Kendall Grove vs. Jorge Rivera — This really didn’t take too long to figure out. I thought the TUF champion Grove was going to put the hurt on Rivera but Jorge beat Kendall to the punch in the first round. Next time don’t turn your back Kendall!

Jason Lambert vs. Wilson Gouveia — This was a fight for the submission fans of MMA. Both Lambert and Gouveia traded submissions and chokes. Lambert was handing out a bit more punishment in this round but Wilson was keeping him in check. It looked like we were in for a long night at the start of the second round as they started their grappling work in the stand up game. Then Wilson decided “Forget that noise!” and decked Jason about thirty seconds into round two. Not all MMA fights end on the ground apparently.

Marcus Davis vs. Jess Liaudin — This was a pretty short match. All of it was standup and it featured kicking and punching. When you can land clean and solid kicks and punches, there’s no need to shoot to the ground game. Davis KO’d Liaudin a minute into the first round without too much trouble.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum — The momentum shifted in this fight from Gabe to Fab. The first round was all about Gonzaga putting Werdum to the ground by leg sweeps and shooting, then a little pound action. Near the end of the round, Werdum figured out what was up and started dishing out some submissions of his own. At the start of the second, Gonzaga stuck with his game plan of kicking while Werdum mixed it up with a bunch of punches and terrific knees to the face. Ouch. A few of those put Gabe into LaLa land and the ref stopped the beating late in round two.

BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson — The title fight of the night and, arguably, the best. BJ really put the hurt on Joe early on. He rattled him with punches and then worked his ground game. Joe managed to strike back and punched out of a few clenches but then BJ elbowed his head and opened up a geyser of blood. In the second round, Stevenson knew he was going to have to come out aggressive to beat Penn. He swung wildly and landed a few good shots but BJ’s counters were much better. The match had to be stopped for a bit so the doctors could check out the bloody mess that was Joe’s head. They probably should have done Joe a favor and stopped it as it was all BJ after that. He landed a punch that put Joe down on the ground. Another punch made Joe turn his back to BJ and that’s just Sleepy-Time-Bye-Bye for most Penn opponents. Rear naked choke by BJ wins him the title and a shiny new belt. Tip for future BJ opponents: NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON BJ!

**Jorge Rivera vs. Kendall Grove: Grove was the winner of TUF3 and has since compiled a record of 10-4. He’s won a lot as of late but didn’t so well in his last fight as he was KO’d by Patrick Cote. Rivera’s record isn’t too shabby at 14-6. He is a knockout specialist and being pitted against the 6 foot 6 inch Grove probably helps in this area. Bigger they are, harder they fall? They are both in need of a win so they’ll be desperate to duke it out. Since I’m a TUF fan, I’m pulling for Grove to take down Rivera and put the hurt on him.

**Wilson Gouveia vs. Jason Lambert: Here we have the straight from the Motherland BJJ vs. MMA fight where Gouveia plays the Brazilian this time. Lambert(23-6) has actually fought and won against a Brazilian but he’s been out of the Octagon for about 10 months. At least it hasn’t been years like in UFC79. Gouveia has a record of 9-4 but even though that doesn’t show much experience compared to Lambert, he has three recent wins in the UFC. I’m thinking the rust will lockup Lambert’s knees and Wilson KO’s him in the 2nd.

**Jess Liaudin vs. Marcus Davis: This match will be the RockEmSockEm Robot fight of the night as they both like to stand up and bring it. Jess is the hometown boy that everyone will be rooting for as Marcus is a damn Yank. Liaudin has a 12-8 record and has won five in a row. Davis has a 18-4 record with ten in a row. This is one of those fights were we as the audience wins no matter who wins in the match. It may be the best standup for your PPV buck. I’m rooting for the USA USA USA and a Marcus Davis win.

**Fabricio Werdum vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: Here we see some heavy hitters on the card. Gonzaga is especially intriguing as he has a win against Cro Cop that brought him to the heavyweight title match against Randy Couture. Randy smashed Gonzaga up in his title defense however. That Gabriel has fought against such great competition doesn’t bode well for Fabricio. Fab lost his last bout as well but it wasn’t against major guys like Couture and Cro Cop. One thing in his favor is that he hasn’t been knocked out yet. I’m saying Gabe will end that streak come fight time!

**Joe Stevenson vs. BJ Penn: This fight features two TUF veterans. Joe was the winner of TUF2 and BJ was the winning coach of TUF5, although his team stunk it up in the show. We know what BJ can do when he’s on, but he’s been criticized for his weight gains and sloppy training habits. Stevenson has mad ground game and can submit you before you know what happened. We’ll see if this happens to BJ. I doubt it. Although Jens Pulver gradually made me a believer in TUF5, his showing against BJ made me Penn’s cheerleader. I think BJ submits Stevenson in three without much of a sweat!

**Per Eklund vs Sam Stout: Eklund hails from Sweeden and Stout from Canada. For us in the Newbie ranks there’s nothing but shrugs from our shoulders. This will be Eklund’s first fight in the UFC but he has a MMA record of 14-2-1 which isn’t bad. Stout has a few matches in the UFC already but hasn’t won for a while. I think the Swede will take out Stout in 2.

**James Lee vs Alessio Sakara: These two 205 pounders are going different directions. Sakara has lost three out of four UFC fights and is ready to call it quits at this level and go down a weight class where the pickings may be easier. Jame Lee is working on an 11 fight unbeaten record in MMA. This will be his first UFC fight. I don’t think this will save Sakara who’s just asking to say “uncle” in this match. Look for Lee to end it quickly.

**Paul Kelly vs Paul Taylor: This will be an aggressive fight between two punch and kickers. It’s almost a shame that this isn’t a main carder but not everyone can be on the top. Kelly is the UFC Newbie in this match. Hmm%u2026 I’m seeing a trend in UFC80, “Newbies.” At least this is better than UFC79′s “Off the Couch-ers.” Kelly has been training with a good crew and is well prepared but I think Taylor will pull out the win in this one.

**Antoni Hardonk vs Colin Robinson: This fight features two UFC veterans for a change. Both of them aren’t on Pay Per View because they haven’t won in a while. Robinson has shown a little more “moxie” in his defeats while Hardonk was handled fairly quick in his last two bouts. They both need to step it and man it UP for this match, otherwise they might get their walking papers to the WCO! Judging by the non-event that happened this last weekend in San Diego, they’d better bring it!