Penn vs Edgar

Zuffa is giving us 2 title fights featuring 2 of the best pound for pound fighters in the world this Saturday night at UFC 112. However, with such dominant fighters defending their belts, will the fights even be competitive? Well, we’ve already analyzed the Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia fight so lets have a look at the lightweight showdown between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar.

Frankie Edgar recently earned a title shot against BJ Penn by going 6-1 so far in the UFC and in his most recent fight, he choked out the previously undefeated Matt Veach in a victory that earned him a “fight of the night” bonus (in addition to a title shot of course).

However, while Frankie Edgar has looked impressive thus far in his UFC career, BJ Penn seems as though he’s in a league of his own in the lightweight division. He hasn’t lost a fight at lightweight since he dropped a decision to Jens Pulver about 8 years ago. Now, it seems as though BJ Penn is fighting for his legacy and like Dana White and Joe Rogan say over and over again, a focused, in-shape and motivated BJ Penn is just scary!

In his last fight, BJ Penn absolutely dominated a seemingly-game opponent in Diego Sanchez. He landed 150 of his strikes (all at high accuracy) and according to “Fight Metric”, Diego only landed 8 shots on BJ. It was pure domination. But that’s not a new thing for BJ Penn. He’s been severely dominating his lightweight counterparts for years, sometimes even leaving them a bloody mess in the ring as tears stream down their face (Joe Stevenson for example).

Frankie Edgar is a well rounded opponent. He explosive, he has an impressive amateur wrestling background and he has quick, powerful hands. However, BJ Penn’s boxing (and overall striking ability) has never looked better and with Frankie Edgar holding the rank of purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the ground game is something he is going to want to avoid seeing as how BJ Penn is considered to be a BJJ phenom. For those who don’t know, BJ Penn became the first non-Brazilian to win the World BJJ Championships in Rio, and he did so with only 3 years of training (it takes most people 10 years to even earn a black belt).

Even with his wrestling background, I predict that Frankie Edgar will have some problems taking BJ Penn down (even if he wanted too) since BJ Penn’s takedown defense is on such a high level. So, if Frankie Edgar is getting the worst in the stand up exchanges, he might not be able to get the fight to the ground. On the other hand, BJ Penn is so well rounded that he’ll likely be able to take the fight wherever he wants. And if the fight happens to hit the ground, Frankie Edgar could very well end up being submitted – the same can’t be said for BJ Penn.

However, while BJ Penn is the heavy favorite on paper, you can never count a guy like Frankie Edgar out. He’s a fighter and in a fight, it’s not about which guy has accomplished more in the past. Rather, it’s about who happens to be the better fighter the night of the fight. And of course, that will be seen on Saturday night at UFC 112.

Grey Maynard vs. Nate Diaz

On January 11th, we’ll get to see a rematch between Grey Maynard and Nate Diaz for free on Spike TV. Recall that these two have squared off once before in the semi-finals of the Ultimate Fighter Season 5 reality show. In that particular fight, Nate Diaz was victorious as he used his superior Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills to submit “the bully” with a guillotine choke in the second round.

Since then however, Grey Maynard has been on a tear and he’s yet to be defeated in his professional MMA career. Maynard, who wrestled alongside Rashad Evans at Michigan State University, has been using his amateur wrestling background to literally “bully” his opponents around the Octagon. As a matter of fact, he is perhaps the most accomplished wrestler in the UFC’s lightweight division at the moment.

If Grey Maynard is able to get past Nate Diaz, the victory will put him in contention for a shot at BJ Penn’s lightweight title. Although I don’t believe that any lightweight in the UFC at the moment has what it takes to dethrone the seemingly unstoppable BJ Penn, Grey Maynard, if anyone, poses the greatest threat.

He’s big, strong, aggressive and he has a legit wrestling background. GSP revealed the key to beating BJ Penn in their last fight and if there’s anyone in the lightweight division that can duplicate that strategy, it’s Grey Maynard. BJ Penn and Grey Maynard also used to train together so I imagine he’ll be able to put together a great game plan.

That being said, in order to get that title shot, Grey Maynard has to first get past Nate Diaz – which is no easy task. Like his brother Nick, Nate is often overlooked and underestimated and because of that, he oftentimes shocks the world with his performances. He’s cocky, but for good reason, and he can certainly back up all the trash talking he does.

