UFC 91 tonight

[The General]

If UFC 91 falls short of expectations, blame the undercard.

UFC President Dana White is calling his shot. But he's not just pointing into the center field bleachers with his expectations for UFC 91. He's pointing to the parking lot.

White is predicting a record-breaker this weekend, estimating that the event headlined by Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar will sell 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. That's more than twice as many as Lesnar helped bring in with his UFC debut in February, which was considered a resounding pay-per-view success. It far outstrips the half-million range that most UFC events of 2008 have fallen into.

In other words, it's an outrageous claim. As with most such claims, it succeeds in getting attention for the man who makes it, but it isn't likely to come true.

White is betting on this fight's crossover appeal among pro wrestling fans, as well as among the existing MMA fans who have been eagerly awaiting Couture's return to action. With the intersecting storylines in this bout -- the ageless, prodigal champion against the flashy, beastly newcomer -- there's reason for optimism.

But the UFC's mistake is in pinning all its hopes on the main event, hoping fans won't notice the lackluster undercard. It's more like something you'd see on a boxing pay-per-view: one big fight, and the rest mostly filler. That's simply not the UFC at its best. It's the opposite of the strategy that got the organization to this point, one of stacking cards with compelling bouts like they've done with December's UFC 92 card.

That's why if UFC 91 doesn't live up to White's expectations (and it almost certainly won't) he can't blame Lesnar and Couture, but rather the mediocre lineup he's backing them with.

Another No. 1 Contender Bout?
The lightweight clash between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson is the second-best fight at UFC 91, and White says the winner gets a shot at B.J. Penn's 155-pound title. Forgive me for sounding skeptical, but we've heard this before.

Stevenson already had a shot, and he fell very short. There's no reason to think a rematch would go any differently. As for Florian, didn't he establish himself as the No. 1 contender with the win over Roger Huerta? Since then he's been languishing in lightweight purgatory, waiting for Penn to finish his super-fight vision quest and come back to defend the title.

Florian-Stevenson should still be a good one to watch, but the penultimate bout on what's being billed as the year's biggest pay-per-view? Hardly.

Return of "The Rock"
The good news on the UFC 91 undercard is the Nate Quarry-Demian Maia matchup. Maia's submission skills are a thing of beauty, and Quarry always turns in an exciting performance (except for when he's forced to chase Kalib Starnes in circles).

Quarry's never been submitted in his pro career. He's also never gone up against anyone like Maia. Say what you will about "The Rock," but he's smart enough not to willingly go to the mat with the jiu-jitsu phenom the way Jason MacDonald did. So we should at least find out what else Maia has in his toolbox.

And Lastly ...
The two other televised bouts for UFC 91 aren't likely to be on anyone's list of must-sees. Fresh off a comeback win against Justin McCully, Gabriel Gonzaga gets the Octagon-newcomer Josh Hendricks. Hendricks is a big, tough kid who's been helping Couture prepare for Lesnar in recent weeks, but Gonzaga is a tough draw for him this early in his career.

In a bout that was bumped up from the dark portion of the card due to Amir Sadollah's injury withdrawal, loveable nerd Tamdan McCrory takes on Dustin Hazelett. Hazelett's the favorite, but McCrory keeps surprising people despite his geeky appearance. Don't be fooled, fight fans. A tiger lurks inside "The Barn Cat." It's just a question of which feline alter-ego shows up.

If UFC 91 falls short of expectations, blame the undercard - Ben Fowlkes - SI.com

[The General]

No way I am (can) spending any money (esp $50) to watch this.

Are you guys buying onto it or waiting the highlights after the matches?

[The General]

Follow along with live UFC 91 updates | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press


Opening bout: Demian Maia vs. Nate "The Rock" Quarry
Maia dominates the action from the beginning, locking in a body triangle and landing a few punches. He eventually sinks in a rear-naked choke 2:13 into the first round to take home the win and move to 10-0 in his career.

Color commentator Joe Rogan asks him about a possible title shot and Maia responds by saying that Michael Bisping might be a good opponent for him at middleweight.

Is he afraid of middleweight champion Anderson Silva? Probably not because his jiu-jitsu would give him a chance to compete with Silva not many other fighters have.

But at the same time, Maia knows he needs some more experience before he moves up and gets a title shot. Impressive win nonetheless.

Bout No. 2: Josh Hendricks vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
The next bout is a heavyweight match between Josh Hendricks, a UFC newcomer and 2-time All-American wrestler with a record of 18-4 in his MMA career, and Gabriel Gonzaga, the 9-3 Brazilian who lost to Randy Couture back in a title bout in August 2007.

Hendricks predicted he would win by knockout, but Gonzaga is a well-rounded competitor who outweighs Hendricks by a tally of 256 to238 pounds. Hendricks doesn’t look to be in particularly great shape for 238 pounds, either.

...And it looks like the exact opposite of Hendricks’ prediction has come true.

After a couple of exchanges, Gonzaga lands a heavy knee to the chest and then uncorks a massive straight right hand that sends Hendricks tumbling to the mat.

Gonzaga lands an easy punch to the downed Hendricks, looks over at the ref as if to say “Should I hit him again?” Gonzaga gets the signal and throws in another punch for good measure, ending the fight at 61 seconds in the first round.

“Next time I’m going to get the belt back,” exclaims Gonzaga after the fight, which is a little odd because he never had it to begin with.

Regardless, the man they call “Napao” for his ability to anticipate his opponent’s next move is a serious threat for another run at the title.

Catching you up...
In earlier matches, Matt Brown beat Ryan Thomas by arm-bar in the second round.

Mark Bocek beat Alvin Robinson by rear-naked choke in the third round.

Jeremy Stephens beat Rafael dos Anjos by TKO in the third.

Aaron Riley beat Jorge Gurgel by unanimous decision.

Bout No. 3: Tamdan "The Barn Cat" McCrory vs. Dustin Hazelett
Next up is a quality match that was bumped up to the main card after recent Ultimate Fighter winner Amir Sadollah was forced to withdraw from his match with Nick Catone due to a leg infection.

In the 170-pound welterweight division, the wiry 6-4 jiu-jitsu specialist Tamdan “The Barn Cat” McCrory (11-1 record) will take on well-rounded (and also a jiu-jitsu black belt) Dustin Hazelett, who walks out to “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival with a full beard and a businesslike look on his face.

Hazellet pulled off a slick flying knee to start his bout in March against Josh Koscheck, hopefully he comes out with something crazy again here and gives the fans their money’s worth.

McCrory comes out with a ton of energy and lands a few quick combinations on Hazelett.

Hazelett responds with a solid front kick and knocks McCrory back then rushes in for … you guessed it, a flying knee. But he missed.

Hazelett lands a short leg kick and then McCrory tries a head kick that is a bit off the mark.

McCrory fires back with a strong leg kick of his own.

Hazelett lunges back and lands a bomb on McCrory. Both fighters are looking strong and talented here, and the fight hasn’t even gone to the ground yet, where both are most skilled.

Kicks force them both back. The two have tapped gloves on two different occasions in shows of respect.

Hazelett throws a high kick but McCrory ducks under it and gets his leg, dragging the fight to the ground.

McCrory works to sink in an omoplata submission but Hazelett pulls an arm-bar, bending McCrory’s arm back toward the ceiling and nearly breaking it as McCrory cries out in anguish.

Hazelett gets the win 3:59 into the first round for his second straight win. He just showed off those black belt skills in a big way.

“I want to get the most submissions of the night (award wins),” said Hazelett after the fight, adding that he wants to be the best jiu-jitsu specialist in the UFC.

He’s got a lot of competition for that title but that was a slick submission to say the least.