BJ Penn has been granted his rematch with the last man to beat him by Santa himself Dana White. But does he really deserve it?
Following his close loss to Georges (although I did not think it was as close as most people think—getting taken down multiple times does not spell close to me), BJ was stopped for the first time by Matt Hughes at UFC 63. In rather alarming contrast GSP returned from his injury and obliterated Hughes 2 months later.
Bj's two consecutive losses in which his cardio was exposed forced him to supposedly "re-dedicate" himself. He proceeded to drop down to lightweight and become coach on season five of the Ultimate Fighter along side the other man he was obsessed with due to defeat Jens Pulver.
In their rematch BJ steamrolled Jens, finishing him with a slick rear-naked choke in the second round. Was this new Bj a force to be reckoned with? Well it seemed so when he overwhelmed Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to win the vacant Lightweight title, again by a rear-naked choke.
- B/R Ticket Guide
This win of course made the obnogtious BJ think he could then say he was going to kill Sean Sherk. He got his chance to 'kill' Sherk at UFC 84. He did what he promised to a certain degree, by stopping Sherk at the end of the third round. Although most people think BJ picked Sherk apart with relative ease, I did not see this. I thought Sherk was giving BJ as good as he got.
Despite these wins we have got to take things into consideration. Jens Pulver is not even a lightweight and his drop down to featherweight has proved unsuccessful. Stevenson is simply a decent gatekeeper, just look what Kenny Florian done to him a couple of weeks ago. Finally Sherk had not fought in nearly a year and since the loss looked fantastic against Tyson Griffin.
So does he deserve a shot at GSP? I think not.
Look at a guy like Thiago Alves. He is on a 7 fight win streak with the majority of these victories coming by KO/TKO. Match him against BJ and think, Alves way superior striker, alarmingly bigger and probably better conditioning. Also add the takedown defense he showed against a legit welterweight in size and one of the best wrestlers in all of mma and you have to think could BJ get such a strong guy to the mat?
Due to BJ's ego, Alves now has to wait god knows how long to get his shot and in that time could lose a match and his No. 1 contendership.
Personally, I feel BJ is underestimating how much Georges has improved in every aspect, and cannot wait for Georges to send the ignorant, egotistical and inconsistent Penn back down to lightweight, were he will probably lose his title due to lack of motivation.
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about 1 month ago
The short answer is yes. He is a great fighter and this fight will immensely help the career of the winner.
However Penn's approach to getting the rematch was all wrong. Stepping into the cage before GSP even caught his breath after the war with Jon Fitch was classless. Harping on Dana White and largely ignoring the division he holds a belt is irks me a bit too. Even in Penn's interviews now he talks about how as great as Florian, Griffin, Sherk, etc are he isn't "excited" to fight any of them. Well they are challengers for the belt he holds so if he doesn't care about them and their right to challenge why not give up the belt?
If I had it my way I would have made Penn put something up for the challenge. He is disrespecting his 155 division by chasing GSP and even if he loses to GSP he still gets to lay claim to being a "champion"? A little bogus imo.
from about 1 month ago
EXACTLY!!!
from about 1 month ago
THIS ISNT THE FIRST TIME BJ HAS DONE THIS....HE IS A SPOILED KID WHO HAS GROWN INTO A SPOILED ADULT.HIS OBLIGATIONS WERE TO THE UFC..AND THE WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION THE FIRST TIME!!! WHEN HE BEAT MATT HUGHES!!!..BUT DID BJ CARE!!!..NO..HE DIDNT!!!...HE TOOK OFF TO JAPAN AND JOINED k1 HEROS!!!....AN ORG. WHICH I AM A FAN OF..BTW..LOL..
/STOKER DAFIRE..
from about 1 month ago
What would you have him put up? If he vacated the lightweight belt right now, it would only cause more problems in the lightweight division. And you can't put the 155lb title on the line, because the fight is at 170. Youre right, GSP does risk more in this fight, but such is the life of a champion.
about 1 month ago
I agree with you totally. Bj, as talented as he is, has no one to blame for his years of inconsistency but himself. On the other hand if he wants to fight a white hot, at the top of his game GSP so be it. It's not fair to Kenny Florian and the rest of the superb lightweight division. It's unfair to Alves as well. BJ wants a legacy and this is how he is going about it. In the end it's a fight that surely enticed Dana "Judge Dread" White (I am the law!). So I'm not complaining as this will be a great fight but BJ you are no Anderson Silva, even if you think you are.
from about 1 month ago
Right on, brother!
about 1 month ago
I TOTALLY agree with you 100000% BJ doesn't deserve this fight. He needs to defend his belt and stop trying to avenge his losses, who does he think he is Chuck Liddell? Well if thats the case GSP is BJ's Rampage Jackson. I'd rather see Bj v.s. Kenny Florian and GSP v.s. Thiago Alves at UFC 94. With that said i wouldn't mind seeing GSP beat BJ once more just to prove it wasn't a fluke and to shut everyone up!
from about 1 month ago
Amen to that, Sean!
about 1 month ago
P.S.
