Fighters Only

Issue 035

March 2008

Metro Radio Arena,

Newcastle, England

January 19^th 2008

January in the North of England is a wet and cold place, but the energy inside the Metro Radio Arena was more than enough to compensate. Over 8000 fans were packed into the small arena, and while questions were asked why a larger venue befitting the lightweight championship main event wasn’t used, UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik answered them when he described how up to a quarter of tickets for previous UK events had been bought by fans living in this region. The UFC wanted to give something back to them, and they brought a big show to a small city, and what a show it was.

BJ blows away Stevenson

If you’re putting together a list of pound-for-pound greatest fighters in the world, to omit BJ Penn from the top three would be a crime against humanity. His complete and utter dominance over game opponent Joe Stevenson was nothing short of awe-inspiring, and his capture of the lightweight title a moment that wrote him into history books (again).

In a fight that lasted just over four minutes into the second round, Penn obliterated Stevenson in every range. He dropped Joe in the opening exchange, a glimpse of what was to come. Once on the floor, Stevenson was slowly drowning in quicksand. Penn was all over him, moving from the back to the mount, and every time Stevenson seemed to improve his lot coming close to regaining guard, Penn would make him pay with punches.

The defining moment of the fight came when Stevenson finally managed to regain full closed guard. Until now all he had done was survive BJ’s constant pressure. Frustrated and anxious to get things going his way, Stevenson started punching at Penn from bottom. Penn looked at him with a quizzical expression, as if amused by the fact Stevenson was still even fighting back, and then proceeded to split his forehead open with a slashing elbow that turned the fight into a bloodbath.

From there Stevenson was done. He hung on until the end of the round, and while his cutmen frantically worked to stem the bleeding, he looked forlorn. This wasn’t going the way he had hoped. Penn took it up a gear in the second round, and finally slipped on the rear naked choke at 4.02. He commented afterwards that the blood had actually helped him slide the arm around Stevenson’s neck.

Taking his second title and in a different weight class (he had defeated Matt Hughes for the welterweight belt in 2004) BJ becomes only the second person other than Randy Couture to have done so in the UFC. The question has never been “How good is BJ Penn?” but “Which BJ Penn will we see today?” The hyper-talented Hawaiian has shown his skills in stunning fashion many times, but one thing he has never showed with conviction is his willingness to take fights seriously. Coasting by on talent alone, he used to barely train for fights, openly admitting he wanted to see how little it would take for him to still win a fight.

Joe Stevenson however, trained like a dog and has had none of the benefits or luxuries that BJ does. His motivation is clear – he fights to feed his kids. BJ fights because he has nothing else in the world to care about, being the product of a spoiled upbringing. When you consider this, you have to feel sorry for Stevenson and the way things panned out. His emotional response at the end of the fight clearly showed how he felt.

BJ will fight Sean Sherk next, who he called out with the terse “Sean Sherk, you’re dead!” Sherk was of course ringside for the fight and acted as guest commentator. He made his way into the Octagon and seemed pretty unimpressed with Penn’s statement. The showdown, already bolstered by an ongoing war of words between the two, has been pencilled in for May and is expected to take place in Las Vegas.

Gonzaga goes down to Werdum

Gabriel Gonzaga has had a tough time since his spectacular win over Mirko Cro Cop last April. After knocking out the sluggish looking Croatian kickboxer with one of the most brutal high kicks ever seen, he was stopped in the third round by Randy Couture in challenging for the heavyweight title.

Fabricio Werdum has never been the greatest MMA fighter, though he is a superb jiu-jitsu player, and has had some limited yet never particularly stunning experience in Brazil and Japan. He held a win over Gonzaga going into this fight, one which ‘Napao’ was keen to avenge, but a bizarre self-inflicted injury left Gonzaga dazed and out of the fight.

Werdum would have seen the footage of Gonzaga’s kicks, but his face the first time he felt one told all we needed to know. Gonzaga twice took Werdum completely off his feet with heavy low kicks, and had the distinct edge in the stand-up throughout the fight. Gonzaga even had the better on the ground, although neither threatened each other too much, but it was a failed throw that left Gonzaga in trouble and gave Werdum the opening he needed.

As Werdum rushed in to stop a kick landing, Gonzaga tried to use the momentum to throw Werdum with a head and arm grip. As he rotated and pitched forward, Werdum slipped his head out and Gonzaga spiked himself into the canvas. The round came to end shortly after, and all through the second Gonzaga seemed gassed. Little did most suspect, he was dizzy and reeling from the combined weight of 500lbs crushing his head into the floor.

Werdum stopped Gonzaga with strikes in an echo of their first meeting, and has reportedly lined himself up with a fight between the winner of Nogueira and Tim Sylvia with this win. Werdum hardly derves a shot at the title after two lacklustre performances against Arlovski and Gonzaga.

This was not a make or break fight for Gonzaga, but it was be a test of sorts in which we would see exactly if the hype surrounding him after his fight with Cro Cop was warranted. We knew Gonzaga could kick hard (he broke one of Randy’s arm with a kick after all) yet the rest of his game was still in doubt. Save for the bizarre moment in which Gonzaga practically knocked himself out, he looked to be in control and far more deserving of a (second) title shot that Werdum, but two back-to-back losses on his record puts him back to square one.

Other Action

Middleweight gatekeeper Jorge Rivera took the fight to an overwhelmed Kendall Grove, handing the Hawaiian his second straight KO loss. A Mark Dellagrotte-trained fighter, Rivera is a stable-mate of Partick Cote, who last knocked out Grove. Rivera surged forward from the off, sticking Grove up against the fence and pounding away with vicious shots until a final vicious left straight sent Grove down in a heap.

Grove has said that his home of Las Vegas has proved to be too big a distraction of late, and he relocated to Big Bear for this fight’s preparations. It seems that there is s till a lack of focus and Grove could benefit from taking some time out to look at his current position and where he wants to go next.

For Rivera, he is stuck in an unenviable position. He has lost to the big names in his division, namely Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin, and even to second tier fighters like Terry Martin and Chris Leben. At 35 years of age it will be tough for him to develop enough to really make a mark on the middleweight division, but that said, if he keeps stopping his opponents (of his 14 wins only two have been by decision) he could have a home in the UFC yet.

The American Top Team had a good night with Wilson Gouveia and Alessio Sakara both winning by stoppage. Gouveia had the better win of the two, putting Jason Lambert face first into the canvas with a sharp left hook, while Sakara stopped James Lee in a bizarre moment. Lee shot in and injured his back in the process, finding himself stuck on bottom. Sakara mercilessly pounded him out in double-quick time.

Marcus Davis extended his winning streak to 11 fights with a nasty first round KO over French fighter Jess Liaudin. A thunderous southpaw left cross landed just below Liaudin’s ear, putting a resounding close to their pre-fight trash talking and banter. Some observers would like to see Davis now take on welterweights further up the food chain, but Davis bizarrely called out Japanese lightweight fighter Takanori Gomi in the post-fight press conference, promising it to be a potential fight for the ages.

In the first ever fight to see two Brits square off on a UFC event (Ross Pointon vs Michael Bisping technically does not count due to the fight taking place in the TUF training centre and being an exhibition contest) welterweights Paul Taylor and Paul Kelly entertained the crowd with a typical display of British fighting spirit. The young Liverpudlian Kelly took it to the hard-hitting Taylor, withstanding all attacks on the feet and repeatedly taking Taylor down and ground and pounding him. A huge cut was opened on the head thanks to some nasty punches and elbows, and Kelly walked off with a not only the decision victory but his half of the fight of the night bonus as well.