The Greatest MMA Column: 11.1.08: Couture vs. Lesnar

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 11.01.2008

A look at possibly the biggest (money wise) fight in the history of MMA, Couture vs. Lesnar! Also, what happens after Stevenson vs. Florian, the first ever fight of the week, and a reaction to the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar
Randy Couture, a legend of MMA that continues to defy father time by winning against top competition at the age of 45. While he hasn't stepped foot in the Octagon since August of 2007, Couture is still the UFC's Heavyweight Champion, and on November 15, he may face his toughest opponent yet in Brock Lesnar. While Lesnar hasn't been training in MMA for a long time, a stellar wrestling background and a monstrous physique make him one of the players in the division. Of course, Lesnar is also a former professional wrestler, which makes him one of the biggest money draws the UFC has. Along with the insanely popular Couture, a clash of these two men could put the heavyweight division back on the map, and become the biggest PPV in MMA history. To do that, the show would need to do over 1.05 million buys. Which isn't an easy task with UFC PPV's costing about $44.95 in the midst of an economic crisis. But with a last minute publicity push, this fight could very well surpass that mark.



But this won't be the typical audience that buys UFC PPV's. This is going to be a predominately pro wrestling fan audience. UFC 81, which featured Lesnar's UFC debut, accumulated about 650,000 buys. An estimated 300,000 of those buys were bought buy people that had never bought a UFC PPV in their lives, and it's obvious where they came from. Subtract Lesnar and those 300,000 buys that leaves about 350,000, which is below average for a UFC PPV. Now where did the people who usually buy UFC ppv's go? The simple answer is that they didn't want to support Lesnar. Their thinking is that if they bought the PPV, they would be supporting other professional wrestlers to make the jump to MMA, and they would draw huge numbers and their sport would be forever ruined. Which is completely ludicrous, most pro wrestlers don't even think about getting into mma, while they may enjoy it, they're making more money where they're at and know that they don't have the background of a Brock Lesnar, that would make them successful. So if you're thinking of not ordering the PPV just because Brock Lesnar is on the card, you're a complete idiot. Order the show, Lesnar is no longer a pro wrestler, while he has had some matches here and there, he hasn't worked full time as one in over 4 years. It is a slap in the face to say that he is not a legitimate mixed martial artist because he used to be a pro wrestler and he doesn't deserve a title shot.

Bottom line, UFC 91 is going to be the biggest card in MMA history. Don't be a douche and miss out because you don't support one particular fighter. It's the return of one of the best heavyweights of all time, will he be able to vanquish the stronger, faster, younger fighter? We'll find out November 15.


What Happens After Florian vs. Stevenson?
Also at UFC 91 is a fight between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson. Florian should get a title shot if he wins this fight, he has won his past five bouts since losing to Sean Sherk for the then vacant lightweight title. All but one of those wins has come by submission or TKO. On the other hand, if Joe Stevenson wins he would probably face Sean Sherk before getting another title shot. At UFC 80, Joe Daddy was manhandled by lightweight kingpin BJ Penn. A rematch between Penn and Stevenson isn't really an interesting fight at this point, but a win over Sean Sherk could change that. If Stevenson does win, and goes on to fight Sherk, the winner of that fight would certainly be the next challenger for Penn. But the time line of title fights in the lightweight and welterweight divisions may be stretched out.

On January 31, Penn will fight the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre in a rematch for the welterweight title. If Penn beats GSP, it would make either Thiago Alves, the number one contender at welterweight, Kenny Florian, or the winner of Sherk-Stevenson wait at least 3-4 months before they get a title shot. Alves has looked to be the next contender at welterweight since he defeated Matt Hughes in June. Florian has seemingly been the number one contender at lightweight since August. This situation is why the UFC shouldn't allow fighters to move up in weight whenever they choose. While I am certainly not complaining that they matched up BJ Penn against Georges St. Pierre for the second time, I think both should have cleaned out their divisions before doing so. Both only needed 2-3 fights for this to happen, making it possible for the fight to happen on next years new years eve show. If Penn wins, it will be nearly impossible for all of the people that deserve title shots to get them. Even though it will be the biggest fight in MMA history in terms of the best fighting the best, it is screwing a number of fighters from getting opportunities they deserve. So, while I'll certainly be watching Penn-St. Pierre 2 in awe, I think the UFC should have waited to make this fight happen.


