-arts has arrived. His name: Brock Lesnar.

In just his fourth career MMA match, Lesnar (3-1) captured the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title in spectacular fashion, scoring a TKO over UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture (16-9) at 3:07 of the second round of the main event of UFC 91 on Saturday night, stunning a capacity crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Lesnar caught Couture with a right hand to the side of the 45-year-old's head, sending the five-time champion staggering to the mat. Lesnar quickly pounced and rained two dozen unanswered shots down; referee Mario Yamasaki gave Couture as much time as possible to defend himself and recover but eventually had to jump in and stop the bout.


Many critics sounded off against the raw but athletic Lesnar, a former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, getting a title shot so soon in his career. But the decision by UFC proved justified; with just 25 minutes of ring time in his career, Lesnar has reached the mountain top: UFC heavyweight champ.

"That sounds really good. I can't believe it. I can't believe it," Lesnar, a former NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion, said in the ring following the bout.

With the crowd buzzing in anticipation - UFC 91 could wind up as the most successful pay-per-view in company history - the two went toe-to-toe in the first round, with Couture scoring some good shots and Lesnar using his size to control Couture.

Midway through the second round, Lesnar - looking much improved in the stand-up game - drilled Couture with a big right hand. As Couture fell to the mat, the crowd rose to its collective feet, feeling the end was near. Couture tried to regain his senses but Lesnar was all over him, forcing the finish.

"I just believe in hard work and that it pays off," said the 6-foot-3 Lesnar, who entered the Octagon with a roughly 60-pound weight advantage over the 220-pound Couture.

Couture, who stayed down on the mat for several minutes following the match, gave full credit to Lesnar and his powerful XXXL fists.

"It's hard to get out of the way of those," Couture said.

It was Couture's first fight since August 2007; he had been in a year-long legal dispute with UFC that kept him out of the ring until returning for this title defence. Still, he said he didn't feel ring rust was an issue.

"That's just a big son of a bitch," said Couture.

"I felt good. He's just a big guy, he caught me with a big shot."

Up next for Lesnar: the winner of next month's match-up between interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir. Noguiera was crowned interim champion during Couture's absence. Mir, meanwhile, defeated Lesnar via submission in 90 seconds in Lesnar's UFC debut.

In other matches:

- Kenny Florian (13-3) scored an impressive win over Joe Stevenson (29-9) in a battle of lightweight title contenders, forcing Stevenson to tap out to a rear naked choke 4:03 into the first round.

The two went back and forth for most of the round before Florian floored Stevenson. Florian followed him to the mat and scored with several big shots, and as Stevenson tried to turn away, Florian caught him in a choke and made him submit.

- In a match that wasn't originally scheduled for the main card but got bumped after another fight was cancelled, Dustin Hazelett (12-4) beat Tamdan McCrory (10-2) via armbar submission at 3:59 of an entertaining welterweight battle.

- Heavyweight title hopeful Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) gave Josh Hendricks (15-5-1) a rough welcome to UFC, scoring a TKO victory just 1:01 into Hendricks's UFC debut.

- In the pay-per-view opener, Demian Maia (10-0) made short work of Nate Quarry (10-3), forcing the alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter reality TV show to tap out to a rear raked choke just 2:13 into the first round of a middleweight bout.

FIGHT NOTES: Up next is UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008, one of the most stacked cards in recent memory - light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin defends against Rashad Evans; Nogueira takes on Mir; and light heavyweight contenders Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson go head-to-head . . . On the undercard of UFC 91, Canadian Mark Bocek defeated Alvin Robinson via rear naked choke at 3:16 of the third round.

ddeibert@sp.canwest.com

The Right Formula: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton finally became the youngest Formula One champion in history (albeit his coronation was delayed by a year) when he finished fifth at the Brazilian Grand Prix to edge the season ending race winner Felipe Massa of Ferrari by a point by winning the final championship point on the last lap when he passed Toyota’s Timo Glock.



It was sweet vindication for Hamilton who also led in the points a year ago but was beaten by a mere point by Kimi Raikkonen for the 2007 championships in the last race of the season.

It was sweet vindication for the young British driver to finally win the biggest trophy in racing after being the subject of racist slurs by Spanish fans of his erstwhile teammate and bitter rival Fenando Alonso who left Mclaren for Renault this year because of certain issues with the team and teammate.



Aside from being the 2008 Formula One World Champion, he has the hot Filipina- American Pussy Cat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger by his side. Now, Mr. Hamilton can really proclaim that he’s on top of the world!



How lucky can a guy really get, huh?