Michael David Smith of AOL Fan House was kind enough to include me on this round up of fantasy fights. I'm flattered to be in good company -- other contributors are Dave Doyle , Rami Genauer , Zach Arnold and Steve "Mr Sunshine" Cofield.
Here's my pick:
B.J. Penn vs Shinya Aoki. I might be getting ahead of myself by dreaming of this match when Penn could very well lose to Sean Sherk on May 24th and Aoki is only through the first round of the DREAM GP. Nevertheless, I believe at this very moment Penn and Aoki are the two most dangerous lightweight fighters on the planet. And unless something very dramatic takes place on the business side of MMA, I don't see them meeting in the ring or the cage anytime soon.
Penn has been on fire since moving back down to lightweight. His demolitions of Jens Pulver and Joe Stevenson sent a message -- the Prodigy is back. His power punching and merciless jiu jitsu make him a threat to any lightweight.
But one man might not be worried -- Shinya Aoki. Aoki just smothered the very dangerous JZ Calvancanti -- a fighter known for his power punching and solid jiu jitsu game. Could he do the same to Penn?
Obviously Penn's jiu jitsu game is miles ahead of JZ's, but is it a match for the lanky Aoki? Too bad we won't get to find out for real ... in the meantime we can dream.
What's your fantasy matchup?