UFC 80: "Rapid Fire" Results
by Robert Sargent
What looked like a mediocre card on paper turned into a solid night of action, with only two fights going to the judges and "The Prodigy" BJ Penn battering and bloodying Joe "Daddy" Stevenson to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion.
In a heavyweight battle, Fabricio Werdum defeated Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO for the second time, ending Gonzaga's future title hopes.
UFC Lightweight Championship
"The Prodigy" BJ Penn vs Joe "Daddy" Stevenson
As expected, Stevenson was simply overmatched in this fight, with Penn controlling the pace and position, and badly bloodying Stevenson in the first round.Penn dropped Stevenson with two quick punches to open the first round, and immediately began striking from top position as he worked to half-guard. Penn continued to land small strikes from the top for the next minute, then pushed Stevenson up against the fence and briefly stood up. Penn took Stevenson's back on the ground for a second, then transitioned into mount. Stevenson tried to stand up, but received a number of punches for his troubles, and Penn secured mount once again. Stevenson struck gamely from bottom position, but an elbow strike from Penn with just over 30 seconds left in the round opened up a faucet of a cut on Stevenson's forehead. Blood gushed from Stevenson's forehead, getting into both eyes, as the round ended.
The fight was allowed to continue after the break between rounds one and two, and Stevenson came out like a shot, looking desperate to finish the fight quickly as his head continued to pour out blood. Stevenson landed a solid elbow strike on the feet, with Penn counterstriking. The fight was briefly halted to check the cut on Stevenson's head with three minutes left in the round, but action was allowed to continue. A series of strikes from Penn dropped Stevenson, and Penn worked into mount and rained down strikes from the top for the next minute. Penn took Stevenson's back with just over one minute left in the round, trapped one arm with his legs and sunk in a rear naked choke, forcing a tapout.
Penn becomes only the second man, after Randy "The Natural" Couture, to be a UFC champion in two different weight classes. After the fight, Penn trash-talked Sean Sherk, who came into the ring. The two will fight in the near future.
Winner: BJ Penn by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:02 of round two to become UFC Lightweight Champion.
Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum vs Gabriel "Napćo" Gonzaga
Although Gonzaga dominated much of the first round, the result of this bout would be the same as when the two first met in 2003, with Werdum scoring another TKO victory after Gonzaga gassed once again.The fighters circled each other for the first 20 seconds, before Gonzaga took Werdum to the ground. From half-guard, Gonzaga landed a few strikes from the top, but Werdum kept Gonzaga from dealing any damage. The fight went back to the feet with three minutes remaining in the round and Gonzaga began unleashing a series of brutal leg kicks, two of which knocked Werdum to the ground. Gonzaga went for a body kick with just over 90 seconds remaining, but Werdum caught the leg and took Gonzaga down. Werdum moved to half-guard, but was unable to do much damage from the top, aside from a few elbow strikes, and the round ended soon after.
Round two began with Werdum hitting a grazing front kick and a series of subsequent punches. He shot in for a takedown, but Gonzaga stuffed it and the fight returned to the feet. A brief striking exchange ended with Gonzaga returning to leg kicks, but Werdum continued to land punches soon after. Werdum attempted a body kick, but Gonzaga caught it. Another caught kick attempt led to Gonzaga pushing Werdum to the floor.
With two minutes left, Werdum landed a series of knees to the jaw of Gonzaga, then pushed him against the cage. Gonzaga looked tired as Werdum continued to pour on the pressure with kicks, punches and knees. Werdum then used a guillotine choke to take Gonzaga down, landed a knee and began punching Gonzaga's face repeatedly. Though Gonzaga blocked many of the initial shots, he was soon no longer defending himself or trying to escape, and the fight was stopped with 25 seconds left in the round. The loss effectively ends the hype machine behind Gonzaga, who drops out of the top 10 at heavyweight entirely.
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by TKO (Strikes) at 4:35 of round two to move to 2-0 against Gonzaga.
"The Irish Hand Grenade" Marcus Davis vs Jess "The Joker" Liaudin
Davis was angry coming into the fight, after Liaudin referred to Davis as a "fake Irishman" and cited the lack of Irish ancentry in Davis's family. Davis got his revenge, however, with an early first-round KO victory.Liaudin began the fight with a series of kicks to the body and lead leg of Davis, but Davis replied with a body kick and hit Liaudin with a hard left hook soon after that knocked Liaudin out. The fight was quickly stopped, and Liaudin was clearly unaware of his surroundings for a minute after.
Winner: Marcus Davis by KO (Punch) at 1:05 of round one.
Wilson Gouveia vs Jason "The Punisher" Lambert
Gouveia was badly outmatched in size in this battle, but came back from a poor first round to knock Lambert out early in the second.Lambert immediately pushed the pace to begin the first round, with Gouveia circling and evading strikes. Gouveia locked in a guillotine choke and took Lambert down, but Lambert escaped and began landing strikes from the top. Lambert continued to strike for the next minute and a half, but Gouveia pushed off and got back to his feet with two and a half minutes remaining. Gouveia tried for another guillotine, but Lambert escaped and began striking from the top once again. Gouveia locked in a triangle choke, but Lambert powerbombed out of it and escaped an omoplata attempt immediately after. Lambert continued to land weak strikes from the top for the remainder of round one.
