After the main event at UFC 91 concluded with Brock Lesnar’s hand being raised and the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt being put around his waist, I couldn’t help thinking to myself “just who is going to be able to take down this freak?”  In just his 4th professional MMA bout, and only his 3rd inside The Octagon, Lesnar defeated 3 time Heavyweight Champ Randy “The Natural” Couture at 3:07 of the second round via TKO.

It was an impressive performance for Lesnar, who was able to use his considerable size advantage to really impose his will.  While Couture looked impressive on his feet and was able to pepper Brock with knees and pinpoint jabs, he just couldn’t get up from underneath the 275 pound monster.  In round 1, Couture did a very nice job of calmly working to his feet after a take down, and almost ended up in a dominant position before both fighters were standing again.  Couture did a good job of working on his feet, and looked very good when in the clinch with his opponent.  On the other hand, Lesnar did a good job of working for better positioning after taking Randy down, and was able to slip into half-guard before being thwarted.  It was a very close first round and depending on how you looked at it, could have gone to either fighter. 

But in round 2, Lesnar wobbled Couture with a standing elbow early on.  While Randy was able to recover, he was caught with a brutal right hand that put him down midway through the round and he was unable to fend of Lesnar’s flurry of hammer fists and forearm shots.  In fact, you could make a case it was a bit of a late stoppage, as Brock was reigning shots for a good while before the referee finally waved him off.  Lesnar showed he can finish a fight, and he also showed he can take a shot on the chin and not let it change his gameplan.  By the end of the fight, Lesnar had a cut above his eye and got caught with a few solid shots from The Natural.

Back to the original question…”just who can beat this dude?”  Well, we know he’ll fight the winner of the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Frank Mir fight which goes as part of UFC 92 on December 27th.  The winner of that fight will be the Interim Heavyweight Champion and will fight Brock to unify the titles.  I believe Nogeuira will be the victor at 92, using his superior striking to subdue Mir.  Nogueira is one of a few guys out there that I can think of that will give Brock any type of push…he’s bigger than Couture, and he’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master, so he’ll be much more dangerous once taken down by Lesnar.  Mir presents a threat to Lesnar as well, but at this point, Brock will be the favorite in any fight he enters, he’s just that scary.

The co-main event saw Kenny Florian overwhelm Joe Stevenson en route to an easy 1st round win via rear naked choke.  KenFlo just straight up outclassed Stevenson, which is saying a lot, because Stevenson is one of the top guys at 155 pounds.  What Florian seems to do is add a new weapon to his arsenal every time he’s inside The Octagon, and he couples that with unbelievable smarts and craftiness.  Following the fight, Florian called out Lightweight Champion BJ Penn in a respectful way, saying he wants a shot, and Florian more than deserves it.  Huerta, Lauzon, Thomas, and now Stevenson have all fell to Florian, so I really hope the UFC follows through and gives Kenny a shot at the Lightweight Title after Penn’s fight with Georges St. Pierre.

On the undercard, Gabriel Gonzaga moved a little closer to a potential meeting down the line with Brock Lesnar.  Gonzaga tooled his opponent, Josh Hendricks, who was making his UFC debut.  In fact, Hendricks was tapping out after being knocked down with a right hand…referee Steve Mazagatti finally called the fight a TKO.  Demian Maia and Dustin Hazelett both showed incredible skill on the ground, which surprised absoloutely nobody.  At 185, Maia outclassed fan favorite Nate Quarry and put on a BJJ clinic, seemlessly transitioning from half guard to mount before winning with a rear naked.  Hazelett had an entertaining fight at 155 with Tamdan McCrory, including some really good standup exchanges.  But Hazelett is a recent BJJ blackbelt, and he showed why winning by armbar in the 1st round.

UFC 92 is set for December 27th and is one of the most stacked cards in UFC history.  Dubbed “The Ultimate 2008″, the card certainly lives up to its lofty billing.  The main event (one of them) sees Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin take on “Sugar” Rashad Evans, fresh off a sick knockout of  Chuck Liddell.  One of the co-main events pits Noguiera and Mir against eachother for the Interim Heavyweight belt.  Finally, “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva returns to action against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a bout that could be “Fight of the Year” material.  Just over a month away, cannot wait.  But before that, here are the other highlights…

Wednesday, December 10th – UFC Fight Night, Fight for the Troops.  Josh Koscheck returns to The Octagon as part of the main event in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  It’s free on Spike TV and Rogers Sportsnet and also features Canada’s own Jonathan Goulet in action against Mike Swick.

Saturday, December 13th – The Ultimate Fighter Finale.  We’ll see 2 new Ultimate Fighters crowned, 1 at 205 pounds, the other at 155.  Alberta’s Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald will be part of the card, as he looks to make it 2 straight wins inside The Octagon.  This will also be free on Spike and Sportsnet.

Damn, that’s some good action!

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