Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

UFC president Dana White has pitched UFC 91 as the biggest potential pay-per-view sale in the company’s history. But the event doesn’t come without a bit of controversy and criticism. For one, former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar is getting a title shot tonight with only a one and one record in the UFC and two and one overall in MMA. But fans are split over Lesnar’s attempt at the heavyweight championship. A large percentage of fans cite Lesnar as the future of mixed-martial-arts while others hail Randy Couture as king.

Tonight’s title bout is Couture’s first fight in MMA following a turbulent year of lawsuits with the UFC where his heavyweight belt lay in limbo while seeing an interim title come to the surface. And such is the fuel that fires the furnace of disgruntle fans. Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira sits on the sidelines presently watching Lesnar get the shot while he waits for a fight with Frank Mir whom handed Lesnar his first UFC loss.

Regardless of the divide, the clash between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar is definitely one for the ages. Whether or not Lesnar is popular with a portion of the MMA community, those who dislike him are still going to tune in to hopefully see his destruction. Win or lose, all things point to the potentially high sales numbers Dana White has been harking about for since as far back as UFC 88. And certainly if Lesnar wins, he’ll deserve a minimum of respect from his previous detractors. After all, a win is a win. Right? Especially a win over a legend of mixed-martial-arts.

Although many analysts and even several professional fighters have picked Lesnar to win, it’s hard to count Randy Couture out. Countless times Couture has defied the odds of age and size to come through in stunning victory. And Couture is absolutely famous for his amazing ability to design gameplans and execute such plans with authority. And statistically, whenever Couture goes into a fight as the underdog, he normally gets the win. And guess what? Tonight Couture is yet again an underdog.

One thing is certain. Although UFC 91 is a little thin in the middle not being the most stacked card in recent months, the main event is a monster. Two big monsters in fact. Dana White estimated 1.2 million pay-per-view buys earlier in the week. If this happens, not only is Mr. White and the UFC winners, but the sport of MMA comes back into the spotlight devoid of the same dirty laundry that has plagued the sport in the fallout of EliteXC’s October CBS debacle and even the latest round of drama and legal moves within the Affliction organization.

UFC 91 is available on pay-per-view through most cable and satellite services in the United States and Canada. Streaming is also available through Yahoo! Sports. The telecast begins at 9:30 p.m. eastern standard time.

(Pictured Above) An unlabeled photo used by the Houston Chronicle showing Randy Couture with a broken arm following his 2007 fight with Gabriel Gonzaga.

COUTURE AND LESNAR INJURIES RUMORED TO BE RUMORS WITHIN A CYCLE OF RECENT RUMORS

Rumors. Yes indeed, rumors. Rumors continue to abound. Several rumors have circulated the web claiming that both Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar are nursing serious injuries only a month out from the UFC championship bout on November 15, 2008. If true, the UFC 91 fight card is in danger of a cancelled main event. But really? Thus far the news (or rumors more accurately) have come by way of random blog sites. And in contrast, news has also made the rounds regarding a potential impersonator of UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta calling up gyms such as Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas as well as people in the media and spreading what is alleged as false injury reports. Josh Gross of Sports Illustrated recently reported that the reports of such injuries are outright bogus.

 In a recent article Gross stated:

“It’s amazing the things people ask sometimes. Last Saturday at Strikeforce’s card at the Playboy Mansion, a spectator said he’d heard a rumor in the bathroom: Randy Couture had injured his leg and wouldn’t be able to fight Brock Lesnar.

It seemed like one of those things you hear and generally dismiss. But there were a lot of industry insiders at the Mansion that night, and who knows what was going on in the bathrooms? So it was worth looking into.

Turns out, Couture was fine. In fact, he had a tremendous week of training and was taking the weekend off to hunt in the mountains of Colorado, according to his wife, Kim.

But, on Thursday, Kim Couture rang about another crazy rumor that was going around. Someone, doing his best Lorenzo Fertitta impersonation, called the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas. People inside Xtreme Couture scrambled when the fake Fertitta claimed Lesnar was injured, and the Nov. 15 fight was off. The rumor, however, was quickly quashed after confirming Lesnar, all 280 pounds of him, was fine.

Nothin’ like a little MMA amusement.”

Yet, in light of Gross’ recent report, Jared Barnes of the Houston Chronicle continues the rumored reports that both Couture and Lesnar are actually injured and the UFC 91 bout is in jeopardy.

In a recent blog, Barnes stated:

“The main event between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 may be in jeopardy. According to 3 different sources that are either involved with the Lesnar or Couture camp, both fighters are currently battling serious injuries. Lesnar sustained a hamstring injury, that he’s trying to cover up and work through, and Couture is having major shoulder problems.

This is tough news for both fighters as neither one of them seems to have much room for error going into this UFC heavyweight championship fight. Since details on the injuries are being held close to the vest, it’s difficult to judge the severity of each injury and which fighter it’s going to affect more. All I know is no matter how big of an opportunity it was, or how big the pay day was, I wouldn’t have any interest in fighting Couture or Lesnar if I wasn’t at 100%.”

Certainly if there were any truth to these rumors, the news would be plastered on the front pages of MMA sites across the web. Not to mention that MMA writers such as Josh Gross and Kevin Iole would be right on top of it. The absence of such legitimate reports obviously reveal the answers for most. It is interesting that The Houston Chronicle and Jared Barnes baited its report with a file photo of Randy Couture nursing a broken arm from over a year ago following his victory over Gabriel Gonzaga. The use of the old photograph led many at first to believe that the recent injury rumors are true. Some folks thought it was a fresh photo of Couture during his current training.

So I say, “Hey Houston Chronicle. Put a caption on that file photo.”

MMABay’s Michael Pepper reports that Brock Lesnar injured a hamstring during training and will not be able to face Randy Couture at UFC 91 on November 15. There is currently no official word from the UFC but if Pepper’s report proves true this will be a massive blow to the UFC 91 fight card which was previsouly billed by UFC President Dana White as the biggest fight in pay-per-view history. Pepper continued by suggesting the Wanderlei Silva versus Rampage Jackson match as a potential replacement.

*UPDATE*

As we said earlier, “if this rumor proves true” it would be a tremendous blow to the UFC 91 fight card. But Sports Illustrated reports:

“It’s amazing the things people ask sometimes. Last Saturday at Strikeforce’s card at the Playboy Mansion, a spectator said he’d heard a rumor in the bathroom: Randy Couture had injured his leg and wouldn’t be able to fight Brock Lesnar.

It seemed like one of those things you hear and generally dismiss. But there were a lot of industry insiders at the Mansion that night, and who knows what was going on in the bathrooms? So it was worth looking into.

Turns out, Couture was fine. In fact, he had a tremendous week of training and was taking the weekend off to hunt in the mountains of Colorado, according to his wife, Kim.

But, on Thursday, Kim Couture rang about another crazy rumor that was going around. Someone, doing his best Lorenzo Fertitta impersonation, called the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas. People inside Xtreme Couture scrambled when the fake Fertitta claimed Lesnar was injured, and the Nov. 15 fight was off. The rumor, however, was quickly quashed after confirming Lesnar, all 280 pounds of him, was fine.

Nothin’ like a little MMA amusement.”

Segment Two:

The Full Contact Talk panel continue discussion on a number of subjects ranging from Forrest Griffin’s recent success in the UFC as well as the positives and negatives of Brock Lesnar’s entrance into professional mixed-martial-arts. Another special feature known as “MMA Hollywood Minute” is included and briefly discusses Randy Couture’s latest movie. There’s more local music from Tenth to the Moon.

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