UFC 80: Rapid Fire Officially Announced
The UFC has officially announced UFC 80: Rapid Fire which will be headlined by an Interim Lightweight Championship Match between BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson. Gabriel Gonzaga will face Fabricio Werdum in the night’s co-main event.
The event will take place January 19th in Newcastle, England at the Metro Arena. No broadcast plan has been announced though the event could be broadcast for free on Spike TV.
Tickets for the event will begin to go on sale on this week. On Wednesday, November 7th UFC Fight Club members can purchase tickets beginning at 5am eastern time. On Friday, November 9th a ticket presale will begin at 5am ET. The code for the presale is UNITED. Finally tickets will be available to the general public on Saturday, November 10th at 5am ET. Tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com.
Read on for the official UFC press release announcing the event…
Hawaiian superstar BJ Penn has waited six years for another shot at the lightweight title that eluded him in 2002. On January 19, 2008, at the Metro Arena in Newcastle, England, “The Prodigy” finally gets his chance for redemption when he challenges Joe “Daddy” Stevenson for the Interim World Lightweight Championship at UFC 80: RAPID FIRE. Also featured on this star-studded card, which was made official today by the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization, is a heavyweight showdown between top contenders Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum.
“BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson are two of the top lightweights in the world,” said Dana White, UFC President. “Penn is the former world welterweight champion and Stevenson is unbeaten in the UFC as a lightweight. Both of these guys are known for their ground games and their will to win, so not only will it be a great fight, but the winner will become the interim world lightweight champion.”
Tickets for UFC 80: RAPID FIRE will go on public sale Saturday, Nov. 10 at 10am GMT and will be priced at £35, £50, £100, £150 and £200. Tickets will be available through ticketmaster.co.uk and www.metroradioarena.co.uk.
UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 10am GMT via the website www.ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, Nov. 9 starting at 10am GMT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com.
One of the most gifted fighters to ever grace the UFC Octagon™, hence his nickname, “The Prodigy”, BJ Penn (12-4-1) has amazed fight fans throughout his career with a blend of stellar ground work, knockout power, and a warrior’s heart. In 2002, he challenged for the lightweight title against Jens Pulver but fell short in a five round war. Two years later though, he shocked the world when he won the welterweight title by submitting Matt Hughes at UFC 46. In 2007 though, Penn returned to the division where he first made his mark and he began on his road to the 155-pound title by avenging his first defeat with a submission win over Pulver at The Ultimate Fighter® season five finale on June 23rd. He will come full circle on January 19 if he can defeat Stevenson for the interim lightweight title.
“I’m very excited to be fighting for the UFC lightweight interim title and to be matched up against Stevenson,” said Penn. “Our styles are very similar, and we both want the interim title, so I think it will be a good fight and an excellent fight for the fans.”
A pro fighter since the age of 16, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (33-7) has more experience than most fighters twice his age, and his time in the trenches of the fight game has prepared him for his first world title shot. First arriving on the UFC scene as a welterweight with a win on season two of The Ultimate Fighter, Stevenson soon determined that his true fortunes lay in the lightweight division, and since moving to 155 pounds, he has been unstoppable, stopping Yves Edwards, submitting Dokonjonosuke Mishima and Melvin Guillard, and decisioning Kurt Pellegrino en route to his meeting with Penn in Newcastle.
“I’m really excited to fight BJ, and I’m happy to have the chance to fight for the interim title,” said Stevenson. “I think BJ is an awesome fighter. He has a dangerous ground game, but I don’t think it will be too big of a factor. And he’s not going to knock me out, so I’m confident that it will be my hand that’s raised at the end of the night.”
Also featured on the UFC 80 card is the heavyweight feature Gonzaga vs.Werdum.
One of the most dangerous heavyweights on the planet, with the ability to end a fight via submission or with a devastating knockout, Rio De Janeiro native Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga (8-2) captured the imagination of UFC fans in April when he knocked out the feared striker Mirko Cro Cop with a single head kick at UFC 70. And though Gonzaga fell short in his subsequent shot at Randy Couture’s heavyweight crown in August, the 28-year old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt is eager to get back in line for a title shot, something that will be made easier with a win over the only other man to beat him, Fabricio Werdum.
