UFC 80 Rapid Fire review

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the UFC event UFC 80 Rapid Fire, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

The main event of the evening features a lightweight championship bout for the division's belt that was held by Sean "the Muscle Shark" Sherk, but have been stripped of the now-former champion because of Sherk's involvement with steroids. Though the substance usage earned a suspension period for the Muscle Shark, during the evening of Rapid Fire he takes the position of premier challenger against the winner of the main event, now joining Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan at the commentator's booth.

The two contenders for the title are The Prodigy BJ Penn, and Joe Stevenson, winner of the second season of the Ultimate Fighter reality TV show. A talented, yet not necessarily as mature and complete of a fighter as BJ Penn is, the apparent intention of this line-up is to provoke the potentiality of a tremendous upset, as Stevenson's victory over the Little Buddha - that is who BJ reminds me of, you see - seems somewhat unlikely, especially considering that Penn is after the most rigorous and excessive training regime of his life.

Penn states that now his attitude and his determination are both of the professional quality, something you could not always tell of BJ's personal approach to mixed martial arts. His talents and his mere physical traits are so special indeed that he had a definite tendency to take these all for granted, not putting too much attention and time to improve via training, and funny thing is: he was very very good even with a somewhat slappy-lazy attitude he exhibited prior to his current, extremely integral stance both as a human being and as a fighter.

Remember UFC 63? He gave quite a hard time to Matt Hughes, reigning welterweight champion of the time in question, eventually getting overwhelmed by Hughes's massive physical strength and relentless ground and pound game. Still, BJ was pretty much outsmarting Matt in the first round through the stand up exchanges, eventually blowing his juice to near-zero levels though, posing little more treat to the staminamonster Matt than a semi-prepared nut against a very well prepared nutcracker. The defendant even offered some mockery comments for the audience and BJ, stating he was prepared to roll for five rounds here, and thought The Prodigy would also do the same.

Penn accounts this loss as a very important station in his career, a point where he did realize that either he takes this mixed martial arts business quite seriously and puts the effort and dedication to build a significant legacy for his name, or he might just as well walk away from competing on the professional level. Fortunately, BJ Penn choose the first option, and there is no doubt that the Penn we witness during the evening of Rapid Fire is the most mature and composed Penn we ever saw to date. As far as the Little Buddha is concerned, it is interesting to note that his success would offer a historic event for the UFC, as he would be the second warrior to ever hold titles in two different weight classes, the other being Randy "The Natural" Couture.

The opponent, Joe "Daddy" Stevenson possesses good takedown ability and promising submission skills, with an increasing willingness to wrap confrontations up via stand up. Similarly to Penn, he is after a very serious training period and looks very determined to claim the belt, though there is little if any doubt that he is a definite underdog of the upcoming championship bout.

What about Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga against Fabricio Werdum? Gonzaga already earned himself quite a reputation in the UFC. A black belt of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and possessor of a physical buildup enough to intimidate the hell out of Chewbacca, he is looking for avenge a loss he suffered against Werdum back in the days when they both competed in the Pride organization.

Gonzaga's UFC career holds two significant peak moments to date, the first being his astonishing KO victory upon one of my personal favorites, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic. You see, many claim that Mirko's punishment resistance is not particularly convincing, yet we are still free to say in my opinion that he deserves a fourth chance to prove himself in the octagon. Though without a doubt he had a rough transition, we should never forget that the Croatian Living Legend has as devastating power in his legs and in his fists as you could possibly get out of a homo sapiens, though his evident uninterest of training in the octagon environment before his UFC fights was a definite failure, yet also a failure he had to realize the hard way, we might suppose. I still remain a major fan of his nevertheless, and very much hope to see him shine in the octagon soon.

But now it is our time to credit the Gonzaga Monster big time herein for unleashing that blatant KO headkick on CroCop, earning him the right to compete against the heavyweight champion by the day, Randy " The Natural" Couture in UFC 74 - Respect.

Gonzaga was pretty good at that match, too. He landed quite massive bombs and elbows on Couture, whose skills to dodge attacks is second to none in my opinion, probably one of the most masterful persons on the planet to get out of the way of attacks unleashed, and this priceless skill set of him he demonstrates clearly in the match against Napao.

Eventually, an impressive takedown by Randy effectively crushed Gonzaga's nose via their head colliding in the process, in my opinion that was pretty much Randy's plan and intention, accomplished relentlessly and masterfully. The situation possesses somewhat of an irony, as well, since the English translation of Gonzaga's nickname, Napao, would read something like this: "Big Nose." Hm. Bleeding heavily, and forced to breath through the mouth due to both the crushed nose and the exhaustion, Couture eventually overwhelms Gonzaga and solidifies his position as champion with a convincing, successful title defense. Side note, in the form of one quite appealing notion of Matt Hughes:

To be a True Champion, you do not just EARN the title. You DEFEND it, too.

