UFC 80. Newcastle Arena

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

Here is a true blue and unequivocal fact.

Newcastle people love a fight.

Here's another.

Newcastle people love Newcastle United and Kevin Keegan.

And one more.

Newcastle people love a drink.

These three things combined meant that on Saturday 19th January there were in excess of 90,000 truly pumped sports fans crowded into Newcastle town centre to watch the two hottest sporting events in the country. The return of King Kev to his rightful place as manager of United and just five hundred yards down the road the first visit of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to a UK venue outside of London.

The event was billed as "rapid fire" and it certainly lived up to the title. Four of the matches finished in less than 90 seconds of the first round. The very vocal Newcastle crowd had a well compiled fight card and a good number of quality fighters to cheer. They got upsets, knockouts, blood and brawls in abundance.

Eklund was mismatched with Sam Stout who proved to be a class above almost from the first bell.

Davis beat Liaudin in what was expected to be the fight of the night but turned out to be a real upset following a massive left hand from Davis that put the hotly tipped Liaudin to sleep.

Lambert lost to Gouveia after dominating every facet of the match in the first round. One opportunistic and heavy left hand put Lambert out in spectacular fashion causing the first real upset of the night.

Grove was well beaten by Rivera, never looking as if he was in the fight and taking huge punishment... again the final shot before the ref called it was a BIG left hand. Another surprise to the many who thought Grove would have too much for the vetran Rivera.

Gonzaga v Werdum was pretty even in the first round with the edge going to Gonzaga in the early exchanges. Both looked tired in the second and again I have to question the heart of Gonzaga who when rocked looked like he simply didn't want to compete when the real pressure was on. Werdum took an advantage on the ground and capitalised but Gonzaga simply stopped defending himself causing the ref to call a halt. Not the for the first time has Gonzaga looked adverse to mixing it up when the going gets tough.

The main event was peach. Penn v Stevenson. Straight from the onset Penn dominated with a massive right and uppercut combination that dropped Stevenson brought the crowd to its feet. A strong exchange with Stevenson on the ground was ended with one of the best elbows I have ever seen delivered. With perfect timing Stevenson was sliced wide open near the end of the first round.
The large screens in the arena focused on Stevenson's cut and it was obvious that he was going to be in trouble in the second round. Deep and nasty there wasn't a great deal his crew could do to stem the bloodflow before he was called out for the second round. All respect to Stevenson he came out to fight in the second and the early exchanges were pretty evenly matched. The cut was like a geyser by this point so the bout was stopped for a doctor check.

That was the tipping point. Following the check Penn seemed to really sense the end was near and Stevenson really didn't have a chance to get back into the round. Another uppercut and right combination from Penn dropped Stevenson and after dropping blows into his opponent from the mount he transitioned to the rear naked choke with very smooth skills. No doubt about it Penn is the complete package.

Some smack talk between Penn and Sherk (who will meet in may) rounded out the night and I went out to shake some hands and get pics with Michael Bisping and Sam Stout. A solid and exciting fight card well delivered with the usual professionalism of the UFC. Say what you like about Dana White but the man knows how to put a show on. the 10,000 people in attendance had a great night of entertainment and all being well we will see the UFC back in Newcastle again soon.

As a side note... the best fight of the night wasn't on the main card Paul Kelly v Paul Taylor with Kelly (who fights out of Bispings gym the Wolfslair) taking a hotly contested decision. A real knock down drag out brawl that had Dana White naming it the fight of the night.

So.. out we trudged into a cold night where we observed what was probably the best fight of the night (certainly the most violent) in the arena car-park. Well like I said above.. Newcastle people like to drink and they like to fight. Very Happy

Subject: Re: UFC 80. Newcastle Arena Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:02 pm

Hi Chris,
You're right, it was a crackin' show!

Marcus Davis is on fire! I believe the commentators said it was 11 wins in a row for him. I really like the guy especially since he comes from a boxing background. It really nice to see someone adapt and do well from a striking foundation. Most of the high level MMA guys have a wrestling/grappling background.

The Taylor vs Kelly fight was a really good one! I was very impressed with Taylor's stand-up skills but he needs to work on his clinch and ground skills to compliment them. Kelly, for his part, did the smart thing and take the fight to the ground.

What about BJ? Very impressive performance. Now that he's taking the sport and his training seriously, I don't see anyone on the horizon beating him, including Sherk and possibly St Pierre (who is my current fav along with Anderson Silva) if he keeps this dedication and commitment up.

The next UFC is Feb 2nd. I'm really intrigued by the Lesnar vs Mir fight. Let's see if all the hype about Lesnar is true. I watched Lesnar's first fight for K-1 and it was such a quick blowout that it didn't really showcase the extent of his MMA skills. There's a part of me hoping Lesnar is the real deal as this sets up some very intriguing match-ups. On the other hand, I like Mir too and it would be cool to see him make his way back completely from the devastating motorcycle accident which almost ended his career. This fight will be a stern test for both men.

Anyway, take care and thanks for the great review.

Best Regards,
Lito
_________________
The essence of true love is purposeful effort.

True happiness is attained through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

Winners take chances and perceive pressure as a privilege.

Whatever you believe, it's true.

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

Hey Lito,

I was tremendously impressed with Penn. Without doubt he'll beat Sherk in May and then it's anyone's guess where he will go. The only problem I see him facing is finding opponents that are of his calibre. St Pierre would be the only sensible match but I'd still give the edge to Penn. (and I'm a BIG St Pierre fan as well.. I think he encapsulates what's great about the sport and little of the bad)

The only thing I see as a problem for the UFC is their schedule. No sooner as one event is over you are looking straight into the face of the next. That means we are seeing cards where Mir and Lesnar (which will definitely be an interesting fight) are the main event. (I predict that Nog and Sylvia will be a stinker) Really they should be a support bout to more established world title contenders at the least. They are still putting out good cards but the quality is less than it needs to be and smells to me a little too much of greed over quality at times. I mean this fight night followed by UFC card followed by TUF series twice a year is packing out the market.

Having such a monopoly on the best fighters and such control over promotion (in fact being the ONLY top level promotion in town) is starting to cause problems with quality control I think.

just me moaning though.. all in all it was a great night and I thoroughly enjoyed myself as did the friends I had with me.

Hey mate, we'll have to hit one of these beauties together one day Very Happy

all the best to the family.

Chris

Subject: Re: UFC 80. Newcastle Arena Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:55 am

Hi Chris,
You said:

Joined : 24 Oct 2007 Posts : 56

I really like Penn.
I'm also interested to see what Lesnar gra can do. He obviously has good grappling skills. If he's well rounded, then he will be tough to beat.

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

I thought Lesnar was unlucky to be honest. He was caught out by a lack of experience against a very cagey (pun intended!) veteran fighter. No shame in that and I feel his next fight will be decisive. If he loses again then he is finished in the UFC... if he wins then its onwards and upwards.

Being honest I think the Heavyweight scene in the UFC is the weakest it has been for years and now is the time for someone like Lesnar to go on a tear up the rankings in those exciting fights. Is he good enough to handle the top five or ten heavyweights at the moment then I would say no but with some fights under his belt who knows. If he had been a little more reserved against Mir and no so gung-ho then I think his power would ultimately have been too much for young Frank to live with. You live and learn.