Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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UFC Rapid Fire took place in England yesterday and lived up to its name.  And just as my cuz predicted in his preview yesterday, there were a slew of quick and violent knockouts in the UFC's latest pay-per-view event.  The main event featured BJ "The Prodigy" Penn fighting Joe "Daddy" Stephenson for the vacated lightweight title, and as many suspected, BJ dominated.  Scott recaps the entire event for us today. UFC Rapid Fire took place in England yesterday and lived up to its name. There were many quick knockouts as I had a feeling there might be.

The main event of the event had BJ "The Prodigy" Penn stepping in with Joe "Daddy" Stevenson for the interim lightweight title that was stripped from Sean Sherk.

BJ Penn did what most thought he would do, he came out and dominated. In the first few seconds of the fight Penn rocked Stevenson with a perfectly timed punch. From that moment on he went to work like only BJ Penn can do. The ground game he put on display was phenomenal. Elbows from the top rained down and opened a huge cut on Joe's head. The blood seemed to be pouring out of his head like a faucet.

Stevenson survived the first round to his credit. The second round was just more of the same until Penn finished it with a beautiful rear naked choke at 4:02 of the round.

Sean Sherk who is set to fight the winner just happened to be calling the fight for the UFC. During the post fight interview BJ Penn says "Sean Sherk, you're dead."

Sherk made his way into the octagon to confront BJ. He told him "You're not the true champ until you beat me." In many fight fan's eyes that it true. To me, it's just a matter of time until BJ Penn is the lightweight king.

In a much hyped rematch in the heavyweight division, Gabriel Gonzaga was back in action coming off of his loss to Randy Couture. Fabricio Werdum was his opponent who defeated him years ago in Brazil. 

Different location but the same result. Gonzaga looked strong and easily won the first round with a good game plan looking to stand. Werdum however took over in the second by landing great knees and punches. He was able to get the victory by way of ref stoppage due to strikes at 4:34 of the second.

True rapid fire took place in three fights and were highlight reel knockouts.

Marcus Davis continued to impress as he destroyed Jess Liaudin in just one minute. He landed a perfect punch and knocked Liaudin silly.

Jorge Rivera walked right thru an overmatched Kendall Grove. He dominated the entire fight and landed some of the best punch combinations I have seen in awhile. That fight took just one minute and twenty seconds.

Jason Lambert to me is a true contender. He looked awesome in the first round against Wilson Gouveia . However, in the second, Gouveia connected on a perfectly timed counter punch that knocked Lambert limp. He crashed down and had no idea he was just knockouted for a few minutes after the fight.

Full results:

B.J. Penn def. Joe Stevenson via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2. 4:02

Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:34

Marcus Davis def. Jess Liaudin via KO (punch) - Round 1, 1:04

Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch) - Round 2, 0:37

Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 1:20

Antoni Hardonk def. Colin Robinson via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:17

Paul Kelly def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Alessio Sakara def. James Lee via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:30

Sam Stout def. Per Eklund via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 30-27)

 

Another solid night of fights that produced some fireworks. The UFC knows how to put on a show and didn't let this fight fan down.

BJ Penn, when he's focused looks unbeatable. He looked to be in the best shape of his life and it showed. I look forward to his fight with Sean Sherk in a few months.

UFC Fight Night is just around the corner. It takes place back in Las Vegas on Wednesday the 23^rd. Stay tuned for that as it has the makings of a blockbuster also.