UFC 80 - Hey.. that was pretty good!

My first time waching UFC. BJ Penn put in a very good performance. What surprises me about these guys is that even those at the top are not undefeated, which is completely different to boxers records.

 

Also the number of fights, win or lose, is alot different than boxing: Joe's 36 to BJ's 17.

 

Overall this was a very entertaining card. It was much better than I thought it would be going into it.

A note about the Gonzaga fight: don't write him off too quickly as he was doing well in the first round against Werdum. In the second round, Werdum landed a solid knee to the point of Gonzaga's chin and eff'd him up pretty bad from there on out. He never recovered from that knee - and Werdum never gave him the chance to recover.

Props to Jorge Rivera for coming out and putting on a pitbull-like ass-whooping on Kendall Grove. Grove's game had all kinds of holes in it when Rivera pressured him. This was the most shocking and unexpected turn of the night.

BJ Penn dropped Stevenson with the first punch he threw. Stevenson was simply outclassed against Penn. Penn is a good candidate for the pound for pound rankings as he has several noteworthy victories in his career against Gomi, Renzo Gracie and his career defining win against Matt Huhges. However, his recent losses to heavier opposition hurt his standings at the moment.

Sean Sherk is no Joe Stevenson. Sherk is a machine that will make Penn work for every second of every round - and after yesterday Sherk looks pissed at Penn and wants to take his head off. I wish they could fight this week - but it will be a good one whenever it happens.

All in all, UFC 80 was a good card. Good fights and stoppages all through.

 

BJ is an animal, he licked Stevensons blood from his gloves, the guy is not normal.
After watching GSP utterly tool Hughes, I didn't think anyone would come along so quickly to put in question his P4P ranking.
BJ and GSP battle it out for the P4P numer 1 spot imo.

 

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Check out the photo on the right.....brutal!

 

Also....I'm so impressed how he passes the guard so easily, its astonishing, he passes peoples guards like its nothing, he just slips right through, and ends up mounted, his ground game has got to be the best in MMA.

His skillset is scary. I truly believe that he would give GSP a hell of a scare and possibly beat him.

 

to be honest with you i ought bj won their fight, id be the first to admit though i may be a bit biased cause im from hawaii, but thats still the toughest fight anyone gave gsp, other than the serra fight when he got clipped in the back of the head, which started his downfall (not trying to take anything away from serra but lets be honest)

 

Yeah, if someone scored it for BJ I wouldn't object, he tried to finish the fight alot more than GSP.

 

he clearly did not win that fight!

 

Maybe not under American rules, under good rules, BJ would have had his arms raised at the end!

 

and what are "good" rules?

 

I really want to see Hardonk matched up with someone like Kongo for a stand up battle. Hardonk has negative grappling ability, but his muay thai combos are off the hook.

 

Non-Unified rules.
The rules they use internationally, judging who inflicted the most damage and made the biggest attempt to finish the fight. (ie subs, striking)

The five point must system has no place in MMA and the unified rules gives credence to takedowns no matter how ineffective.

 

and the "damage" that was done to GSP was not as bad as it looked..he had a bloody nose from a jab and bled badly...but I agree with your takedown point.....that gives wrestlers like Jake O'brian a great shot at winning after he get's his takedown and then lays n prays....but at the same time take downs should be worth something.

The reason GSP couldn't do much once he had BJ down was because BJ nullified GSP...Most guys don't do anything once they get BJ down.

 

Well, you say the damage wasn't as bad as it looked but it did put GSP in the hospital and it was damage.

Imo, when two fighters are in the guard/on the bottom, that should be equal or a neutral position. Unfortunately, judges in the US seem to give points to who is on top. Takedowns should only be worth something if you use them to advance your position towards winning the fight, such as getting into half guard, side mount etc etc, if you take someone down and sit in their guard stalling for two rounds then that shouldn't mean anything.