Having beat Grey Maynard before, he’ll certainly be entering this fight with the mental edge. And having been submitted via guillotine choke, Grey Maynard will have to be extra cautious when he shoots in for those takedowns.

In terms of how these guys match up, it’s fairly even. Grey Maynard is obviously the more powerful of the two and he’s the better wrestler but Nate Diaz – being a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Cesar Gracie – is excellent at fighting off his back. He always stays active and always threatens from the bottom and if an opening presents itself, he’s quick to slap on that triangle choke – as Kurt Pellegrino experienced first hand when Nate Diaz submitted him and won “submission of the night” honors at his expense.

This is one of those fights that could go either way and it’s got “fight of the night” written all over it. But that’s not a very bold prediction considering that Nate Diaz has won either “fight of the night” or “submission of then night” honours in his last 5 fights. Job security in the UFC is terrible but with the performances that Diaz is putting on, regardless of whether he wins or loses, his job is pretty safe.

BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

The BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez fight – which is set to take place at UFC 107 in December – is going to be incredible. The trash talking hasn’t kicked it yet but with these two guys, you know it’s just a matter of time. Come December 12th, I have a pretty good feeling that this fight is going to be pretty personal.

BJ Penn – who’s hasn’t lost in the lightweight division in almost 8 years – will be putting his title on the line for this one. He’s looked incredibly dominant at 155 pounds and he redeemed himself from the only loss that he does have the division when he toyed with, and humiliated Jens Pulver at the Ultimate Fighter 5 finale back in 2006.

Since that redemption, he’s blown through Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk and Kenny Florian. All of those guys are top competitors and BJ Penn made every one of those fights look extremely easy. The disheartened look in their eyes after being dominated says it all. Joe Stevenson was even reduced to crying in the ring right after the fight. Tears and blood poured down his face and to add insult to injury, BJ Penn licked Stevenson’s blood off his 4 ounce gloves.

With Sherk, BJ Penn did the same thing. He approached him, wiped some of the blood from his beaten face and then licked it off his gloves. In his latest fight, he dominated Kenny Florian – who I personally thought would give him a run for his money. I mean, Florian is the more versatile striker, he’s a BJJ black belt and while his ground game isn’t on the same level as Penn’s, I figured he would at least be able to hold his own and avoid being submitted.

I was wrong. Kenny put up a fight and made it to the 4th round but eventually got submitted via a rear naked choke. As submission that actually ended up putting tens of thousands of dollars into Penn’s bank account as he earned the “submission of the night” honours for it.

Then there’s Diego Sanchez. He can strike, but he’s not the best. He can wrestle, but he’s not the best. He’s got a solid BJJ game, but he’s not the best at that either. He’s one of those guys who’s extremely well rounded, but depending on his opponents, he can be easily outmatched in a specific aspect of the fight game and in this case, he had better hope that BJ Penn doesn’t get the fight to the ground.

That being said, his best asset is the most important asset a fighter can have – he has heart! Diego Sanchez has been in some wars and no matter what happens, no matter how outmatched he is, he’ll never give up. Now that’s something that can’t be said about BJ Penn. Diego has never been knocked out, he’s never been submitted he’s gone the distance 7 times in the UFC and 6 of those fights have been incredible, back and fourth wars!

While clearly outmatched on the ground, Diego Sanchez brings in a more versatile striking attack. BJ Penn relies purely on boxing and you’ll rarely ever see him mix up his attacks with kicks and knee strikes. Diego on the other hand is coming off a victory over Clay Guida in which he displayed some awesome Muay Thai skills and even landed a technically sound head kick to Guida which to everyone’s surprise, didn’t knock him out.

So to break it down, BJ Penn has better boxing while Diego more versatile striking skills. Diego has better wrestling but I highly doubt he’ll be able to take BJ Penn down due to his flexibility – nor would he want too. BJ Penn is an incredible Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner so he clearly has the advantage on the mat. Diego has more fights, but BJ Penn has been in the “big show” a little more often.

Diego has the intensity and the heart, while BJ has the technical skills. The odds makers will likely have Diego Sanchez as a heavy underdog and when the odds to come out, it might be a good bet. But it’s personally not a bet that I’d make simply because BJ Penn is just THAT good! I can’t wait for this one.

BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre (GSP)

It’s not often that two champions – and top ranked fighters in their respected weight classes – square off against each other. However, that’s exactly what we’re going to see on super bowl weekend when BJ Penn clashes with George St. Pierre (“GSP”). This will be the second meeting between the two fighters. The first clash left George St. Pierre (“GSP”) the victor in a controversial split decision as he spent the night in the hospital while BJ Penn spent the night at a club.

Since their initial meeting at UFC 58, both fighters have vastly improved their skills sets. BJ Penn has been on a reign of violence as he’s disposed of Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson and most recently, Sean Sherk. Not only has he been victorious, but he’s been so convincing in victory that his opponents have had a look of both frustration and hopelessness in their eyes. Joe Stevenson even broke down and cried in the ring due to the ego blow he sustained at the hands of BJ Penn as seemingly litres of blood poured down his face in a scene that resembled something from a horror film.

Move up a division and you have George St. Pierre (“GSP”) who’s been on a tear of his own. His recent disposal of Jon Fitch – the number 2 ranked welterweight in the world – has left several MMA analysts placing George St. Pierre (“GSP”) atop the pound for pound rankings. Being as young as he is, George St. Pierre (“GSP”) is constantly evolving as a fighter and as he puts it himself, we get to see a “new version” every time he fights. What people find most impressive about George St. Pierre (“GSP”) is his strength, athleticism and most recently, his improved wrestling ability. Having never wrestled as a youth, he has now become perhaps the best wrestler in the organization, let alone the welterweight division.

So How Does This Play Out

After re-watching their last confrontation, you have to give the edge to BJ Penn in the boxing department as he was winning most of the exchanges. With that being said, in terms of overall stand-up ability, it remains somewhat of a mystery as George St. Pierre (“GSP”) has the better Muay Thai. As for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, BJ Penn once again takes the cake. BJ Penn earned the nickname “the prodigy” as a result of his fast-track to achieving a BJJ black belt. For most people, earning such a ranking can take upwards of a decade but BJ Penn earned his in less than half that time. The threat BJ Penn poses on the mat is completely unique as he’s somewhat of a contortionist as his incredible flexibility allows him to do things that others simply can’t – no matter how often they train. As Joe Rogan puts it, BJ Penn “uses his legs like arms”.

George St. Pierre (“GSP”) recently earned his black belt ranking in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the timing for doing so couldn’t be better. While BJ Penn may have the edge on the mat, George St. Pierre’s (“GSP”) knowledge of submission defence in combination with his strength and athleticism will likely neutralize the offensive ground attack of BJ Penn. BJ Penn is most threatening when he’s in top position on the ground as he’s able to perform what’s been called a “reverse guard” from the top due to the dexterity in his legs (watch the Stevenson fight). However, considering George St. Pierre’s superior strength and wrestling ability, the likelihood of BJ Penn obtaining that top position is highly unlikely.

The BJ Penn vs. George St. Pierre (“GSP”) showdown is truly an intriguing match up with all the elements to make it a “super fight”. There’s a history between the two combatants, both are currently top ranked fighters, both are champions and most importantly, their skills sets compliment each other very well because as we all know by now – “styles make fights”. I’m personally going with George St. Pierre on this one but that’s just me. He seems to be on the top of his game right now (as does BJ Penn) but most importantly for George St. Pierre, he seems to be in the right place mentally.

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson

This is yet another tough one for the odds-makers. Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson – who’s the underdog in this fight? Both combatants have risen to stardom following their appearances on the Ultimate Fighter reality series. Both combatants also have very well rounded fighting styles as they’ve both been quite successful in the UFC’s talent-rich lightweight division.

Kenny Florian has been making a run at the title for quite some time now. I was almost certain that following his victory over Roger Huerta, we’d be seeing a Kenny Florian vs. BJ Penn showdown headlining one of the upcoming cards. However, with BJ Penn contracted to fight Georges St. Pierre in February, it looks as though Kenny Florian has to patiently wait for his well deserved shot at BJ’s gold.

Kenny Florian – being the patient, intelligent guy that he is – has stated that he’s more than willing to fight some of the other top contenders while he’s waiting. How’s that for confidence? Kenny Florian knows that a loss will derail his title quest but rather than selecting an easy fight, he accepts perhaps the toughest match-up presented by Joe Silva – the UFC’s matchmaker.