A highly-regarded veteran who made his name in the PRIDE® organization, Porto Alegre, Brazil’s Fabricio Werdum (9-3-1) lost a hard-fought decision to former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in his UFC debut in April, but he plans on evening his record on January 19 by repeating his 2003 TKO win over Gabriel Gonzaga. To do that, the highly decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt will have to use the tools that led him to PRIDE wins over Alistair Overeem and Aleksander Emelianenko and which have led many to dub him the best kept secret in the heavyweight division
Also confirmed for UFC 80 is a welterweight battle of the adoptive Brits as Irish-American Marcus Davis clashes with Anglo-Frenchman Jess Liaudin.
Former pro boxer Davis is on an incredible 10 fight winning streak and is coming off two hugely impressive wins in Belfast and London. Likewise, the London-based Liaudin, a 19 fight MMA veteran, is in the form of his life and has won both his previous UFC fights in the very first round.
The remaining bouts for UFC 80: RAPID FIRE will be announced in the near future.
Tags: BJ Penn, Fabricio Werdum, Gabriel Gonzaga, Joe Stevenson
Loading ...
Cool PPV name. I am looking forward to both main event fights. I hope Stevenson can pull off the upset, but I think Penn is just too damn good to lose to Stevenson. Penn via tko.
I think Werdum might do what he did against Arlovski and be tentative against Gonzaga. I think Gonzaga will win by decision.
I think the Werdum/Gonzaga fight is a great match up. I think they are evenly matched across the board, so it should be great. I think that BJ Penn should be able to beat Steveson, but it should be a Jitz spectacular.
Im from 20 miles south of Newcastle, but unfortunately stuck in Iraq so i cant go…Belly, (who posts on here sometimes), is my younger brother, no doubt will be getting a ticket! Im jealous, looks like a decent lineup! BJ Penn is worth the admission fee alone!
cheee heee hawaii boi going rock up in england
I think BJ may gas before he can get a good submission on Joe. Maybe Bj may surprise me with his improved cardio @ 155, hopefully at least. Werdum all the way. He was tentative against Ardrei being his first UFC fight and all. He hears the rumors, and knows he has to finish. Has the possibilty of being a great fight, very technical.
You make some valid points holy_dave. I forgot about Penn’s cardio; Stevenson seems to have really good cardio, he looked really good against Pellegrino who is a very tough Lightweight. The question is whether Stevenson can last five rounds with Penn, if he can in my opinion that is the only way that Stevenson can win the fight is by decision due to Penn’s suspect cardio.
I have to agree that the only way Stevenson can win this one is if Penn gases out, or sustains an injury like he did against Hughes in their second fight. As great a wrestler as Stevenson is, Penn is just that much better.
im sure stevenson will be pumped up for this fight but bj is just gonna school him. even if bj gases i still say he beats the guy. should be a funny fight to watch.
cant wait till hurta vs bj penn happens! being that sherk vs penn is just gonna be like the last two fights penn had against hughes where he just controls the other guy from the bottom or top.
I like BJ Penn and I think he should win….but I would really like to see an upset here. Joe Daddy is a good fighter too. I want BJ to move back up to 170 to fight Serra. I think that Hughes is going to beat Serra and then they should have that as Penn’s next fight. Serra vs Penn…..would be a good one. I like BJ because he can flat out fight. I would take him over some middleweights or even a few light heavyweights….he has all the tools.
BJ and Gonzaga. BJ can then take on Sherk in what could be one of the top fights in 2008.
FixXer, Don’t be surprised to see Hughes move to 185 before his career is over, especially if he loses to Serra.
My 2 cents.
http://1ufc.bravehost.com/
This is stacking up quickly! I actually like 79’s and 80’s PPV name too. Fits pretty well for both. On another note…
Hughes vs A. Silva – awesome! hope it happens someday down the road.
I like The Prodigy better at 155. The welterweights just seem to big for him. I put him between Hughes on the lower end and St. Pierre/Fitch on the higher end.
