UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar

Though most are excited for this card so that they can see if 45 year old Randy Couture can once again overcome the odds and defeat the 285lb NCAA Division 1 wrestler in Brock Lesnar, There are a few other fights on this card that interest me more.

One of these fights is Nate “Rock” Quarry vs. Demian Maia, the classic grappler vs. striker. The only difference though is that this fight has the best pure grappler in the UFC middleweight division vs. one of the hardest hitters in the UFC middleweight division. Both fighters have impressive UFC records, with Nate supporting a 5 – 1 record (winning all fights by TKO/KO with the exception of his fight with Kalib Starnes who’s game plan was to run from him the whole fight, and only losing to Rich Franklin when Franklin was in his prime) and Maia a 3 – 0 record (winning all 3 fights by submission).

While Maia has never fought someone with the same power in his hands as Nate, The “Rock” has never fought anyone with even close to the same level of BJJ as Maia. Nate generally follows a “knock out or be knocked out” strategy where Maia takes the “do anything I can and get hit by anything I can to get it to the ground” strategy. I think these to strategies combined will make for a great fight.

I see Nate pressing the action and Maia taking many big shots in this fight while on the feet. However, if Maia can survive Nate’s power long enough to get any sort of clinch, the fight will drastically change. This fight will end with either a TKO/KO by Nate, or a technical submission by Maia. Either way, this fight is not going to decision and should be exciting to watch.

- R Rende