Intelligently Defending 1.17.08: Five Questions for UFC 80

Posted by Ken Kobel on 01.17.2008

UFC 80 is just days away and in this edition of Intelligently Defending we will take a look at five questions that will get answered at the event.

UFC 80: Rapid Fire is this Saturday and as always there are many questions that need answers. Here at Intelligently Defending we will take at look at five questions in particular.

Here we go…

1. Will B.J. Penn be sucking wind by Round 3 against Joe Stevenson?

The saddest statement in all of MMA is -- ‘B.J. Penn is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world when he has something in his gas tank.'

B.J. has been blessed with great stand-up, an iron jaw, extreme flexibility, and some of the most amazing ground-work the sport has even seen. Yet, he lacks the one thing a fighter has the most control over – cardio endurance. Time and time again we have seen Penn come into a fight out-of-shape and lose. He will pay if he comes to London in sub-par condition.

Joe Stevenson has been on fire in the lightweight division going 4-0 since dropping to 155-pounds. While fighters like Tyson Griffin and Roger Huerta have been gaining acclaim for putting on back-and-forth wars inside the octagon, Stevenson has been quickly dispatching of his opponents and leaving them no opportunity to make things interesting. There are no ‘fight of the year' candidates on Joe's resume – just a path of destruction.

Still, this is Penn's fight to lose.

If B.J. finishes the fight within the first two rounds – which he is capable of doing – then his cardio will not play a factor. However, if Joe is able to weather the storm and survive to round 3 -- Penn can be in trouble. Stevenson is a tank at lightweight and has very good wrestling. If B.J. becomes winded his usually stellar takedown defense will suffer and Joe will be able to score in the later rounds with his ground and pound.

Penn has acknowledged his past cardio troubles in interviews leading up to this fight. He claims that he has matured and is taking his training more seriously than he has in the past. For his sake, this better be true. If it is not, there is a good chance he will make it 0-for-3 in career opportunities to win the UFC Lightweight Title.

2. Is Gabriel Gonzaga ready to climb back to a title shot?

In the months leading up to his title fight with Randy Couture at UFC 74 there was not a seat to be found on the Gabriel Gonzaga bandwagon. After, ‘the Natural' dispatched of the Brazilian his bandwagon was abandoned as fast as it was filled.

While it is a moot point, the fight could have had a different outcome if not for the broken nose received by Gabriel during the bout. In a freak accident Couture butted heads with Gonzaga on a takedown which cracked the challenger's nose. It was clear after this point that Gabriel was rattled and did not want to fight. He had never been cut like that before and it left him unable to breathe correctly or see clearly out of his eyes.

Could Gonzaga have won the fight if not for the injury? Who knows? The real question is how will Gabriel rebound?

We will get the answer when Gonzaga attempts to avenge the first loss of his MMA career against Fabricio Werdum. Werdum's only fight in the UFC came at UFC 70 against Andrei Arlovski. The bout is infamously remembered for the coma it put all who watched it into. Werdum would lose the snoozefest and gain the ire of UFC fans for his effort. Lackluster performance aside, Fabricio is a great fighter. He has world-class BJJ and holds wins over Alexsander Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem.

With the UFC Heavyweight Title picture in a state of disarray, Gonzaga can get right back into the title picture if he is able to get back to his winning ways. If he is able to put his loss to Couture behind him, he will have a great chance in this fight. The expert ground skills of both men could cause a stalemate on the canvas. Gabriel will have the advantage if this is the case because he is better on the feet.

As long as he isn't gun-shy ‘Napao' will score the victory.

3. Can Jess Liaudin stop Marcus Davis's ten fight win streak?

It is very hard not to respect what Marcus Davis has done thus far in his MMA career.

The former professional boxer came to the UFC during the second season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. On the show he suffered a lop-sided defeat to eventual winner Joe Stevenson during the first round of fights. He then returned at the TUF2 season finale and lost via cut to Melvin Guillard.

After his loss to Guillard it became apparent that Davis would need to become more than just a boxer if he wanted to succeed in MMA. His solution was to get in the gym and grapple, grapple, grapple.

The results of his efforts have been rewarding. Davis has put together a 10-fight win-streak and 6 of the wins have come via submission. A huge accomplishment for a fighter who once had such little ground skills.

