No problem for him to win, JV???? If BJ wants this fight on the feet that is where it will stay for most of the fight. BJ has some of the best takedown defense in MMA. And he has better boxing, period. That is where the fight will be won, on the feet. You have to admit GSP has not been known for his outstanding striking lately.

his striking was really good against fitch and he already took down bj in their first match up… maybe at equal strenght bj is a bit better than gsp but the size different is going to give the edge to gsp, i don,t see him lose that fight

His striking looked decent agaisn’t Fitch, but Fitch does not have striking anywhere close to BJ. I don’t think GSP threw any punches agaisn’t Serra in their 2nd fight, Koscheck, not really, Hughes, ummm. See, he has not had much confidence in his striking lately and BJ will expose that.

bj has improved cardio..but i guarantee he wont be as fresh in the 3rd or 4th rd as gsp.

Agree with BNF. It seems like GSP lost confidence in his stand up after serra upset and focused more on wrestling and G’n’P

GSPs biggest strenght is His strenght! Wrestling! Look at his first fights in the UFC even when he fights in TKO his biggest strenght was his wrestling. Always known as a wrestling a bjj fighter.

But… i think he prove he STILL can fight on his feet against Jon Fitch. The guy is quick with his jabs and kicks…

GSP improve alot since UFC 58 and if he overpower BJ in the last two rounds with a busted face…

It’s just gonna be worst. I tell you BJ Penn will have no anwser… no first round to exchange with him.

He will tired him out for the first 3 rounds and after that… it’s gonna be a walk in the park.

You know it Jee.

huh, I like how Kevin doesn’t have a life. He replies to himself.
But sorry, Kev, you’re wrong. GSP will win hands down!

-Proof

His wife likes him, so he is jealous.

BNF, TD defence is IRRELIVANT when fighting GSP. He WILL take BJ down AT WILL. SO what if GSP hasn’t used his stand-up as much as you see fit. He was to busy OWNING his opponents with his wrestling and GnP. The thing is, GSP BREAKS his opponents mentally. Serra, Hughes, Kos and Fitch were all broken mentally. All of GSP’s opponents were beaten mentally and that includes BJ. Go rewatch the fights and LOOK at their FACES and tell me they weren’t.

If your definition of wrestler is, being able to take your opponent down and control him on the ground, then GSP is every bit as good if not better. Don’t get me wrong , Randy is a great wrestler, but looking good against Tito isn’t exactly the same as dominating the likes of Hughes,Sherk, Trigg, Kos and Fitch. Not to mention Rashad in training. Randy couldn’t take Chuck down and GSP has taken EVERYONE he’s fought down at will.

Oh WOW Anthony, JUST AWESOME evidance to prove your point!! Like I said, Penn’s is better.

I don’t get where some of these people on here think Penn’s striking is better that GSP’s. His striking against Sherk didn’t impress me, he had a huge reach advantage and he just peppered him over and over again. He won’t have the reach advantage against GSP and he’s not any quicker with his strikes. GSP takes this one. Stronger, faster, bigger, better wrestler, better kicks, better take downs, and superior cardio at 170. If GSP wants this fight on the ground, he will eventually get it there. GSP by UD. If Penn gases, then GSP by tko 4th or 5th round, IMO.

If you wanna talk striking,as much as you say Penn’s striking against Sherk was not impressive, it sure was more affective agasint Sherk than was GSP’s.

Brac: If you’ve watched the 1st GSP-Penn [super]fight, GSP was a little outclassed by Penn in the stand-up department.

Anomaly, let’s just say you are right about the better hands (and you very well could be, BJ has some sweet hands),but this isn’t boxing and there is more to striking than hands. Over all (kick and knees) GSP is the more well rounded striker and wrestling is a part of MMA which GSP will gas and own Penn with. GSP was MORE effective at DISPOSING of Sherk than BJ was. Almost twice as fast. Now, I don’t think Sherk would make it out of the 1st round with GSP.

Penn’s striking was more effective against Sherk because I don’t remember GSP striking at all against Sherk. GSP took the wrestler Sherk down and destroyed him. Did Sherk bleed more against Penn or GSP? GSP. And if I remember, Sherk lasted longer with Penn than he did against GSP. My point is some of you are putting Penn’s striking WAY above GSP’s and I just don’t see it. If you look at both of their striking right now (not their first fight) then I would say their hands are pretty even, but GSP’s kicks are better and his knees are better, making him the better all around striker IMO.

Yeah that was pretty good ill admit. It was the best(and pretty much only) striking ive seen from GSP since he fought Serra(first time), or since ive seen him fight Penn for that matter. Now im not saying GSP’s striking is not good. I just do not understand this notion that his striking has vastly improved since lets say against Jay Heiron, or Matt Hughes(2nd fight).