Lambert landed a body kick and a punch to begin the second round, with Gouveia countering with a punch of his own. Lambert pressed Gouveia up against the cage and landed a series of small left hooks to the face and a knee. Gouveia defended, then countered a punch from Lambert with a right and a hard left hook that knocked Lambert out.
Winner: Wilson Gouveia by KO (Punch) at 0:37 of round two. Lambert's projected run for title contention comes to an end at the hands of Gouveia.
Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera vs Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove
Rivera has long been one of the most inconsistent fighters in the UFC, but he made an impact in his fight with Grove by completely dominating the Hawaiian and knocking him out early in the first round.Rivera landed an early punch and took Grove down. From half-guard, Rivera landed elbows and other strikes. After a series of hard rights from Rivera, Grove tried to stand up. Rivera continued to pour on the punishment, landing right hand after right hand, then finished Grove off with a brutal left cross.
Winner: Jorge Rivera by KO (Punch) at 1:20 of round one and gets his career back on-track, at least for now.
Antoni Hardonk vs Colin "Big C" Robinson
After two poor performances, Hardonk rebounded by making very short work of Robinson.Hardonk opened the fight with a pair of stiff leg kicks, then dropped Robinson with a left straight. Robinson tried to get up, but staggered and the referee stopped the fight. The commentators initially thought that the leg kicks from Hardonk had blown out Robinson's knee, but it was the left straight that put Robinson on Dream Street.
Winner: Antoni Hardonk by TKO (Punch) at 0:17 of round one.
Paul "Tellys" Kelly vs "Relentless" Paul Taylor
This battle began with one of the most intense striking exchanges ever seen in the UFC, and the remainder of the fight was excellent as well.The first 20 seconds of round one saw both fighters trading rapid-fire (hence, the nickname of the event) punches, with Kelly eventually deciding that he'd had enough and clinching Taylor against the cage. Taylor reversed position and landed knees to the leg, but Kelly landed a knee and a few other strikes. Taylor replied with a punching combination of his own, then attempted a high kick. After another punching combination and head kick from Taylor, he locked in a guillotine on Kelly and took him down. Kelly escaped the choke and landed strikes from the top. The remaining two and a half minutes of the round saw Kelly maintain top position up against the cage, where he landed numerous punches and elbows.
The second round began with another striking exchange, and Taylor quickly took Kelly down. Taylor landed strikes from half-guard, but a failed transition to the back resulted in Kelly taking top position. With two minutes left in the round, Taylor went for a Kimura from the bottom, and almost got it, but Kelly managed to escape the submission attempt and continued to land strikes from the top. Taylor unsuccessfully tried for another Kimura with just under a minute remaining, but Kelly easily escaped and badly cut Taylor on the forehead with an elbow shortly before the bell.
In a show of respect, the fighters hugged briefly at the beginning of the third round, then immediately went back to punching each other in the face, with Kelly momentarily staggering Taylor with a punch and then taking him down. From side-control, Kelly landed a succession of four stiff elbows to the forehead and nose of Taylor. Back in guard, Kelly continued to land strikes from the top until the fight was stood back up with just under three minutes to go. A striking exchange ended when Kelly took Taylor down and punished him with ground and pound for the remainder of round three.
Winner: Paul Kelly by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds.
Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara vs James Lee
Sakara returned to the win column in this bout, as he defeated highly-touted James Lee after Lee's back went out during an early takedown attempt.Lee went for a single-leg takedown early on, then pressed Sakara against the cage and got him down soon after. However, Sakara managed to squirm free, and Lee stood up with a look of obvious pain on his face. Lee went for another single-leg takedown, then a double, and briefly got Sakara down again. Sakara stood back up, worked to free his leg and began landing a series of punches to the side of Lee's head, forcing a stoppage.
Winner: Alessio Sakara by TKO (Referee Stoppage - Strikes & Injury) at 1:30 of round one.
Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout vs Per Eklund
This was the only fight which did not air on the event telecast, and with good reason. What could have easily been Fight of the Night turned into a slow and uneventful bout, with the crowd showering the cage with boos on multiple occasions.All three rounds were very similar, with Stout fighting off numerous takedown attempts by Eklund in the first, and landing punches throughout. The second round saw Eklund finally get Stout down, but Stout easily escaped a submission attempt and Eklund was clearly tired. Stout kept the fight standing in the third round, and Eklund was too fatigued to mount any sort of offence, leaving Stout as the victor in what was likely the least eventful fight of his career.
Winner: Sam Stout by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27) after three rounds.
Overall, this was a much better event for the UFC than initially expected.
Full credit must also be given to Mike Goldberg of the announce team, who, despite having a track record for very poor commentary, made numerous mentions throughout the night of fighters' records and title reigns in other, smaller promotions outside of the UFC - even going so far as to specifically name many of the promotions.
That sort of attitude, as opposed to pretending that no fights ever take place outside of the UFC, is a welcome change. 2008 is off to a good start.
