Saturday, November 15 – 12:45 P.M. (CT)

The wait is over. Randy Couture makes his UFC return tonight and will face Brock Lesnar in what is arguably the biggest main event in MMA history. UFC officials have stated that they believe the event could score 1.2 million buys. However, WWE's Jim Ross is skeptical of that projection and he made a great point about the economy and the fact that the event isn't even sold out in Las Vegas.

Regardless of how many people order this show, I'm as excited as I've been for a UFC event since the first Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz fight. There are some tremendous storylines for this fight that even pro wrestling can't match despite it's scripted nature.

The 45 year-old Couture hasn't fought since he took out Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 back in August 2007. He has a lengthy layoff prior to his fight against Tim Sylvia in March 2007 and that didn't stop him from dominating the 6-8 giant, but Sylvia lacks the wrestling skills that Lesnar possesses.

Meanwhile, this is only the fourth fight of Brock's career. He won a pushover main event fight in his non-UFC debut over a replacement fighter, lost to Frank Mir via submission in his UFC debut, and mauled Heath Herring for three rounds in his only UFC victory back in September. Lesnar is a quick study, but has he learned enough to defeat a true MMA legend?

Ross and other observers of the UFC weigh-in event on Friday noted that Lesnar looked nervous, while Couture was laid back and as confident as ever. Meanwhile, Couture appears to be in better shape at age 45 than he's ever been at any stage in his career. Brock doesn't look as massive as he has in the past, but he's also cut.

I'm not sure how much we should read into the weigh-in. If Lesnar loses, his weigh-in demeanor will become a big part of the story. If he wins, I'm guessing the entire weigh-in will be dismissed until the next time a fighter looks unconfident at a weigh-in and then critics will mention that Lesnar looked the same way before his fight against Couture.

I mentioned during Dot Net Weekly audio show (available to Dot Net Members) that I'm picking Lesnar. Ross's observation and Couture's incredible conditioning has me second guessing my pick, but I'm going to stick with it. That said, it won't shock me whatsoever if Couture pulls out another victory. He's been written off as past his prime so many times before, but he just keeps defying the odds and pulling out victories over great fighters with much more history than Brock.

So why am I picking Lesnar? I'm not convinced that Couture has an answer for his power and wrestling ability. I'm nervous about the possibility of the fight going five rounds because Brock looked blown up after the second round of his fight with Herring. Granted, he was full of energy after the three-round fight concluded, but it will be interesting to see if he can go a full five rounds.

Ultimately, I expect Brock to smother Couture, just as he smothered Herring. Again, this wouldn't be the first time that Couture proved me and countless others wrong. More than anything, I hope we get an entertaining fight. Friends have asked which fighter I would pick if I were in Vegas, and my answer is that I'd save my money and bet on football. It's a tough fight to call and I honestly wouldn't bet more than some chump change just to make things even more interesting.

Unfortunately, the undercard of this show leaves plenty to be desired. It's always a treat to watch Kenny Florian fight, but there's no other fight that jumps out at this UFC fan. One can only assume that UFC decided they didn't need to load up the undercard when they had the biggest main event of the year on top of the card.

That would normally be a good strategy, especially if you can create some new stars who deliver standout performances on the undercard. However, with the lousy economy, UFC officials might be kicking themselves for not adding one or two more quality fights to the undercard. One thing to keep in mind is that past undercards that have been light on star power have produced some spectacular fights.

Check back tonight for Dot Net's Live Coverage of the UFC 91 pay-per-view.

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