I can't wait for Flyin' to see this...LOL...he's gonna be pissed!
from about 1 month ago
Just because he can't face reality doesn't mean it's not there.
about 1 month ago
All I know is: Dana White and Joe Silva are not in the practice of rewarding fighters by giving them title shots that they've earned.
Dana, the Ferttita's, and Joe Silva are only interested in which match-ups will garner the most PPV renenue. UFC fighters are simply human money to Dana White. His expletive-laden, fighter-bashing interviews reinforce his indifference toward his fighters as human beings.
Why, Ferttita himself had to slap Dana's wrist and get Jon Fitch back after Dana threw out Fitch and others. Apparently, Dana thought some of his fighters weren't showing him the money fast enough.
from about 1 month ago
An actual case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Hurrah for Lorenzo!
Can you imagine how one dimensional the world would be if it had been Dana and not Noah on the Arc?
about 1 month ago
I seriously think BJ Penn gave the finger to the entire lightweight division when he challenged GSP. His obligations are to the LW not to filling your vendettas. Matt Hughes didnt start fighting catch weight fights until his later career. Even though he was the most dominate welterweight at one time he wasnt shouting and yelling saying he had to take on middleweights or light heavyweights etc.
from about 1 month ago
But that was a show of class, wasn't it?
from about 1 month ago
"Matt Hughes didnt start fighting catch weight fights until his later career. Even though he was the most dominate welterweight at one time he wasnt shouting and yelling saying he had to take on middleweights or light heavyweights etc."
Except when he was shouting his mouth off about Matt Linland, and said he'd gladly move up in weight to take him on. Funnily enough, exactly the thing he berated BJ Penn for before their first fight, saying it was disrespectful for BJ to think he could just move up in weight and challenge him for that division's belt (and we all know what happened in that fight).
from about 1 month ago
HIS OBLIGATIONS WERE TO THE UFC..AND THE WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION THE FIRST TIME!!! WHEN HE BEAT MATT HUGHES!!!..BUT DID BJ CARE!!!..NO..HE DIDNT!!!...HE TOOK OFF TO JAPAN AND JOINED k1 HEROS!!!....AN ORG. WHICH I AM A FAN OF..BTW..LOL..
/STOKER DAFIRE..
about 1 month ago
i agree with all of you. BJ needs to stop being concerned about his legacy and more about his duty as a champion-which is to defend your belt not go up in weightclass after 1 defense.
also in BJ's last to ventures up at welterweight he has been beaten. hopefully it wont be third time lucky for him and GSP stops him decisevly
about 1 month ago
BJ is an ass, but he has errand his rank and title shots. The fact that there is such a debt who will win is the answer itself.
about 1 month ago
I can only pray you're right. On paper GSP should slaughter BJ as he usually does to everyone he fights when he's on his game. I do disagree with your analysis of BJ's skills though somewhat. I generally agree with the belief that BJ is among the top pound for pound fighters on Earth. But not only is BJ outclassed in terms of size and reach, I believe he is outclassed as an MMA fighter, with GSP just bringing SOOOO many tools into the octagon where BJ has only BJJ and some reasonably impressive boxing. If GSP is on his game he will run over BJ like a freight train. And frankly, I'm glad they've made this fight, if for nothing else but to give GSP a chance to shut BJ up like he did with Hughes.
about 1 month ago
yes i agree if the GSP that showed up against all he has fought since his loss to serra BJ may be in 4 a rough night.
there iss no denying BJ is a worldclass fighter who is in my own p4p list. i feel his only chance of winning this fight is if it hits the mat and he pulls off a sub
about 1 month ago
Thank you David and all you others, for saying all the things I cannot say since I have reformed. ***** & POTD
about 1 month ago
thanks dorothy
about 1 month ago
This fight isn't about what BJ Penn wants. Dana White wants this fight just as much, because it means $$$$$$$.
It's all about timing as well. The hype for this fight isn't going to get any bigger, and letting other fights happen in between runs the risk of BJ or GSP losing, and then having this fight garner less interest.
Right now, both fighters go in looking invincible, and the fight will make a fortune for UFC.
Please everybody read my article in defense of this fight.
15 days ago
I don't why all of you are hating on BJ Penn. He is honestly the greatest of all time just look at it ,He has accomplished so much' 1 he beat Matt Hughes for his title after hughes defended it for five times also in the first round(dominantly I might add). Then He left came back and won the the lightweight title and completely smashed Jens Pulver , Joe Stevenson and Shawn "The Roider Shark" sherk. Not to mention to win a world title in worlds jiu jitsu tournament in the black belt division in the 3 years. Good God in my eyes the guy has earned more than a title shot ,Matter of fact I can't wait till he smashes GSP and make history.Then Ken flo and Alvas is next. All of you should just relax and take notes. They don't call him "The Prodigy" for no reason.
15 days ago
All of Y'all need to check out BJpenn.com maybe you'll learn a thing or two.
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