UFC 80

[Tom O'Brien]

My past record has not been great. If I were a betting man I'd probably be losing right now but here goes nothing:
Sat 19/01/08
18:00 Metro Radio Arena Newcastle Upon Tyne, GB
UFC 80

Also on PPV

Card:

B.J. Penn v Joe Stevenson - BJ
Gabriel Gonzaga v Fabricio Werdum - Gonzaga
Jess Liaudin v Marcus Davis - Davis
Wilson Gouveia v Jason Lambert - Jason
Jorge Rivera v Kendall Grove - Kendall
Antoni Hardonk v Colin Robinson - Hardonk
Paul Kelly v Paul Taylor - Kelly
James Lee v Alessio Sakara - Sakara
Per Eklund v Sam Stout - Eklund

Thanks,
Tom

[duderanch182]

I will just comment on the fighters I know who I know and think will win

BJ Penn
Gonzaga
Marcus Davis
Gouveia
Grove

The Penn vs Stevenson fight will be interesting as they are both very good fighters and great a Jujitsu and can see Penn with the slight advantage.

The Kendall Grove fight is nothing more than to get a win for Grove and back on track to move up in the ranks.

[Patrick_baji]

werdum might give gonzaga a run for his money, I saw his fight with minotauro a while back and he looked pretty decent

[Sever]

There are only two fights I'm really interested in for this one - Penn/ Stevenson and Gonzaga/ Werdum. As much potential and skill as I think Stevenson has, I think Penn's taking the belt home with him. He has to keep his cardio up to scratch in order to get his tubby arse down to 155, so his conditioning shouldn't be a problem, in which case, Penn simply eclipses Stevenson in every aspect of the game
Werdum already holds a win over Gonzaga and considering some of the fights he's put on (the snoozefest against Arlovskin notwithstanding), I think he's got the tools to do it again. Gonzaga's got the power to KO him, and very good BJJ as well, so it could be a different fight this time

[Davey Bones]

B.J. Penn v Joe Stevenson - Penn
Gabriel Gonzaga v Fabricio Werdum - Gonzaga
Jorge Rivera v Kendall Grove - Rivera
James Lee v Alessio Sakara - Sakara

These are my picks for the fights I'm interested in. Penn is known as "the prodigy" for a reason, and I don't see Stevenson beating him. Plus if Sherk is acquitted and comes back, Penn should be able to give him a run for the money.

Werdum didn;t impress me against Arlovski. Gonzaga has a few good UFC fights under his belt, even if he lot to Randy. I'll pick Gonzaga.

Rivera's tough. Hopefully he'll do better than TUF showed.

Sakara is my boy just because we're both Italian. Ok, I think he;s an excellent fighter as well. But I'm going with the fellow paisan!

[Davey Bones]

Well, who want to talk about the fights last night. Certainly interesting in terms of the fact that only one went the distance... lots of tap outs and TKOs. We were wondering how many fights were gonna get shown with how few rounds there were!

[narcsarge]

Spoiler tags please!

I didn't get a chance to watch so I don't care but someone else might! :love:

[Pacificshore]

Spoiler tags please!

I didn't get a chance to watch so I don't care but someone else might! :love:
:eek: You haven't seen it yet??

[narcsarge]

No Pac I haven't. :(


I had to be up @ 4:30am to get to work by 6am. I need my beauty rest.


(I could sleep for a year and it wouldn't help though)

[Pacificshore]

No Pac I haven't. :(


I had to be up @ 4:30am to get to work by 6am. I need my beauty rest.


(I could sleep for a year and it wouldn't help though)
I use to have to be up at the same time, now I'm up at that ungodly hour...GRRRR!!! Oops, wrong thread :p

[narcsarge]

As you may recall, just a few months back I was working 12:00am to 8:30am. Now, 4/10hr shifts from 6:00am to 4:30 pm. I like the extra day off and more time to rest and train.

Depending on my schedule (I usually have to work Sunday) I can catch the UFC fights on cable but the PPV always happen on Saturdays! :cry:

[nicolethai1]

Can someone please give me a run through of what happened (esp BJ v Joe Stevenson)?