Fight Of The Week
This is the part where I post a fight for you to (hopefully) watch. We'll start off with quite the "slobber knocker" as Jim Ross would say. In the 2002 Wrestling Observer Fight Of The Year, it's Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama from PRIDE 21: Demolition.




And, here's the latest edition of MMA Live.



To Whom It May Concern
Last week, The Greatest MMA Column was not so noticeably absent. On October 18, I got an idea on for a column on the person to save EliteXC. As all of you know, EliteXC went out of business just a few days later. So I kept the original column for whoever would want to read it, and wrote about 500-600 words on my thoughts about Pro Elite's closing. I also wrote some quick UFC 89 thoughts and the first fight of the week. On Saturday, October 25, I woke up and checked to see if the column was there. I found out later that Ashish pulled the column due to the first part being dated by about 5 days. So now I'm here bitching about it to a reader who doesn't really care, I guess he won.


World Fuckin' Champions!
WARNING: This has nothing to do with MMA, if you don't like baseball, you should skip this part.

It seemed impossible, a city and team that just doesn't win winning the World Series, but it happened. After Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske, it was the fulfillment of a task that had evaded the city better than Lyoto Machida could ever hope to do. As a fan of Philadelphia sports all my life, I never thought this team would win, let alone capture a city the way it did. After the Sixers won the NBA title in 1983, football has become far more popular than any other sport in Philadelphia. The Eagles went to 4 consecutive NFC Championship Games after the turn of the millennium, only winning one of them.

In 2005 the Eagles took on the Patriots in the Super Bowl, making about 4 years of Chris Berman's Super Bowl match up predictions finally come true. The team was over matched though. Even though they only lost by 3 points, the Eagles just never came close to winning the game. After that the whole city was in limbo, the Eagles never were the same team again, the Sixers sucked, the Flyers kept losing in the playoffs, and the Phillies were continually missing the playoff by one or two games.

Then the 2007 Phillies came along and won the NL East, giving hope to the millions of fans that they may finally be the best at something. But no, in just 3 games, it was all over. The 2008 Phillies were a different story. They cruised through the first two series of the playoffs, only losing one game in each. Then came the Tampa Bay Rays. A team that was always among the worst in the league but now with good, young pitchers and hitters, they were the best team in the American League. Lets face it, Tampa Bay as a city did not deserve to be there.

For any other sport but baseball it would have been acceptable for Tampa to be there. But throughout the history of the franchise, very little, if anybody cared about the then Devil Rays. Even this season, attendance, while better then before, was still bad, even though they were the winner of the best and most famous division in baseball. Then, come playoff time, while I for one am not too fond of the rally towels, the Rays tried to start a whole new fad. They gave away cowbells. You read correctly, cowbells, in the middle of Florida for Christs sake! Instead of waving your silent rally towel, so you can still hear the fans, you have cowbells ringing annoyingly, blocking out all of the crown noise.

Fast forward to game 5, part 2, of the world series. Brad Lidge on the mound with 2 outs and 2 strikes against Eric Hinske. With one whiff of a swing, Philadelphia finally had its championship, we're finally the best. Crowds poured into the streets to celebrate. People of all races and ethnicities coming together to celebrate sports. Now that Bill Simmons, is why I love sports.

World Series Moments

The Phillies Win The World Series!


Harry Kalas' Call Of The Final Out, Watch For Chris Wheeler's Reaction


A Fan's View Of The Victory Lap


One Of The Celebrations


Apparently Climbing A Street Light Is Where Fans Draw The Line


Chase Utley's Great Speech, Note This was Live On Every Major Network In the Area

Lets do it again next year!


That's it for this week. Don't forget to watch WEC 36 on Wednesday, the round table for that should be out in a couple days. Check back next Saturday for the next edition of The Greatest MMA Column.