UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar

UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 15, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The central storyline was the heavyweight title defense by Randy Couture—a decorated champion who had come out of retirement to reclaim the belt—against Brock Lesnar, a physically imposing former WWE professional wrestler making only his third UFC appearance with a modest 1–1 record. The decision to give Lesnar a title shot was widely criticized as premature and marketing-driven, though the thin depth of the heavyweight division gave UFC brass some justification. The main event unfolded over two rounds: Couture used veteran wrestling and clinch technique in the first round to neutralize Lesnar's size advantage, landing strikes and even opening a cut on Lesnar's face. In the second round, however, Lesnar's superior size and athleticism became decisive—he took Couture to the mat and unleashed heavy ground-and-pound punches, forcing the referee stoppage at 3:07 of round two. Brock Lesnar was crowned the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, validating the controversial booking and signaling a new era for the heavyweight division. On the main card, Kenny Florian submitted Joe Stevenson with a rear-naked choke in round one (4:03); Dustin Hazelett submitted Tamdan McCrory with an armbar in round one (3:59); Gabriel Gonzaga stopped Josh Hendricks by TKO punches in round one (1:01); and Demian Maia submitted Nate Quarry with a rear-naked choke in round one (2:13). The preliminary card featured Aaron Riley defeating Jorge Gurgel by unanimous decision—a fight awarded Fight of the Night honors—Jeremy Stephens knocking out Rafael dos Anjos (who was making his UFC debut) by punches at 0:39 of round three, Mark Bocek submitting Alvin Robinson by rear-naked choke in round three, and Matt Brown submitting Ryan Thomas by armbar in round two. The event drew approximately 1,010,000 pay-per-view buys and a live gate of $4.8 million, making it one of the more commercially successful cards of 2008.

Sources: Wikipedia, Web search (UFC.com, ESPN, Tapology, WrestlingInc, MMA Mania)