Nevertheless, Gonzaga remains a significant factor and a serious force to reckon with in the heavyweight division, on the other hand, Fabricio Werdum is a fresh addition to the UFC rankings, and as we mentioned earlier, he is also a fighter who owns a victory upon the Napao Monster.

Werdum's UFC debut was against Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski, they basically delivered a kickboxing match of a slightly above-average excitement factor, with a deserved decision going to The Pitbull. While it is understandable that Arlovski played a game of safety because of his two loss against Tim Sylvia, - of whom upon The Pitbull owns a victory as well, completing this particular trilogy - Werdum's debut was not as impressive as many anticipated it to be, even Fabricio himself offered a statement before the Gonzaga match that he was about 70% in the Arlovski fight, and now he is 100%, being totally prepared to deliver a superb performance for the fans. We are certainly looking forward to it, eager to see if Gonzaga is capable to avenge his loss, or if Werdum is able to emphasize his current superiority as a mixed martial arts fighter over the Napao.

Kendall Grove vs Jorge Rivera

Two faces that are probably most familiar these days via the Ultimate Fighter reality TV show, are confronting each other to start out the night. Kendall Grove is the winner of the third season of the show in question, while Jorge Rivera is a veteran of the sport who had his dramatic moments on both the bright and the dark side of the business, now both men looking for establish a more fruity position for themselves in the rankings. This match seems to boil down to second-nature experience, probably something one earns through years and years of professional level competition, and something that only Rivera possesses by the time of this particular bout. The result is a quite quick and quite impressive fence assault by Jorge, landing a left jab that is enough to offer a temporal timeout to Kendall, who definitely remains a fighter of promising perspectives, though tonight he suffers a defeat to build important, probably much needed conclusions and recognitions on. A nice, brief KO to Rivera to start the night up.

Jason Lambert vs Wilson Gouveia

Jason "The Punisher" Lambert offered quite an upset when he KO-d highly ranked fighter Renato "Babalu" Sobral in UFC 68 Uprising. Lambert is an excellent wrestler with brutal ground and pound potential, and his stand up game exhibits definite perspectives of further improvement, too. His confidence have been boosted big, big time via the destruction of such a skilled fighter as Babalu, who effectively ran into the crushing left hand of The Punisher.

Wilson Gouveia is a relatively new face in the UFC, first appearing in the organization's ranking as a contender in The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 Finale, where he produces a quite intense match with Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine, losing a decision. As Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt and promising striker, Gouveia is looking to make a statement by taking out a warrior of massively boosted confidence and a refined skill set, all these attributes possessed by The Punisher.

As this match clearly states, confidence can be everything: Lambert dominates pretty much every aspect of the fight from the first moment on: maintains initiative and remains evident agressor of the unfolding battle. Gouveia though is skilled and prepared enough to avoid serious punishment, intelligently and smartly stopping Lambert from delivering KO power or exploiting submission possibilities.

The Punisher comes out guns blazing in the second run, throwing bombs at Gouveia whom he forces quickly to the fence. As this match clearly states though, high-end confidence also might betray its possessor. Noticing and exploiting the holes unfolding in The Punisher's defense via the reckless attacks, Gouveia delivers a left hand that is truly built upon pure logic and common sense, thereby possessing power enough to put a quick end to The Punisher's rampant assault this time around. An impressive comeback, no doubt, better yet: we not necessarily need to regard it as comeback in the usual context of the word, as Gouveia wasn't really caught or hurt in the bout, he simply exhibited much less aggressiveness than his opponent, eventually leading Lambert to reckless attacks that Gouveia could form a countering opportunity of stopping power on. Quite memorable bout, looking forward to see these warriors again, I would definitely welcome a rematch between them, as well.

Jess Liaudin vs Marcus Davis

Now how about a match that ends by 1:04 in the first round due to an extremely weird and evidently very effective punch to the neck by Marcus "The Irish Handgrenade" Davis? This is all boiling down to anatomy in my opinion, if one tries to utilize even a slight pressure to the side of the neck, the effect is very discomforting. Imagine a huge hit to this region, or "better" yet, check out this match where Liaudin goes down superstiff, no doubt that the mere operational process of his nervous system was temporarily affected due to this punch. Fortunately, he recovers and walks out of the octagon on his own legs, yet the effect of this somewhat accidental hit - I don't think Marcus was aiming the side of the neck - is as dramatic as we ever saw this year to this point. (This is probably very safe to say by the end of January, you see.)

