UFC 91

UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar
A poster or logo for UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar.
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	November 15, 2008
Venue	MGM Grand Garden Arena
City	Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance	14,272 (10,845 paid)
Total gate	$4,815,675
Buyrate	1,010,000
Total purse	$1,118,000
Event chronology
UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar UFC: Fight for the Troops

UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 15, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main event featured the return of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture versus Brock Lesnar in a title bout. The decision to grant Lesnar – who was 1–1 in UFC fights at the time – the title shot was controversial at the time. Some felt it was premature and marketing driven, while others argued the relative lack of depth in the heavyweight division at the time left no clear-cut contenders to the belt.

Matthew Riddle was forced to withdraw from his bout with Ryan Thomas due to an injury. He was replaced by Matt Brown.

Amir Sadollah withdrew from his fight against Nick Catone due to a leg infection. A replacement for Sadollah could not be found, therefore the middleweight bout was pulled from the card. A welterweight match between Dustin Hazelett and Tamdan McCrory, previously scheduled for the preliminary card, was moved to the main card.

Unlike most UFC fight cards, every bout was aired on the PPV broadcast due to the quick endings of the main card bouts.

Also future Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made his UFC debut at this event.

Fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses.

The total payroll for the event was $1,118,000.

Brock Lesnar: $450,000 (includes $200,000 win bonus) def. Randy Couture: $250,000

Kenny Florian: $80,000 ($40,000 win bonus) def. Joe Stevenson: $35,000

Dustin Hazelett: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus) def. Tamdan McCrory: $10,000

Gabriel Gonzaga: $110,000 ($55,000 win bonus) def. Josh Hendricks: $8,000