UFC 91 featured the return of the briefly retired heavyweight champion Randy Couture, taking on the challenger Brock Lesnar in the first leg of a four-man heavyweight title tournament.  The matchup was billed as ‘biggest in UFC history’ and so the undercard of this event was overlooked: the only bout besides the main event to receive any publicity was a #1 contender eliminator between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson for a shot at the lightweight title.  Three other lightweight bouts took place in the preliminary portion of the event.

Nate Quarry vs. Demian Maia (185 lbs) 

The televised card began with a striker vs. grappler matchup, and the grappler Maia wasted no time bringing the fight to the ground. From there he easily passed Quarry’s guard and achieved mount, then back control, and finished with a rear naked choke forcing a tapout less than halfway through the first round.

Fight Grade: 3/5

Aftermath: Maia once again demonstrates impeccable jiu-jitsu, gaining his fourth victory in the UFC.  Since there are no clear-cut contenders for Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt, undefeated Maia can make a good case for demanding a title shot.  However he instead asks for Michael Bisping in the post-fight interview, stirring up rumors that he may become the coach on the next season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, opposite of Bisping.

Quarry suffers his second loss in the UFC, dashing any hopes of title contendership in the foreseeable future.  Perhaps he can take on Kendall Grove in his next bout.

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WEC 36 was originally scheduled to take place on September 10th in Hollywood, Florida but was postponed due to Hurricane Ike.  The event featured two championship bouts: Urijah Faber defended his featherweight title against Mike Thomas Brown, and middleweight challenger Chael Sonnen was set to rematch champion Paulo Filho for the belt.  However Filho was not able to make weight, and so the bout was changed to three-round affair with no title on the line.  Not that it made any difference in the big picture, as Zuffa (the parent company of WEC and UFC) decided to fold WEC’s 185-lbs & 205-lbs divisions, rendering the middleweight championship belt meaningless after this event.  Also on the card, two former UFC lightweights Jens Pulver and Leonard Garcia met in a featherweight bout that would likely produce the #1 contender for the winner of Faber-Brown.

Jake Rosholt vs. Nissen Osterneck (185 lbs)

In a middleweight bout with a potential shot at a future UFC contract on the line, Osterneck came out swinging from the opening bell, and was dominating Rosholt in the standup.  However Rosholt was able to reverse the course of the round by taking Osterneck down and controlling him on the ground, winning the round despite not doing much damage.  In the second round, Nissen once again attempted to work his standup, and had Rosholt reeling at one point, but lost his balance after throwing a head kick and ended up on his back.  Rosholt capitalized and mounted his opponent; Osterneck had nothing left in the gas tank at this point and was not able to escape or offer any defense to Rosholt’s strikes as the referee Troy Waugh stepped in to stop the bout.

Fair performance from both fighters, though it’s not clear whether either one is ready for a move up to the UFC at this point.

Fight grade: 4/5

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Only a week after UFC 89, which was broadcast on Spike TV from UK, UFC was back on pay-per-view with another event – their first one in Chicago, Illinois.  UFC 90 was headlined by Anderson Silva defending his middleweight title against an unlikely contender in Patrick Cote.  The card also featured four lightweight bouts, only two of which made the televised broadcast.

Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk (155 lbs)

The broadcast began with one of the lightweight bouts:  a matchup between two fighters with very similar styles.  It turned out that Sherk was a little better than Griffin in every area.  Sherk took Griffin down early in the first round and quickly took Tyson’s back but was shaken off.  Sherk achieved several more takedowns over the course of the fight, but was not able to keep Griffin on the ground for more than a few seconds, while Tyson’s takedown attempts fell short. 

By the middle of the second round, both fighters abandoned the idea of ground fighting, and the remainder of the bout was mainly a kickboxing match.  On the feet Sherk had the edge as well with sharp uppercuts and knees and quick combinations of strikes.  Griffin turned up the intensity of his attacks in the third round, but it was not enough as Sherk walked away with a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) . The bout earned the official ‘Fight of the Night’ award.

Aftermath:  Sherk positions himself back in the lightweight title picture, and has mentioned his desire to face the winner of the upcoming bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.  Griffin lost but had a solid performance; this may be a good time to match him up with Nate Diaz, who is still undefeated in the Octagon. 

Fight grade: 4/5

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