Posts with the tag "B.J. Penn"

OK, this is a little late but still worth going over. The UFC 84 event was absolutely outstanding. The billing was great with fighters such as B.J. Penn, Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, and Lyoto Machida to name a few. Another bonus was the fact that most of the fights were quick, so we got to see many of the undercard fights.

B.J. Penn once again proved he is the top lightweight fighter in the world. He was able to pick apart Sherk one punch at a time. I still wonder why Sherk didn't try to take down Penn more, I guess he didn't think he could get him to the mat.

Wanderlei Silva again proved he is one of the most dangerous fighters in the mixed martial arts. He absolutely destroyed Keith Jardine who once again looked old and slow. From this point forward, the plan executed first by Houston Alexander and now by Wanderlei Silva will be a blueprint for others to defeat Jardine.

Finally, the fight between Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida went exactly as planned. Ortiz's loss will justify the UFC cutting him loose. Machida's performance was lackluster, but he showed how to execute a perfect strategy. The question remains, can the UFC make Machida a star?

In only a few hours, the lightweight title will be decided at UFC 84 "Ill Will." The challenger Sean Sherk will face the champion B.J. Penn in a five round fight. After reading some predictions, there seems to be two different schools of thought on how this fight will take place.

The first line of thinking is that Penn is too explosive and talented for Sherk. Therefore, Penn will win this fight in the first or second round by TKO or submission.

The second line of thinking is that Sherk will be able to wear out Penn and win a decision or eventually get some stoppage.

I tend to lean towards the second line of thinking. Sherk is a conditioning freak and Penn has yet to prove to me that he can go THREE rounds and this is a FIVE round fight. I am picking Sherk to win this fight via decision!

At last, the UFC will have a light heavyweight title holder as BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for the vacant title. After Sean Sherk tested positive for steroids at UFC 73 Stacked, he was eventually stripped of the title. Now, the main event for UFC 80 Rapid Fire will determine the new champion.

Joe Stevenson is a no-nonsense fighter that always gives fighting and training 100% of his efforts. Stevenson's rise to fame is credited with his success on The Ultimate Fighter two. On the show, Stevenson beat Luke Cummo to win the welterweight contract. Penn, on the other hand, has not always been fully committed to fighting. The fight with George St. Pierre always sticks in my mind. He clearly won the first round but lacked the conditioning to win the fight. Now, Penn is refocused and clearly wants to be the lightweight champion.

I expect an excellent fight and I hate to pick a winner. Adding to the drama is the fact that the fight is five rounds. My new found faith in B.J. Penn makes him my pick as the new lightweight chapion. This fight goes the distance, but Penn wins via a close decision.

See all UFC 80 Rapid Fire posts.