UFC 80 Rapid Fire wasn’t the most anticipated fight card, but it proved to be one of the toughest and bloodiest in awhile. Not one of the pay-per-view fights went the distance, and two of them had major cuts that painted the octagon red.

B.J. Penn returned as a focused fighter who looks very comfortable in the Lightweight Division. He was in great shape and dominated Joe Stevenson for most of the fight, cutting him with elbows and finishing him with a choke.

Results:

•Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove via KO (punch) at 1:20 of Round 1.
•Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch) at 0:37 of Round 2.
•Marcus Davis def. Jess Liaudin via KO (punch) at 1:04 of Round 1.
•Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (ref stoppage) at 4:34 of Round 2.
•B.J. Penn def. Joe Stevenson via Submission (rear naked choke) at 4:02 of Round 2.

Montreal fight fans have heard this story before. It might be true this time. Matt Serra told NBC Sports earlier this month that he would be facing Georges St. Pierre in April at the Bell Centre, with the UFC welterweight title on the line.

The fight has yet to be officially announced; this would presumably be the main event for UFC 83. Conflicts with the NHL schedule prevented the UFC from going north in 2007, and a planned January PPV at the Bell Center was cancelled when HBO would not sign off on a deal.

Serra knows he’ll be the underdog against St. Pierre, as he was when he first took the welterweight strap off the Quebec native at UFC 69. “A little Italian guy goes to Canada to fight the big Canadian experiment named frickin’ GSP,” Serra told the Winnipeg Sun. “It’s a monster movie. I want to be in that movie. I want to be Rocky.”

If the UFC wants to continue to stay ahead of its competitors it needs to expand. That or continue to buy the competition out. One’s cheaper than the other.

In a recent conference call to promote an upcoming fight between B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson, Dana White confirmed that the UFC would like to continue expanding in the U.K.- Scotland to be exact.

“Scotland is definitely in our plans for the future. This last year when we went into the U.K., we went to a different place every time. Scotland is next. We’ll be there soon. I guarantee it”, said White.

Other areas of UFC interest continue to be New York and Hawaii. Both state’s have rabid MMA fan bases making them the logical territories for further expansion.

People love to see men bash each other so it won’t be long before UFC comes to your town. Stay tuned.

Well the verdict is in. Brandon Vera says he will be out of the octagon until at least May due to a broken bone in his thumb suffered during the first round in his loss to Tim Sylvia. Plans to have him fight at UFC 82 in March are cancelled.

Brandon “The Truth” Vera is the mixed martial artist with a 9-1 overall MMA record. He has gone through UFC opponents like Fabiano Scherner (TKO), Justin Eilers (KO), Assuerio Silva (guillotine choke), and Frank Mir (TKO) as if they weren’t even there. Is only defeat was in the last match up against Sylvia.

Vera has a strong jiu-jitsu and submission pedigree. In recent bouts he has demonstrated the ability to deliver devastating low kicks and punching combinations. Being relatively small for a heavy weight it is truly hard to find any weakness in his game.

Hopefully his injury will heal quickly and we will see him sooner than expected.

The UFC can breathe again. Their No. 1 star, Chuck Liddell, is back in the good graces of MMA fans after defeating rival Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision at UFC 79.

The Silva win was crucial to Liddell’s career for two reasons. One, the fight came after poor performances against Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine. Two, the Liddell-Silva fight was a classic. It wasn’t the main event at UFC 79 (that spot went to Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes), but it was the Fight of the Night.

Getting Liddell back into the Light Heavyweight title picture may take some time. Jackson is going to be a coach for The Ultimate Fighter 7 and will fight Forrest Griffin at the conclusion of the series. But a big-money bout between Liddell and Shogun Rua would merit main-event consideration. Liddell’s shelf life may be short at age 38, but count on the UFC to keep selling this product.

This was a monster year for MMA. There can be no denying that combat sports have reclaimed their spot in the sports mainstream. The biggest MMA stories of 2007 were talked about at water coolers across the nation. Here are 10 of them.

UFC buys PRIDE Fighting Championships, marking end of an era in Japan
Quinton Jackson upsets Chuck Liddell for UFC Light Heavyweight title
Randy Couture comes out of retirement to beat Tim Sylvia for Heavyweight title
Randy Couture attempts to sever ties with UFC, citing low payouts
Fedor Emilianenko spurns UFC, competes for BodogFight and M-1 Global
Chuck Liddell beats Wanderlei Silva in long-awaited (and classic) bout
Mark Cuban invests in MMA, debuts HDNet Fights
Brock Lesnar wins K-1 debut, signs with UFC
Keith Jardine stuns Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin upsets  at UFC 76
K-1’s Dynamite!! USA flops miserably in front of papered Los Angeles crowd.