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.

Background

The main event featured the return of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture versus WWE's Brock Lesnar in a title bout. The decision to grant Lesnar—who was 1–1 in UFC fights at the time, and 2-1 in MMA overall—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.

Results

Bonus awards

Fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses.

Purses

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 Demian Maia: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus) def. Nate Quarry: $25,000 Aaron Riley: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus) def. Jorge Gurgel: $10,000 Jeremy Stephens: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Rafael dos Anjos: $4,000 Mark Bocek: $18,000 ($9,000 win bonus) def. Alvin Robinson: $7,000 Matt Brown $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Thomas: $3,000