Davis will look to score his 6th straight UFC victory and 11th straight overall when he fights London's own Jess Liaudin on Saturday.

Liaudin is a veteran with solid submission skills. He has posted a 2-0 record in the UFC with his last victory coming over one of Davis's TUF2 housemates Anthony Torres at UFC 75. With the home crowd behind him, Liaudin could give Davis trouble.

It is important for Marcus to come away with a victory in this fight. If he is able to go on a 6-0 run in the UFC he would assure himself a crack at top-tier competition. At this point, his wins in the octagon have been over the likes of Shonie Carter, Forrest Petz and Pete Spratt. While these fighters are accomplished in their own right, they do not carry the name recognition as Josh Koscheck, Karo Parisyan, and Jon Fitch. Davis will need a win against one of these high-caliber opponents before he gets title consideration. In the meantime though, he needs to keep defeating the journeymen that are put in front of him.

4. Will Jason Lambert vs. Wilson Gouveia steal the show?

In a fight that was originally scheduled for UFC 76, Wilson Gouveia will battle Jason Lambert in a contest that should be much better than people are giving it credit for.

Lambert scored a huge knockout victory over Renato ‘Babalu' Sobral at UFC 68 which was almost an entire year ago. Lambert was unable to continue with his momentum when a nose injury forced Gouveia to withdraw from their September showdown. Jason has solid wrestling with nice ground and pound technique. He is currently 4-1 in the UFC.

Gouveia is currently 3-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming in his first trip inside the octagon when he took on Keith Jardine. Gouveia put up a valiant effort but eventually gassed and allowed Jardine to score a unanimous decision. In his last fight, Wilson dismantled Carmelo Marrero with a first round submission victory at UFC 71. Gouveia is a BJJ black belt with heavy hands and brutal leg kicks.

While neither Jason Lambert nor Wilson Gouveia are near the top of the light-heavyweight ladder there is still plenty riding on this fight. The winner will likely find themselves challenging one of the more well-known fighters in the division their next time out. The name Sokoudjou comes to mind as a possible opponent.

The fight has the makings for a fight of the night candidate. Both have heavy hands and are not afraid to let them fly. While Lambert has the wrestling advantage, Gouveia will use his excellent BJJ if he is forced to fight off his back. In their 7 UFC wins, neither man has had a fight go the distance or even to the third round for that matter. So don't blink once this one gets going.

5. After his humbling defeat, can Kendall Grove rebound against Jorge Rivera?

There are times when a fighter will buy into their hype and suffer a nasty loss because of it. This seems to be the case with Kendall Grove in his bout with Patrick Cote.

Grove, the TUF3 Middleweight Champion, rolled off three straight victories starting with his TUF3 finale win over Ed Herman. Kendall's long limbs, effective striking, and slick ground skills got people talking about his bright future. Then Grove dismantled Alan Belcher at UFC 69. It was an utter mauling that saw the Hawaii native out-strike his opponent and then finish things with a d'arce choke in round 2. After this bout, Grove's stock skyrocketed and soon fans were already putting him among the best in the division.

Grove was brought back to Earth at UFC 74 when Patrick Cote dropped him in the first round of their contest. Kendall was far to willing to strike with the French-Canadian who held a decisive stand-up advantage. While Grove could have used his ground skills to his advantage he only attempted a single takedown.

If he hopes to become a challenger in the 185-pound division, Grove will need to fight smarter than he did against Cote. A loss such as the one he suffered at UFC 74 is sometimes exactly what a young fighter needs to help them realize they are not invincible. Take a look at Grove's training partner Forrest Griffin for a good example of this. After losing to Jardine, Forrest realized that his chin might not be as unbreakable as he thought. Since the defeat, Griffin has become much smarter in his approach and employs more technically sound striking rather than a ‘swing for the fences with reckless abandon' method.

Grove has an excellent chance to get back to his winnings ways on Saturday. Jorge Rivera is a journeyman that is solid in all areas, but excellent in none. Jorge has shown he is prone to submission and if Kendall gets smart and works the fight to the ground he should be fine.

Conclusion

How would you answer these questions? Post responses in the ‘comments' section below or discuss your own thoughts for UFC 80.

Send all email to [e-mail].