Davis and Rivera keep New England Winning on UFC 80 Undercard

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By Thomas Gerbasi

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, January 19 – If the recent runs of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, and Boston Celtics weren’t enough, Maine’s Marcus Davis and Massachusetts’ Jorge Rivera continued the run of New England sports excellence with big knockout wins on the UFC 80 undercard at the Metro Radio Arena.

In Davis’ case, he didn’t engage the Fight of The Night many expected, he did make a strong case for Knockout of The Night honors (an award that eventually went to Wilson Gouveia) as he blasted out Jess Liaudin in little over a minute to run his MMA winning streak to 11 fights (six in the UFC).

Liaudin (12-9) opened his attack with thudding leg kicks, with Davis responding with a heavy kick of his own to the midsection. That was just an appetizer for the finish though, as Davis shot a left hand over the top as both fighters engaged and Liaudin was out before he hit the mat. The official time of the stoppage by referee Mario Yamasaki was 1:04

“I was never this nervous for a fight,” said Davis, who didn’t show it in improving to 19-4. “(Trainer) Mark DellaGrotte said ‘throw a kick, and it will set up your hands.’ So I did and it worked.”

Rivera, a middleweight veteran, revived his career at 35 years old, stunning and stopping ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ winner Kendall Grove in just 80 seconds.

After some brief standup from both men, the bout hit the mat early in the first round, with Rivera (15-6) immediately pouncing on his foe with both hands. Grove (10-5) gamely tried to rise, but ‘El Conquistador’ kept the pressure on, drilling ‘Da Spyder’ with a series of right hands before a left sent Grove down hard, prompting the stoppage by referee Dan Miragliotta at 1:20 of the first round.

“I felt the way to beat Kendall was to get in his face and keep the pressure on,” said Rivera. “I felt I hurt him with the very first punch.” The loss was Grove’s second in a row, following his TKO loss to Patrick Cote last August.

Wilson Gouveia rebounded from a rough first round against fellow light heavyweight contender Jason Lambert to score an emphatic knockout over ‘The Punisher’ in the second stanza that earned UFC 80 Knockout of The Night honors.

Lambert (23-7) aggressively took after Gouveia (10-4) at the opening bell, but the Brazilian showed great poise and footwork in keeping Lambert at bay until the bout hit the mat, Lambert’s favorite place to operate. Within a few moments, Lambert had powered Gouveia into the fence and worked his ground and pound, Gouveia found his way to his feet at the midway point of the round, but the respite was only brief as Lambert again put his foe on the mat. This time though, Gouveia ran through a couple of submission attempts that Lambert was forced to power his way out of. And by the end of the round, ‘The Punisher’ was back in control.

The strategy for round two remained the same for Lambert, but this time, as he pressured Gouveia against the fence, Gouveia responded by freeing himself and firing off a three punch combination. The first two punches missed, but the final left hook hit the mark, sending Lambert face first into the canvas and prompting a halt to the bout by referee Herb Dean at 37 seconds of the second.

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