Can someone please tell me how the Interim Title holder situation works? I’m assuming that when Sherk’s suspension is over, he and the Interim Title holder will fight. This is just dumb, either strip Sherk of his belt and BJ or Joe will be the Champ. Or just make BJ vs. Joe a non Title fight. Do will really need a Interim Title holder? I’m sure it’s just to sell tickets.
Mojo, you are correct on how the Interim Title works (Sherk will fight the winner to “unify” the belts).
The fear that Dana has is that the belt will go undefended for 1 year (although with Sherk’s appeal, he may be back before BJ & Joe fight).
If he strips Sherk (after the CSAC’s poor handling of his case) he risks possibly offending his champion who is claiming innocence. By doing it this way, we have a #1 Contender match but with a Championship tag to it and then a Champion vs Champion match to follow.
People will give more importance to both fights because of them being “Title” fights and will in turn sell more tickets.
You answered your own questions.
FYI
#10- Vampslayr…I would personally love to see him go to 185 and have a few fights, but I think he is going to be done pretty soon. Like Marauder said…Hughes vs Silva would be fun. It is possible that he loses to Serra, but I dont see it….and I have a biased opinion on that being a huge Matt Hughes fan….could be another upset, even though he is not the champion, it would still be an upset.
Yea Hughes has already said he wants to go up to 185 and beat anderson.. translation ( he wants to move up and get his nose broke like his buddy Ace.)
The only concern with the BJ vs Daddy fight is BJs cardio. if he is truly improving his cardio as he says he is I think he’s unstoppable. I don’t give Werdum much of a chance against Gonzaga, werdum is a good fighter but i think Gonzaga has something to prove after losing to Randy Coture..
Adoptive Brit Marcus Davis???
Davis’s family is from Waterford in Ireland. Ireland is not part of Britain. Moron. That’s like saying America is part of Canada.
For all the people that have stated they are fans of Matt Hughes, and would love to see him move to 185 to fight Anderson Silva, I do not believe you’re very good Hughes fans. I don’t think I would want one of my fav fighters to get embarrassed in his last fight. I’m not on the “Silva is unbeatable” bandwagon, but he would pick Hughes apart like a Gibson Hummingbird (guitar).
Its all about the confindence in our favorite fighter. I belive that Hughes has the tools to make it a great match. I would not guarentee victory…but I think he would definently have a shot at winning. I guess I am on this “bandwagon” of Silva being invincible becasue of what he has done to Franklin……twice.
Not to rehash an old debate, but Rich Franklin was not his best against Silva or Silva is just that good at making good fighters look bad. Maybe it is a bad match up for Rich. I’d lvoe to see Hughes take Silva to the ground in a ground and pound battle. Perhaps Ryo Chonan can teach that devastating kick he gave to Anderson. I don’t know if they guy that will beat Anderson is in the UFC right now. I think Filho is the guy. I’d love to see Anderson move up like he said and fight for the title at 205. How would he fair againt Rampage? Wanderlai? Chuck? Shogun? or see Dan move down to fight him. The unification bout is bound to happen.
No disrespect to either Matt or Rich, but the match to see if putting 170 and 185 together is Silva vs GSP. That would be absolutely insane.
chonan is a good fighter but it wasn’t a kick he did to anderson.. it was a flying body scissors into a heel hook.. And i have to agree with Vampslayr.. GSP would be a better match for Anderson as opposed to rich or matt.
my husband and i were wondering how long a champ can go without fighting? serra got the belt in jan or feb and has not defended it yet. we had thought that they had to defend within 3 or 6 monthes but i guess this is not true.
elpgossett, normally a title is defended every 6 months or so. I think the reason they’ve delayed his next fight was due to the Ultimate Fighter schedule (time allowed for taping – 6 weeks + time for airing). This was supposed to be GSP vs Hughes III and have a huge build-up all year, but now it’s Serra vs Hughes with less anticipation. At least they dislike each other and I admit that I’m really looking forward to the fight.
Right, there’s no set time. I think typically (and in a perfect world) all the titles are defended 3 times per year but there’s a lot of situations such as injuries and the timing of the events that cause multiple titles to be defended at once or one champion to fight just once in a year.