Had the in-laws staying last night and completely forgot it was being shown on Sat rather than Sun night as is normal here, so I didn't record it. :bang:

I checked Setanta's schedule for the next week and it doesn't look like they're going to repeat it either!

Unless anyone has a link to where I can watch the fights online?

Thank you!!!!

[Brian R. VanCis]

Can someone please give me a run through of what happened (esp BJ v Joe Stevenson)?

Had the in-laws staying last night and completely forgot it was being shown on Sat rather than Sun night as is normal here, so I didn't record it. :bang:

I checked Setanta's schedule for the next week and it doesn't look like they're going to repeat it either!

Unless anyone has a link to where I can watch the fights online?

Thank you!!!!

Okay here is the BJ Penn vs. Stevenson Fight at Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7P9tGp6P0Y
I do not know how long that will be up.

Post fight interview:
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=MultiMedia.Detail&gid=9672

[Pacificshore]

Outstanding fight is all I can say ;)

[nicolethai1]

Cheers Brian! BJ/Stevenson fight is still on there, and here's Gonzaga/Werdum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHsOZJXQwbU

Great fights.

[narcsarge]

Well that was a disappoinment. Everything going so well and then it was like he forgot to pay his electric bill...

:(

[nicolethai1]

nice to see some kicks for a change though

[nready]

Cheers Brian! BJ/Stevenson fight is still on there, and here's Gonzaga/Werdum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHsOZJXQwbU

Great fights.Werdum fought this time. Man that first fight he was like a limp fish...

Gonzaga/Werdum looked like the best fight of that night. Next person that fights Werdum will use allot of leg kicks.

[Brian R. VanCis]

You have to love the internet because even if you miss a fight it is out there somewhere to view. :D

[Brian R. VanCis]

Werdum fought this time. Man that first fight he was like a limp fish...

Gonzaga/Werdum looked like the best fight of that night. Next person that fights Werdum will use allot of leg kicks.

Absolutely!

[narcsarge]

nice to see some kicks for a change though

Oh and it was a clinic. Who knew that he had that in his repitoire?

[nicolethai1]

Oh and it was a clinic. Who knew that he had that in his repitoire?

He's been training with Chute Boxe and they're a great camp...

[narcsarge]

He's been training with Chute Boxe and they're a great camp...


I knew he had great kicks fron his last fight. I just was amaze at the power he had behind them. Out of all UFC/Pride fights I have watched, the kicks to the legs in this one are beautiful.

[nicolethai1]

Yep, either Gonzaga got floored or visibly buckled every time. I loved to watch that, the kicks in UFC are usually only half-committed or they don't get the right torque to give much power. Werdum last night could actually be compared with some decent Muay Thai/K1 fights.

[callsignfuzzy]

Werdum I thought had been training at Chute Boxe, but it was Gonzaga who was flooring him with the leg kicks... :confused:

[Tom O'Brien]

Oh well - I was 5 for 9 on that one. I was surprised that Gozaga lost.

Thanks,
Tom

[nready]

You know what, I have always noticed watching BJJ Penn fights! That it seems to make me more aware of the ground fighting and fighting, it is like he is teaching even when he is fighting. Anyone else notice that?(not that i am his student)Just he seems to teach.

His moves even when fast are so precise.

[duderanch182]

3/5 is not bad

Grove losing 2 in a row is not good and I really do not see him as a contender any more, if he cannot cope with strikes from Rivera or Cote how the hell would he have a chance against Anderson Silva.

Marcus Davis needs to face some good competition now to see if he is ready for a title shot, I would like to see him face Parisyan, Jon Fitch or Koscheck.

Gonzaga started so well and those leg kicks where amazing but what happened to him :confused: It seemed like he gassed. Werdum did well and look forward to seeing him again in the future.

BJ Penn did what I expected but was a little annoyed with Stevenson as he looked so bad at striking that he was never able to do what he wanted. I would like to see Sherk and Penn fight as that would be good and a real test to see if Penn has got cardio these days.

Not a bad show overall.