The match itself held potential to go to both interesting waters and to the distance though, Liaudin looking quite all right with his kicks to soften up The Irish Handgrenade, who is though reigns superior this time around via delivering one of the most crude punches in UFC history. Credit for him for a job done as effectively as one could imagine in this sport. Marcus Davis remains a fighter we want to see again, no doubt.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Fabricio Werdum

In this here co-main event of the evening, the Napao Monster Gabriel Gonzaga was extremely convincing during a feeling out process quickly sent off to remembrance by furious legkicks landing on Fabricio's corresponding limbs. The power of impacts were such indeed that Werdum looked effectively helpless against these attacks, catching the floor on multiple occasions. What seemed as a weapon of destruction possessed by the Napao Monster, had to be dealt with by Werdum if to survive. In the second round, Fabricio wisely chooses not to offer the chance for Gonzaga to unleash those devastating legkicks again, instead he invites Gabriel to close combat, definitely gaining an upper hand this time around in the toe to toe stand up. Werdum eventually utilizes a Muay Thai Clinch tight enough to deliver brutal knees from, a quite impressive amount of those Napao eats in before being forced to the fence, and eventually getting taken down. By that time the knees claimed their tolls on the Napao Monster, and the bout comes to a conclusion with Werdum methodically punching out a well earned victory on an exhausted Gonzaga.

Werdum certainly was more convincing this time, though I have to admit it seemed to me that he was absolutely dominated by the legkicks Gonzaga delivered in the early period of the confrontation. The story of the match in my opinion boiled down to both fighters possessing a weapon the other one was helpless against, Werdum being the one to more relentlessly and effectively using his own by the night of the Rapid Fire. Though he deserves all credit for defeating Gonzaga once more, I have the impression that both fighters are ready to be even better warriors than they already are, and though the chances are quite scarce to see them compete against each other anytime soon, I hope to see them roll again while their both arrive to the next level I suspect they will soon achieve as mixed martial artists.

Mind you, I build my assumption that they have potential to improve even further purely on a personal notion that both fighter had moments where they seemed effectively helpless against the conquering attack method utilized, see Gonzaga's brutal legkicks and Werdum's similarly lethal clinch. A nice match without a doubt, though also a match that could easily tolerate a second UFC bout, but chances are probably shallow for this with Werdum proving himself against Gonzaga the second time now. Looking forward to see both of these great fighters again, hopefully in the possession of fresh skill sets solidified upon the individual recognitions of this particular encounter.

BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson

The Little Buddha was a monster this night, outclassing even a greatly prepared Stevenson by the exceptional degree of the trademark adaptability Penn is already famous and recognized of. Though Stevenson puts up one decent of a fight, the mere notion that as of today they are not playing the same game, crystallizes clearly. With ease, Penn takes the fight to the ground in the first round, and maintains upper position with an iron fist. An elbow then is unleashed on Stevenson, the impact is little, yet the effectiveness is as lethal as textbooks could possibly tell us of, opening a cut on Stevenson's head that bleeds very heavily, and probably would lead to a doctor stoppage if the round had not come to its conclusion.

That it did, though, giving the chance to Joe's corner to patch him up for the second round, and he comes out superaggressive, evidently afraid of the doctor stoppage that is lurking in the air, with an increasing chance of its very arrival by every shot that BJ lands on Joe. The Little Buddha accepts the invitation for a toe to toe period, then yet again decides to wage this war on the ground, and turns the encounter into a bloody ground and pound punishment feast that would probably catch the interest of Vampire Lestat, even. Once the viewer is in the hardest possible position to decide to feel sorry for Stevenson or admire his determination, BJ is eventually capable to soak an arm in and utilize a textbook Rear Naked Choke that would be more than enough to put everyone to sleep, forcing Joe to tapout.

BJ Penn claims the lightweight title, and makes pretty much evident that he has not much intention to lose it anytime soon, by stating:

"Sean Sherk - you're DEAD!"

Could one possibly wish for more intense of an instant introductory segment of the upcoming match between Sherk and Penn? I think not. This statement was as radical and "strict" as I ever heard from a fighter to this day, and certainly surprised me, especially from Penn who seems to be a very calm individual when not in the octagon, though I am aware that he had a massive affair after hitting a police officer of whom he did not know that was a police officer. I am hoping to assume correctly that he calmed down after the rigorous training regime, and heck, such a radical statement is the part of the business, part of the show. Was it rude? I think, yes. Was it a bad thing to do? I think it was the most effective sentence to offer to ensure that no mma fan will miss the encounter, so the Little Buddha definitely and ruthlessly established himself as the champion even from a marketing point of view.