His last 4 fights or so he has dropped,(not KO’d) one person, Fitch, if im not mistaken, where do you get off saying that THAT, is better then knocking out Hughes or Jay Hieron? The Fitch fight was good, but so was his striking agasint Jason Mayhem Miller. If anybody’s striking is gonna be improved, as in different, I think it’s gonna be Penn’s.

Ill just ask it like this to ALL GSP FANS. I’ll pick teh striking aspect of the game. To all those that are into the whole “he has vastly improved his game, his striking is VERY improved”. Ok lets do this. Lets compare ancient past to very recent and compare yeah?

In which fight was GSP’s striking better? Against Jay Heiron, and agsint Matt Hughes (2nd fight), or agaisnt Jon Fitch? I personally, cannot really choose, cuz I cant see a difference(I am NOT saying GSP’s striking is not good, just not IMPROVED)

When GSP fought Penn, all anyone looks at is the blood, and just assumes that means Penn was doing better. Penn cut him, yea, with a punch that just barely grazed his nose and pretty much missed… sometimes the smallest punches can cut the worst, like with the corner of the glove. unfortunatly his nose bled for pretty much the whole fight, which i guess to some, means that he got out striked the entire time. Penn landed quite a bit of good sharp jabs throughout the fight ( mostly the 1st round) but GSP would answer with legs kicks and punch him right back.
id say niether one of them has GREATLY improved cuz both were already great strikers. although GSP is more versatile and well rounded with his strikes… he snaps off a spinning back kick like its a jab. Penn has more power behind his punches… but GSP is superior.
As far as take downs… GSP takes any one down, anytime he wants too… maybe except for penn who might resist it once b4 he gets taken down. In their fight GSP was able to take him down Definativly several times.
BJ’s flexibility is fantasic tool that does wonders for him but its nothing that GSP cant handle as weve already seen. GSP’s striking is more dynamic, his wrestling is stronger, hes got good JJ, and great stamina. Unless BJ has changed his conditioning routine… he will lose forsure.

NOW we are getting somewhere. Excellent perspective, I agree that not everybody cuts or bleeds as easily, and it is wrong to only go by that. GSP has the versatility, he comes with all different angles, kicks and everything, last time Penn did pretty well though, he also is very very fluid and calm. There was one time GSP threw a leg kick and Penn hoped over it and looked like he was doing the skip it toy. Penn is very elusive and quick, he avoided most damaging shots, GSP might be the better striker techniqually and ill admit probably landed more shots, but I believe Penn avoided, and landed, most of the ones that really count(damage wise).

The ground game now, I believe will just not be a very big factor in this fight, if Penn doesnt want it to be, and I am almost positive he will want to stand most of the time. I don’t think there is ANYBODY out there right now that can hold him down long enough to do any damage. Renzo gracie at middle weight did the longest that ive seen, but it was a complete grappling stale mate, couldnt hurt him at all.

yea when he skipped over that leg kick that was tight. Penn does bring a degree of calmness not seen in many other fighters, he doesnt lose his composure and will never be MENTALLY broken. Penn can out box GSP i believe, but theres more to MMA striking than boxing. (not to take anything away from BJ.. i still love the guy but GSP’s the man).
As for the ground game… for those who can even GET Penn down, theres no keeping him there… ask randy couture. I would say that GSP will not do anything more than land punches for the sake of landing punches until penn is back on his feet; nothing damaging at all. (Unless Penn gases like in the 2nd hughes fight… Hughes pounded the CRAP out of BJs Face)
 I DO beleive that GSP will definatly take him down more than once… which WILL earn him points. And because i feel that both are such great fighters, niether one will b able to finish the other one off. and if it goes to a decision, GSP’s takedowns will b some what of a factor. Of course Penn was able to take GSP down in the first fight as well. but just like penn GSP was able to promptly get back to his feet. They are both on a whole other level.

  As far as cardio goes. GSP is a machine. Yes, GSP looked more tired than ever after fighting BJ. Not many ppl can bring GSP into deep water like that.. but if you have to drain ur gas tank to get him there. its not gonna end up too great. It seems Penns biggest problem is cardio.. this is more of an issue when he moves up to welterweight. Im not sure what weight they are fighting at, but either way… if Penns cardio isnt upto par… i see him fading away in the later rounds. But if hes good to go for 5 rounds it will be one hell of a war.

I agree with you Silas that a huge factor of Penn’s imroved striking, is the conditioning. Now, he can keep that crazy lightning handed pace for longer, which is of course more dangerous.

