As we draw closer to UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar, it’s more than easy to remember what has been talked about the most widespread amongst casual and hardcore MMA fans. Without a question, the topic most mentioned has been whether or not Lesnar deserves this fight and cooperatively why this fight is deemed so huge for the UFC. Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch on that subject anymore.

Dropping off the radar and being “dumbed down” so to speak, are the rest of the main card bouts that precede the star-studded main event. Extremely surprising to me is the amount of negative criticism the card in its entirety has received. Comments I have heard on numerous occassions have been along the lines of the card “not being solid”, or “lacking”. The addition of the Hazelett/McCrory bout has changed many minds and all of a sudden the card doesn’t seem so lacking, does it?

Even before the addition of the aforementioned bout, I was still pretty content with this card. As the hype for the event has grown to astronomical proproportions in the recent weeks, I have been able to dissect the highlights for this card and finally make my predictions on whom will received the so coveted accolades of the night. So, that being said, who will be receiving one of those highly touted bonus checks from Zuffa? More after the jump.

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Watch Patrick Cote somehow get the decision win over Ricardo Almeida here.

As for Joe Steveson, he was up against a much larger and potentially dangerous (to BJ Penn, at least) Gleison Tibau. He got lucky in this fight!

I don’t see either fighter going too far, unfortunately. Cote doesn’t have any ground game to compete with anyone else in his division and Stevenson already go destroyed by BJ Penn once. We’ll see what Joe Silva and Dana White have in store for them.

After reading the title of this article you are either laughing at how stupid you think I am, or nodding in agreement. B.J. Penn is known for two things, some of the best B.J.J in the game and gassing early. If only he had the heart of a Forrest Griffin he could be unstoppable. Penn is very beatable and Stevenson is a very viable opponent that can take it to him. These two men possess some of the best grappling that will be seen in the UFC. Penn is of course the better in that department, but I think Penn needs to watch out in this fight. You may think I am crazy, but I believe this for two main reasons; Penn gases early and Stevenson will be in great fighting shape. I also feel that Penn is overlooking Stevenson.

As far as being in shape, sure B.J. is in shape. He is in the type of shape that you need to ride a wave in Hawaii bro, but not the type of shape top step into a 5 round war with Joe Stevenson. Joe Stevenson is the second best conditioned fighter in this division. Turned out number one had some help (Sherk, if you live under a rock). If this fight does go past the normal 3 rounds Penn could be in deep trouble. Stevenson has decent hands, and Penn’s will be dropping. When his hands drop, he could be on his back looking at the lights. Another way his conditioning can hurt him, is to allow Stevenson to take him down, into a ground and pound situation. Either way if this fight goes deep, it could spell trouble for the greatest B.J.J artist in American History.

The main reason B.J. is getting beat tomorrow is because he is overlooking a great fighter in Joe Stevenson. Recently Penn has been on record in interviews that he is interested in fighting GSP. He is also interested in fighting Matt Hughes. Not one time in any of the prefight interviews or even the weigh-ins did Penn seem focused, or concerned about the gentleman that he is about to meet in battle. If he is over-looking Joe, then he could be in for a world of hurt! Joe Stevenson is 33-7, and has beat Melvin Guillard, Luke Cummo, and Kurt Pellegrino. Granted, that is not the likes of Matt Hughes, GSP, and Jens Pulver, but it is respectable competition. Joe Stevenson can fight, and will have nothing to lose to the former champion. If Penn overestimates Stevenson, it could bite him in his Hawaiian butt.

Yes, Penn will be the outright favorite, and probably should beat Stevenson very handedly, but that doesn’t mean he is unbeatable. B.J. Penn has just a few flaws in his game, but those are major ones. Especially since I feel he has no heart. Tomorrows fight will be a battle. It has the makings of one of the best grappling matches in the history of the UFC! The crowd will be pumped up, and the winner will be crowned interim champion for the 155 pound weight division. If B.J. did not train to fight 5 rounds, or if he is overlooking his opponent he could be in serious trouble, and we could have a Joe Stevenson versus Sean Sherk unification bout in the future.

Remember back when Sean Sherk defended his lightweight title against the up and coming slugger Hermes Franca? Remember how boring those five rounds were and how you wanted 25 minutes of your life back? Well, BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson are planning to go the full five rounds, but are hoping for a barn burner and not, as the future held for Sherk (suspended for steroid allegations), a slow burn.

Both fighters have been waiting for this fight and the talking has already begun. Sam Caplan at 5 Oz. of Pain has a couple videos where both men come off as intelligent fighters who mutually respect each other and the talent that they are both up against in this quest for the belt. MMA Mania thinks that this is the reason why nobody seems to care about this fight. I personally disagree, but this might be because I enjoy the technical Jiu-Jitsu fights just as much as the haymaker-laden fights like the Liddell/Silva bout at UFC 79 while many of the casual trash talking fans could get bored with the ground action.

Whatever happens, I am looking to see BJ Penn on top, but Joe Stevenson could easily make this fight his. No matter what happens, these two guys should show us that the lightweight division isn’t filled with Sherks or Franca’s. The rest of the card isn’t looking that great for the casual fans with Gabriel Gonzaga, barely heralded since his loss to Couture, up against Fabricio Werdum and a slew of other fights with little appeal to anyone aside from some of the hardcore fans. It’s a typical overseas card where smaller names will still appeal to a crowd that only sees UFC action every couple of months.

Wanna make some big bucks if Fedor somehow knocks himself out up against Hong Man Choi at the end of this month? That probably won’t happen, but here are some other fights to bring in some extra after-Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) shopping.

Nick Thomas over at Bloody Elbow has a nice little article highlighting some of the betting odds for upcoming MMA events.  In my opinion, there’s a couple of money makers in there, but be sure to rule out the Emelianenko/Choi fight early. Even with Fedor at -1700 and Choi at +850, I doubt many would drop $1700 to win a measly $100, but I guess if you wanted to take the chance of a lifetime, you could drop $100 and hope to pick up another $850. If anyone does this, please let me know!

Here are the potential money makers:

St. Pierre -200 Hughes +160 - Although I can see St. Pierre taking the win, keep in mind that he’s only taken the fight on five weeks notice. Hughes, however, has been training for a five round fight for a long time. These odds should not be spread this far apart.

Penn -285 Stevenson +225 - We have only seen BJ Penn fight once. That was against someone who doesn’t even walk around at 155 while Penn had been up against Welterweights. There’s a good chance that Stevenson could steal this fight with his great conditioning.

Swick -175 Burkman +135 - Josh Burkman has gone up against Karo Parisyan and Forrest Petz while taking the decision against the latter and dropping the loss against the former in the past 7 months. Parisyan is said to be one of the top in his class and Burkman showed some heart during their UFC 71 undercard bout. While Mike Swick is 10-2, his wins are mostly from smaller organizations. This one is 50/50 in my eyes.

Lesnar -205 Mir +165 - This one is my favorite. The WWE wrestler with one win is favored over UFC veteran, Frank Mir. This is where you can make some big bucks on the off chance that Lesnar can dominate a seasoned MMA fighter.