UFC 80 Rapid Fire took place at the Metro Radio Arena in England. The main event was a fight for the vacant UFC lightweight title between BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson with the oddsmakers at BodogLife.com favoring Penn. BJ Penn once again showed his dominance as a lightweight as he picked apart Joe Stevenson’s fight game before he was able to submit him at 4:02 or the second round. This fight paves way for a fight between BJ Penn and the former champ Sean Sherk. Sherk was stripped of his title after he tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Also on the fight card, two Brazilian heavyweights, Fabricio Werdum Gabriel Gonzaga faced off against each other. Both fighters, who are on losing streaks needed to prove that they still belong in the UFC heavyweight title picture. Werdum lost a three round boring fight versus Andrei Arlovski and Gonzaga was picked apart by Randy Couture.
The two fought once before and the result mimicked the result at UFC 80; with a knockout. Werdum showed his experience and better striking abilities, as he was able to pick apart Gonzaga’s fight game. This is the second fight in a row that Gonzaga has put on a disappointing performance. Werdum was finally about to knock out Gonzaga at 4:34 of the second round. Werdum looked like the fighter everyone expected, disproving critics that he is not a top ten heavyweight in the world.
Also on the UFC 80 main card, the Irish Hand Grenade Marcus Davis easily dispatched of Jess Liaudin. Davis showed superior stand up and boxing skills to KO Liaudin at 1:04 of the first round. Davis not exerts himself as a top 170 pound fighter as his skills as a mixed martial fighter are drastically improving day by day.
Also winning on the night were Wilson Gouveia, Jorge Rivera, Antoni Hardonk, Paul Kelly, Alessio Sakara and Sam Stout.
Up next is UFC 81 that will be held on February 2, 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Events in Las Vegas, Nevada.