As his 29-8 record indicates, Joe Stevenson is no pushover. Likely still in redemption mode following a disheartening loss to BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson will be looking to rack up his second consecutive win since UFC 80. It’s been said that a fighters worth is best judged not through victory, but rather – how a fighter responds to defeat.

At only 26 years of age, Joe Stevenson is constantly learning and evolving as a fighter. If anything, perhaps his loss to BJ Penn was the humbling experience that Joe Stevenson needed. His first response to that defeat was a good one as he choked out Gleison Tibau with his favourite technique – the guillotine choke – halfway through the second round at UFC 86.

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson – How does this fight go down?

Let’s work from the ground up, shall we? Joe Stevenson is no slouch on the mat as he’s spent most of his career training under Marc Laimon at his “Cobra Kai” gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marc Laimon is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has trained numerous champion grapplers. Joe Stevenson has also spent some time training at Extreme Couture under the tutelage of Robert Drysdale – who is yet another BJJ black belt and grappling champion. Joe Stevenson – having started BJJ when he was only 13 – undoubtedly has a high belt ranking although I don’t believe he’s achieved the level of black as of yet (he was a brown belt last time I checked). However, to compliment his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a strong wrestling background.

Kenny Florian has a higher level of Jiu Jitsu than Joe Stevenson as he’s a legit black belt. Adding to that is his high level of Muay Thai striking as he trains under Mark Delagrotte at the Sityodtong satellite school in Boston, Mass. Kenny Florian undoubtedly has the better ground game and when considering his Muay Thai skill set which includes arguably the most lethal elbow strikes in the entire division (if not the entire organization) he certainly has the edge in the striking department as well.

That being said, while Kenny Florian is both a better striker and better grappler than Joe Stevenson, Joe Stevenson is physically stronger and with his wrestling background, that may pose a problem for Kenny. If you look back to the Kenny Florian vs. Sean Sherk showdown, Kenny Florian had a hard time neutralizing Sherk’s strength advantage. We could possibly see the same thing happen on November 15th. This is one of those fights that’s tough to predict (as are a lot of the latest fights) so you’re best bet (literally) is to select it based on the odds. The latest odds in the Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson fight can be found here.

The Pound for Pound Debate

So Fedor and Anderson Silva just ran through their opponents without even getting hit. Georges St. Pierre just racked up another impressive victory over Jon Fitch, who before facing St. Pierre, was riding a 15 fight win streak (8 straight UFC wins). Then there’s BJ “The Prodigy” Penn. Every time I watch BJ fight I’m impressed. Some of the things you see BJ Penn pull off in his fights leave you scratching your head in amazement.

So, right now we have 4 fighters that are seemingly untouchable within their divisions. I don’t see BJ Penn losing at lightweight, nor do I see GSP losing at welterweight. Anderson Silva has basically torn through the entire UFC middleweight division and Fedor, well, Fedor seems to be in a league of his own – he just doesn’t lose.

Every time any one of these fighters win (which is pretty much every time they fight), the forums explode with people convinced that fighter-X is the best pound for pound fighter. To be honest, I doubt that 80% of the people making the claims even know what “pound for pound” means.

The term “pound for pound” refers to a fighters strength and skill-set in relation to his size. If for example, BJ Penn (currently fighting at 155 lbs) is considered to be the worlds best “pound for pound” fighter, it does not mean that he can beat Fedor Emelianenko (who fights at approximately 230 lbs).

So who’s the best “pound for pound” fighter? Honestly, who cares? Fedor is the undefeated heavyweight. If you had to class only one man as the “baddest dude on the planet” – it’s Fedor. All four fighters (Fedor, Silva, GSP and Penn) possess nearly perfect skill sets. When the technical skills, cardiovascular conditioning and determination (heart) of two fighters is equal, the decisive factor is almost always size and strength.

But just for the sake of the argument, let’s analyze the fighters and determine who takes the “pound for pound” crown.

BJ Penn: BJ has looked incredible in this last 3 fights. It appears as if he’s really taking his training and conditioning seriously now and to quote Dana White, “an in-shape BJ Penn is a scary dude”. Unfortunately, we can immediately eliminate BJ from the pound-for-pound contention (at least for now) seeing as how Matt Hughes put him in a crucifix pounded his head repeatedly into the octagon canvas like he was violently dribbling a basketball. And of course, he lost to GSP. We’ll see how the re-match turns out now that Penn determined and back in shape.

