UFC 91

Background

The main event featured the return of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture versus WWE's Brock Lesnar in a title bout. The decision to grant Lesnar—who was 1–1 in UFC fights at the time, and 2-1 in MMA overall—the title shot was controversial at the time. Some felt it was premature and marketing driven, while others argued the relative lack of depth in the heavyweight division at the time left no clear-cut contenders to the belt.

Matthew Riddle was forced to withdraw from his bout with Ryan Thomas due to an injury. He was replaced by Matt Brown.

Amir Sadollah withdrew from his fight against Nick Catone due to a leg infection. A replacement for Sadollah could not be found, therefore the middleweight bout was pulled from the card. A welterweight match between Dustin Hazelett and Tamdan McCrory, previously scheduled for the preliminary card, was moved to the main card.

Unlike most UFC fight cards, every bout was aired on the PPV broadcast due to the quick endings of the main card bouts.

Also future Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made his UFC debut at this event.

Results

|Heavyweight |Brock Lesnar |def. |Randy Couture (c) |TKO (punches) |2 |3:07 |For the UFC Heavyweight Championship. |Lightweight |Kenny Florian |def. |Joe Stevenson |Submission (rear-naked choke) |1 |4:03 | |Welterweight |Dustin Hazelett |def. |Tamdan McCrory |Submission (armbar) |1 |3:59 | |Heavyweight |Gabriel Gonzaga |def. |Josh Hendricks |TKO (punches) |1 |1:01 | |Middleweight |Demian Maia |def. |Nate Quarry |Submission (rear-naked choke) |1 |2:13 | |Lightweight |Aaron Riley |def. |Jorge Gurgel |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Jeremy Stephens |def. |Rafael dos Anjos |KO (punches) |3 |0:39 | |Lightweight |Mark Bocek |def. |Alvin Robinson |Submission (rear-naked choke) |3 |3:16 | |Welterweight |Matt Brown |def. |Ryan Thomas |Submission (armbar) |2 |0:57 |

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $60,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night: Aaron Riley vs. Jorge Gurgel
• Knockout of the Night: Jeremy Stephens
• Submission of the Night: Dustin Hazelett

Purses

The total payroll for the event was $1,118,000.

Brock Lesnar: $450,000 (includes $200,000 win bonus) def. Randy Couture: $250,000

Kenny Florian: $80,000 ($40,000 win bonus) def. Joe Stevenson: $35,000

Dustin Hazelett: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus) def. Tamdan McCrory: $10,000

Gabriel Gonzaga: $110,000 ($55,000 win bonus) def. Josh Hendricks: $8,000

Demian Maia: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus) def. Nate Quarry: $25,000

Aaron Riley: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus) def. Jorge Gurgel: $10,000

Jeremy Stephens: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Rafael dos Anjos: $4,000

Mark Bocek: $18,000 ($9,000 win bonus) def. Alvin Robinson: $7,000

Matt Brown $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Thomas: $3,000

References

References

1. Thomas, Luke. (2008-12-11). "Report: UFC 91 Does More Than 1 Million Pay-Per-View Buys". Bloody Elbow.
2. (2008-11-21). "UFC 91 draws 10,845 paid for $4.8 million gate". MMAjunkie.com.
3. "Pay-per-view : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA".
4. "Couture Returns to Defend Heavyweight Crown against Lesnar on Nov. 15". UFC.com.
5. "UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar". tapology.com.
6. "MATT RIDDLE OUT OF UFC 91 BOUT DUE TO INJURY – MMA WEEKLY – Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more". Mma Weekly.
7. (2008-11-01). "Matt Brown tapped to replace Matt Riddle at UFC 91". Five Ounces of Pain.
8. Gerbasi, Thomas. (2008-11-11). "Leg Infection Forces Sadollah from UFC 91 Card". UFC.com.
9. (2008-11-16). "UFC 91 BONUSES YIELD $60,000 EACH – MMA WEEKLY – Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more". Mma Weekly.
10. (2008-11-17). "UFC 91 salaries: Brock Lesnar ($450k), Randy Couture ($250k) top earners". MMAjunkie.com.