Right after BJ left the octagon, Sean Sherk walked to the proving ground to state his thoughts, his words though accompanied by intense BOO!-ing by the Newcastle crowd. Well, as the hearsay tells: the Brits love a good fight. And I can't help but assume they don't like a fighter to rely on steroids. This is an understandable stance to represent, yet I think we will all come to peace eventually with Sherk's steroid usage, having his suspension time served, and definitely being THE fighter you want to see against BJ Penn. Sean stated he has no respect for BJ, - understandable, after what the champion just publicly addressed to him - but BJ walked back to the octagon and maturely offered a handshake to the former champion, a handshake that was accepted. The moment posed an interesting quality though, since one could see that Sherk was so pissed that he would have been ready to start a fight right there in casual outfit in case BJ would exhibit the extremely hostile social stance he offered quite a big glimpse of prior to Sherk's arrival. BJ tells something like "Hey, we'll have a cool fight, ok? See you!" and leaves, yet the mood and anticipation for the bout between the two is established by the strongest possible terms, though ink yet to be dried on Penn's official status as UFC Lightweight Champion. A very interesting battle we are looking forward to, Sean being a fighter with incredible stamina and a yet-to-be-matched readyness to overwhelm his opponents in the division, while the most frequently cited criticism of BJ Penn is his mere stamina. The Little Buddha definitely had a tendency to gas out, his match against The Muscle Shark might deliver answers whether he could improve significantly in this regard.

James Lee vs Alessio Sakara

This is the bout of the evening during you could go out to satisfy any of the needs that might have grown upon you, be that an urge for popcorn consumption or a visit to a place even Kings tend to just walk to. What you miss is this: Alessio Sakara punching a victory out of a quite convincing Telly Savalas-look-alike, though Kojak tends to handle dire situations like this in a way more effective manner. James Lee nevertheless relentlessly sticks to the left leg of the Legionarius, and does not mind being pulled all over the outline of the fence, like a rude puppy to the sleeve of the trouser, he remains stuck, and remains stuck. The Legionarius then realizes that if he would cease to jump around and would start landing punches on the back of the head of James Lee, then he could go home a winner. And so he does. And by the time he walks out of the octagon, you do have your fresh bucket of popcorn, as well. Nice, yes?

Antoni Hardonk vs Colin Robinson

A.K.A. The Revenge of The Legkicks. Gonzaga summoned the Spirit of All Legkicks to the octagon this night, so Antoni Hardonk unleashes them, disposing quickly of Colin Robinson, whose assaulted left leg temporarily loses all capacity to support this big man, falling from a jab that Hardonk delivers in a quite classy manner, rendering Robinson unable to re-assamble to stand up position due to the massively punished left leg. Referee Mario Yamasake swiftly puts an end to the contest, what at first might seem as a controversial decision is a decision on the strongest possible merits in my opinion, as Robinson was definitely out of the game, recovering helplessly for a looong, long, vital moment in which he could be easily assaulted and being finished off by Hardonk, granted Yamasake would chose not to interfere and put an end to the bout. He probably saved Robinson from excessive and unnecessary damage, as Goldberg and Rogan correctly agreed on. Hardonk is a heavyweight of impressive buildup and composure, it would be nice seeing his skills measured to prominent representatives of the division, like Tim Sylvia or Cheik Congo to name just two right away.

Paul Kelly vs Paul Taylor

The Brits love a good fight indeed, and they are damn pretty good at offering one, as well. Two English Gentlemen deliver the most intense startup period you could possibly imagine, a torrent of furious yet conscious punches we witness, even better, this exceptionally swift and intensive pace dictated and maintained by the two warriors consorts with continuous awareness of what exactly is happening, therefore they not just punch away senselessly with sear hopes of connecting, rather they wage a tactical war with relentless speed and intensity, a toe to toe fury that is seemingly has no intention whatsoever to stop.

Possibly one of the most impressive starting period of UFC history. The match concludes through Kelly's ground domination, as the takedowns and the upper position are both easily claimed by him in the latter portion of the bout, eventually grinding up pretty much all the resistance Taylor is yet does have a chance to offer. Taylor is a very good fighter who needs seeeerious, serious work on his ground skills if to remain in the sport, and we are damn better hope he will improve this particular aspect of his game, since his stand up is brilliant, even as of today. Kelly's readiness to go toe to toe with Taylor shows clearly that the Brits do pose forces you must count with in the UFC.

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All in all, a great fight card and a great evening, delivering quite a few memorable moments. Hope you had a fine evening and found the review useful - thank you for reading it, and see you next time.

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