Georges St. Pierre: Sherdog just posted a similar article profiling the pound-for-pound contenders and the author awarded GSP the crown. Not surprising. I mean, he’s the latest to fight. Like I said before, people seem to get pretty excited when these fighters win and everyone starts making the “Oh my god, (insert fighter name here) is the best ever!” claims.

I can’t completely knock the article though. I mean, the author did bring up some legit points. George St. Pierre has torn through some tough competition with ease. He’s lost twice, but he’s avenged both losses in convincing fashion, so technically, he’s beat everyone that he’s ever faced.

He’s extremely well rounded. He’s been out-wrestling the divisions top wrestlers and passing the guards of BJJ black belts like butter. His stand-up is crisp and on top of all that, he’s freakishly strong. He’s got it all. GSP is a perfect fighter.

Anderson Silva: Anderson’s stand-up skills are just scary. What’s most impressive to me is the way he switches in and out of his fight stances. For someone to be able to transition between a southpaw and conventional stance the way Anderson can – it’s just amazing. With a guy like Anderson, you’d figure the game-plan would be to get the fight to the ground as quickly as possible, but that’s not even much of an option – he’s got a BJJ black belt from the Nogueira brothers.

If there’s any weakness, it’s his wrestling. If a decent wrestler wanted to take him down (as we saw with Henderson), they wouldn’t have any problems taking the fight to the ground. By the same token, if Silva was being out-struck (which doesn’t exactly happen), he would likely have difficulties securing a takedown on anyone with decent takedown defence.

You really have to respect Silva’s decision to fight in both the 185 and the 205 division. The fact that he moved up in weight rather than down just shows what a warrior he is. Brandon Vera made the cocky claim that he would be the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight divisions at the same time and it doesn’t exactly look like that’s going to happen for him anytime soon. But for Silva on the other hand, it’s a definite possibility.

Fedor Emelianenko: When you’re at the top, you’re bound to have haters. Everyone is constantly criticizing Fedor’s level of competition. If you back-track and analyze his past fights, his opponents weren’t pushovers at all (for Fedor maybe, but not to the average MMA fighter).

When Fedor fought Lindland, Lindland was, at the time, the top ranked middleweight fighter in the world (sort of like how Anderson Silva is right now). People dismissed him as legit competition saying that he was 2 weight classes below Fedor (even though they were within 10lbs of each other when they fought). Fedor won and people claimed that it was because he grabbed the ropes (he did NOT grab the ropes!).

Before Lindland, Fedor fought Mark Hunt, who again, people dismissed as legit competition. I don’t understand how fighting someone who has almost a 100lb weight advantage and has victories over MMA’s elite in Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva gets dismissed as a “can”. Fedor wins again – people still criticize.

After Lindland, Fedor fights Hong Man Choi who while inexperienced, is a threat to anyone. Choi is an accomplished K1 level kickboxer and although he only had 1 MMA fight prior to his fight with Fedor, that one fight that he had ended with a devastating first round knockout. Do I think that Choi deserved a shot at Fedor so early in his MMA career – absolutely not! But do I think that Choi is an easy win for most heavyweights out there – absolutely not.

In his latest fight, Fedor dispatched of multi-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in quick, devastating fashion. If you go through all of Fedor’s fights, you’ll see that Fedor is always just a little bit more technical, quicker and smarter than his opponents. It’s almost as if he’s on an entirely different level. His only loss, back in 2000, was due to a cut from what was actually an illegal strike. He later avenged that “loss”.

As a matter of fact, I don’t think Fedor has even lost a round in the last 8 and a half years. Not since his fight with Ricardo Arona in the Rings promotion. It should also be noted that in Rings, Fedor wasn’t allowed to implement his “ground and pound” techniques that he’s known for. If the rules had been different, who knows, perhaps Fedor never would have even lost a round to date.

So all things considered, who’s the best pound for pound fighter?

Everyone is going to have their own opinion on this. It’s not one of these questions that has a concrete answer. It’s all a matter of opinion. I’m writing this article so I’ll say that in my personal opinion, I think that Fedor Emelianenko is not only the best overall fighter in the world (weight not being a factor), but also, I think he’s the best “pound for pound” fighter as well.

What do you think?

Leave a comment below and state your case for who you believe is the best..