MMA Analytics 01.21.08: The Upsets of UFC 80

Posted by Leland Roling on 01.21.2008

UFC 80 showed us that old players are still in the game. Fabricio Werdum surprised many fans by defeating Gabriel Gonzaga for a second time in his career. Jorge Rivera absolutely crushed the now TUF bust, Kendall Grove, and Paul Kelly made a splash in his UFC debut by defeating his British counterpart in Paul Taylor. Check out my thoughts and look into the future of these fighters in this edition of MMA Analytics.

B.J. Penn proved that he was one of the best lightweights in the world by demolishing Joe Stevenson in two rounds by a rear naked choke after he cut Stevenson open in the first round. Stevenson bled profusely for the remainder of the first round after it occurred. He came out in the second round like he'd been shot out of a cannon, only to be nullified by Penn's great ground tactics. That wasn't the main story of the night.

The biggest story of UFC 80 was the overwhelming amount of upsets that occurred. Fabricio Werdum defeated Gabriel Gonzaga, Jorge Rivera punished Kendall Grove, and Paul Kelly beat down Paul Taylor in the battle of the Brits. Wilson Gouveia also surprised us all with huge punch that left Jason Lambert disappointed beyond belief. Let's take a look at the big upsets at UFC 80 and where those fighters stand in the division after their huge wins.

Werdum upsets Gonzaga, Chute Box should be proud

Fabricio Werdum didn't let me down. He was my big upset pick of UFC 80, and was absolutely crushing to Gonzaga's hopes of moving back into the title picture of the UFC's heavyweight division. Werdum launched an onslaught on Gonzaga that Chute Box would have been proud of. His Muay Thai knee strikes proved to be Gonzaga's Achilles heel as he ate multiple strikes and was unable to withstand the damage. Werdum won the bout despite being an underdog.

What's this mean for the Heavyweight division? According to Dana White, it means that Werdum deserves a title shot after Tim Sylvia and Antonio Nogueira fight it out. Unfortunately for Werdum, it doesn't seem to bode well for him stylistically. Sylvia is a heavy and large striker with a strong ability to maintain his balance. Werdum's jiu-jitsu may be flat out nullified by Sylvia's standup. Nogueira is a different story.

"Minotauro" is a fantastic grappler. His jiu-jitsu is absolutely phenomenal, his chin is made of granite, and his boxing always improves in nearly every fight he has been in. He presents a tough challenge. The x-factor in that matchup is Werdum's newly found training at Chute Box. If his Muay Thai skills continue to improve, he can be a danger to "Minotauro", although Nogueira is notoriously impossible to finish, even Fedor wasn't able to do so.

Rivera demolishes TUF bust Grove

Another pick that was an easy lock for me to put down on paper was Jorge Rivera. He had an impressive record coming into the bout, and had really only loss to top competition. Most notably, he has losses to Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin, not exactly terrible fighters. Rivera proved that those losses were exactly that, losses to superior fighters. Unfortunately for Grove, he isn't at the same level as those fighters.

Rivera absolutely crushed Grove with multiple strikes to the head against the fence, and then finishing the bout with a straight punch to the face that downed Grove. This takes Grove to two losses via knockout in his last two bouts. The assumption that Grove has a weak chin is now a very real possibility.

Rivera, however, isn't a joke by any means. He's had some tough matchups in the UFC, but he showed up to this battle in the best shape of his life. A shredded Rivera means a beating in the making. Rivera showed that his standup is still very dangerous. He also has a fantastic submission defense that will prove to wreak havoc on other middleweights. The other advantage is that the middleweights still remain weak with only Henderson and Silva at the top. Can Rivera break into the ranks of MacDonald and Okami? Time will tell.

Kelly overcomes the odds and defeats Taylor

In the battle of the Brits, Paul Kelly brought his 6-0 record into the UFC and pushed it to an impressive 7-0. He did that by defeating a very good striking Paul Taylor who gave Marcus Davis a run for his money in both of their last matchups. This time, however, Taylor found himself on the end of a brilliantly executed ground and pound game.

In the opening moments of the fight, Taylor proved that his striking was superior by throwing surgical blasts at Kelly in the middle of the Octagon. Kelly answered back with a shoot and takedown that ended up eating time up on the ground and eventually hurting Taylor. Taylor looked and most likely felt damaged after the onslaught from the first round. Kelly continued the plan and crushed Taylor for two more rounds. Taylor had his moments, but unfortunately wasn't able to stop Kelly's top control.

With that said, Kelly looks to be a new Welterweight that can begin to help heal the problem of the divisional talent gap between GSP and the rest of the pack. The one advantage is that Kelly was a 185'er and should be bigger being in 170. He could prove to be a problem for the lower talent in the weight class.

Final thoughts

UFC 80 showed a lot of potential for relatively unknown fighters as well as fighters that were off the radar screen for awhile, but were essentially in the picture from the get go. Werdum will get his title shot since there really isn't anyone after Sylvia and Nogueira. Kelly and Rivera will make nice additions to their divisions. The one surprise that didn't happen, however, was the upset of B.J. Penn. Look for Penn to take on Sherk in his next fight, a battle we should all look forward to seeing.

Leland Roling is the editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com