Dave Meltzer: BJ Penn vs. GSP Is a Title Fight
by Michael Rome on Oct 20, 2008 7:23 PM EDT
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According to Dave Meltzer, the January BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre fight will be for the welterweight title:
St. Pierre vs. Penn will be for the welterweight title, giving Penn the chance to become the first person in UFC history to hold championships in two weight divisions at the same time.
This is great news from my perspective, I really hated the idea of another three round fight between these two. It's hard to imagine this going to decision now, so we should get a real answer as to who is the better fighter at 170 pounds. This also has to favor St. Pierre, who is in far better condition than Penn, and pushes a tougher pace than any other fighter in the UFC.
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I’ll take GSP by TKO (strikes) in the fourth.
by subo on Oct 20, 2008 7:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
BJ is 2-2 @ 170. He’s a beast at 155 but the heavier he gets the worse his record and GSP is in full on monster mode. My money is on GSP making it look easy.
by toxic on Oct 20, 2008 7:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Those two losses were to the two greatest welterweights ever. One was a split decision and the other was to a guy he had already beaten. Don’t count BJ out.
by idefinecagefighter on Oct 20, 2008 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
BJ was also beating Hughes until the rib injury. BJ probably feels like it’s personal since the other fight was so close (“He spent the night in a hospital, I spent the night in a bar”). When he gets revved up for a fight, he is a monster; much of his game is mental. I still expect GSP to win in the later rounds, but it won’t be easy. All that said: WAR BJ!
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by themachiavellian on Oct 20, 2008 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Eye pokes will do that to a guy
What, with the hospital and such. GSP by TKO on the 4th.
by LiuLang on Oct 20, 2008 8:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
GSP by TKO in the third.
With the pace that GSP pushes, I can’t see Penn winning. I know Penn has said his cardio isn’t an issue anymore, but I doubt he can hang with GSP at such an intense pace for five rounds. I think Penn may steal a round, most likely the first one, but GSP will weather it and take him out. This will be a monster fight.
However, I still don’t like the idea of guys jumping weightclasses for titleshots without clearing out the division first.
by pud333 on Oct 20, 2008 7:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
....
Who’s left in the LW division for BJ to fight? None of them have a shot at beating BJ.
by MMAEruption on Oct 21, 2008 12:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yep
i agree with pud333, I’m all for the 5 round fight between the two…but giving a guy the opportunity to hold two belts in two different divisions at the same time is is doesn’t make sense. One of the divisions is gonna be put on hold while he defends the other. If Penn doesn’t think anybody in the LW division poses a threat to him…he should relinquish that title and stay at 170.
http://mma4real.net/
by Tha Realness on Oct 20, 2008 7:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
One of the divisons on hold ?
What if penn wins and he returns to coach TUF against the welter weight #1 contender, leaving both titles on hold for 7 months. That would be awesome. I think BJ is going to be more competitive than he is getting credit for. GSP may be super athletic, but I think Penn has the larger skill set.
by Dropkick434 on Oct 20, 2008 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, you’re half right. The WW title would be on the shelf for 7 months (or more), but the LW belt would’nt be up for grabs until 2010, which sucks. On the other hand, WE GET TO SEE GSP AND BJ FOR 5 ROUNDS…AND A TITLE!!!
"I'm ready. It doesn't matter with who or where. On foot or on horseback. With maces or poleaxes. To fight. To first blood or to death. It doesn't matter, I'm ready to fight." -- Александр Емельяненко
by BlazinSkunk on Oct 21, 2008 8:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wasnt aware that this was even an issue…
However I dont believe either BJ or GSP has an overly compelling fight in their division right now and this is pretty much as good as we can hope for.
by Evil-Uncle on Oct 20, 2008 8:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I’m not counting him out, but really. GSP has been beating some tough dudes and making it look pretty damn easy. And BJ has one of the smaller gas tanks.
by toxic on Oct 20, 2008 8:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Not good news for BJ. No way he lasts 5 rounds with GSP.
by lbk on Oct 20, 2008 8:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
BREAKING NEWS
To all the haters out there:
EliteXC has folded and will close its doors on Friday.
For those of you that are A-Holes and will start gloating: No Alvarez vs Diaz, No Nov 8th card, and No Gina vs Cyborg.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 20, 2008 9:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Ahh, just saw an article on another site.
by Dropkick434 on Oct 20, 2008 9:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That’s a shame. The part about not getting to see Alvarez beat Diaz, that is.
by Richard Wade on Oct 20, 2008 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
^^^ AND FANS, OF COURSE!
This is a sad day for MMA.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 20, 2008 9:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Why is it sad?
Sub-par MMA + shady business = epic fail.
by cyph on Oct 20, 2008 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You are a little kid if you don’t think it will hurt all the fighters under the Pro Elite umbrella and MMA business as a whole.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 20, 2008 9:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I wish for world peace and no layoffs during this recession....
but alas, life isn’t full of rainbows.
by cyph on Oct 20, 2008 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Really?
Why don’t you provide some examples of your uber adult knowledge as to why an inefficient business who cared little for the integrity of the sport and failed is a bad thing for the sport? Should we have cried over the death of IFL? Sorry, but pretending to be a champion of MMA fighters everywhere, no matter how mediocre, isn’t noble. Plenty of people want to be fighters, not everyone of them is worth watching. The demand for pretty much every career is higher than the supply. The best fighters in each failing org get picked up by someone else anyways. It might take longer this time because of the economy, but it will happen.
by Dropkick434 on Oct 21, 2008 12:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Old News
I was at the press conference after the UFC 87: Seek and Destroy in Minneapolis and Dana clearly said that this would be a five-round title fight then. I’m not sure why everyone is acting like this is a scoop—this was the clearly stated intention from the moment the fight was announced.
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
by thetakeover on Oct 20, 2008 9:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree, is this news? A five round fight may actually favor BJ because it gives him more time to catch GSP with a punch or submission. BJ has little chance of beating GSP by decision because he won’t be able to defend all the takedowns, he needs time to get the chance to finish.
I wrote up an extensive preview of this match;
http://www.mmaeruption.com/2008/10/breaking-down-bj-penn-vs-georges-st.html
by MMAEruption on Oct 21, 2008 12:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
So excited for this one
Because both are as entertaining as all get out, both are masters at controlling their opponents, and both have huge upsides in respective categories. I like GSP personally, but BJ Penn is so good on his back, if anyone is going to be able to sweep GSP it’s BJ. Also BJ’s heavy hands are tricky to defend and rattling GSP is definitely a possibility. Plus, BJ’s chin is second to none. I can’t even remember seeing him ever get cut. It’s like he’s wearing a football helmet.
The only thing is, GSP’s take downs are so explosive, and he’s really good at defending submissions, it’s hard to imagine BJ keeping up with him. BJ has the better skill set, but GSP’s skill set is pretty damned elite as well. I see this going into the 4th or 5th, with a GSP tko.
by Dooda on Oct 21, 2008 1:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
This fight is all about GSP. If he makes a mistake – BJ will catch him.
by Benicio on Oct 21, 2008 7:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
there is already a early january fight card set up for the ufc with out bj and gsp could tis fight be on the dec 10 fight for the troops it dosnt have any fights announced but it hasnt clarified if it could be a fight event or just a telethon its not too late to announce the fight silva vs. irvin was announced on short notice and these 2 fighters know they are going to fight fairly soonit could also be on the finale of the ultimate fighter on dec 13 even added to the dec 27 card
by Jordan06 on Oct 27, 2008 1:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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