Lambert-Gouveia and three more bouts added to UFC 80: Rapid Fire

[Bullock]

from ufc.com

By Thomas Gerbasi

UFC 76’s loss was apparently UFC 80’s gain, as the previously scrapped light heavyweight battle between Wilson Gouveia and Jason “The Punisher” Lambert will now take place in Newcastle, England on January 19th, with the winner undoubtedly moving closer to his dream of a shot at 205-pound boss Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.

“Gouveia has had success in the cage,” said Lambert, 23-6, “but he has not felt the pressure that I bring.”

A 30-year old native of Long Beach, California, Lambert has won four of his five UFC outings, including a second round knockout of Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral in his last bout at UFC 68 in March. In Gouveia (9-4), who was forced to withdraw from his September bout with Lambert due to injury, ‘The Punisher’ will take on one of American Top Team’s finest, who bounced back from a debut loss in the UFC to win three in a row in the Octagon, all by submission.

UFC 80: Rapid Fire, which will take place at the Metro Radio Arena, is headlined by the interim UFC Lightweight Championship bout between BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson, and the heavyweight showdown between Brazilian rivals Fabricio Werdum and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Also officially signed and added to the UFC’s first big show of 2008 are three bouts featuring a mix of local talent, established contenders, and rising stars.

In a light heavyweight matchup, Italy’s hard-hitting Alessio Sakara will look to rebound from his September loss to Houston Alexander when he squares off against UFC debutant James Lee, a Michigan product who is unbeaten in his last 11 bouts.

Exciting Canadian lightweight Sam Stout will return to the Octagon for the first time since his Fight of The Year candidate with Spencer Fisher in June when he tackles UFC newcomer, Swedish standout Per Eklund.

And UK fans will have plenty to cheer about on January 19th when unbeaten Paul Kelly, a stablemate of light heavyweight contender Michael Bisping, fights for local bragging rights in a welterweight bout against Walsall’s ‘Relentless’ Paul Taylor.

Tickets for UFC 80: Rapid Fire, are on sale now.

[valheruking]

Alessio Sakara vs James Lee? that sounds bad even for an undercard match.

[Bullock]

Lee is an interesting prospect though.

[Bran]

yeah, lee could be a good guy eventually. and the fight's at middleweight, not LHW like they said. 2 of the last three guys to beat sakara dropped down to 185, so i guess it only makes sense for him to as well.

[ArMnHC]

forget about Lee/Sakara...Gouveia/Lambert is actually gunna be on the main card. thats awesome! cuz this was gunna be a good fight and if it had happened at UFC 76, we'd probably not gotten to see it. HOORAY UFC LOL

[Bran]

Originally Posted by ArMnHC

forget about Lee/Sakara...Gouveia/Lambert is actually gunna be on the main card. thats awesome! cuz this was gunna be a good fight and if it had happened at UFC 76, we'd probably not gotten to see it. HOORAY UFC LOL

yeah, this is a really solid fight and the winner should take on a dude like thiago silva. good fight.

[Bullock]

I think Wilson is going to be a force in the coming years.

Go back and watch the Jardine fight. He was making Keith look silly on the feet until Wilson broke his foot in the 2nd.

[Bran]

Originally Posted by Bullock

I think Wilson is going to be a force in the coming years.

Go back and watch the Jardine fight. He was making Keith look silly on the feet until Wilson broke his foot in the 2nd.

the thing that always made me forget about bonnar winning the decision over jardine is the fact that gouveia totally beat him in their fight and jardine was handed an even more blatantly lopsided decision

[Bullock]

I still think Bonnar won the fight w/ Jardine.

Knocking somebody down with a punch > leg kicks IMO

No matter how many leg kicks you land, if you get dropped by a punch, you lose that round. Bonnar dropped Jardine in two separate rounds. They were close rounds for sure, but Bonnar won them off of the knockdowns. Leg kicks count, but not as much as getting dropped.

I'm sure there are people willing to debate me all day long on this point but the fact is that the judges agree with me.

[Bran]

yeah, i gotta agree. jardine surprised a lot of people that night, myself included, but he did not win the fight that the ZUFFA press seems to be so certain he won.