Regarding the new camp, and winning is winning, I agree, and wasnt argueing that GSP is doing what he needs to do, however, my issue with that is his ability to take Penn down, and then, KEEP him down, which was difficult for him the 1st fight, and that is why I was addressing the striking, cuz I believe, like it or not for GSP, he WILL be striking with Penn for a good 50% of this fight.

Keep in mind YOUR conditioning has a lot to do with your opponent as well. GSP has been challenged very minimally in his fights, fighting people that you can dominate easily becuase you are so good, is not hard for you, and you will definently not fatigue before they do. Now, fighting people that are on your level is a differnt story, ive NEVER seen GSP breath as hard after rd 1 then against Penn, if Penn had cardio to keep pushin, I think we would have finally seen GSP a bit tired. Now im not saying PEnn’s is better then GSP’s, but fighting a fighter that is giving GSP a LEGITAMENT challenge for more than 2 or 3 rounds, we might see GSP not be quite the machine he usually is.

Anomaly, go watch the GSP vs. Sherk fight again, he dropped Sherk with a right and then beat him into pulp on the ground. You can actually hear Sherk wimper when he gets hit by elbows. Complete domination by GSP.

I cannot find the fight anywhere for the life of me. But ive seen it multiple times before and Im alomst positive it was a takedown that led to teh eventual ground and pound, which was made so easy cuz Sherk tried to strike off his back.

Good points Anomaly, but I think we are both looking at that first fight as an indicator of what is to come; just from different angles. I’d say that yes he had a hard time taking BJ down, but he did do it and surprised a lot of people. That was before he got really serious about trying out for the Cdn Olympic wrestling team and when he only had a couple of years of BJJ. I also think my point about him starting fast with strikes these days will help him big time. Anyway, both guys have mad skills and it’s going to be a nasty fight. Can’t wait.

That’s def one thing we can agree on. I have never looked forward to a rematch HALF as much as this. It is crazy, im so excited yet fearful, its been ages since Penn fought somebody that I actually believed had a chance at beating him. As a fan of Penn it definently makes me nervous. I just believe it will be a UFC 46 style upset again, Penn moving up in weight biting off more then he can chew, and then surprises everybody, at least I hope.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5a495da321 Here is a address to watch the fight. He drops him with a right the first 30 seconds and then Sherk gets up and GSP peppers him with jabs, rights (very similar to what penn did), but he also throws some vicious knees and kicks. You are right that he takes him down and then GnP him, but his superior striking made this possible and he didn’t GnP because Sherk was fighting off his back. He GnP because he beat him up on the feet and Sherk was broken. What Penn did to Sherk was very impressive, but to say that is was better than GSP’s standup I don’t think is true. Watch both fights again if you get the chance. I’d like to hear your analysis

As far as in the first 30 sec., Sherk throws an inside leg kick, and GSP grabs it with his left hand while throwing an over hand right kinda punch, which also lands. It was kind of a hybrid take down, im not 100% if it rocked SHerk, it definently hit him and helped GSP take him down, but GSP had a hold of Sherks leg which also had something to do with it I think.

If anything, I will say GSP’s power has increased a bit, judging by his Fitch fight to this. Most of his shots were peppering, and besides the first shot in the begining(which im not 100% sure about), non of the shots really damaged much or landed significantly.

His striking was techniqually good though, superior to Sherk’s of course, and forced Sherk to deal with it enough to have to take attention from take downs. As opposed to being more of a distraction, Penn’s against Sherk just seemed to be more in his face, landing harder and really having worse intentions behind each punch, as Sherk’s face testified to.
It’s just that, to me, with only the striking & without the viscous GnP, im not 100% convinced GSP/Sherk wouldn’t have been a descision.

Wrong. You konw what I mean. Serra’s victory started by winning the stand up in a crazy brawl like exchange. The fight was won at that point, the GnP just sealed the deal. There is a difference between that, and what GSP did to Serra

BOTTOM LINE, no one has yet tried to tell me that GSP’s striking in these fights was better then years ago, against Jay Heiron my previous example. NEVER said GSP’s striking wasnt good, I siad it wasnt IMPROVED, if anybody’s striking is gonna be better then LAST time, its gonna be Penn’s, not that he needed to improve much since last time anyway.

I don’t think his overall striking has really improved much, except for his punching power. He never had that power before the Fitch fight. His wrestling and BJJ has improved a lot, also his aggression.

guess he’s no gonna post it anomoly! never seem him in these parts before, you?

Nah, never have, there is just too many rumors out there, its impossible to take all those into consideration unless they are official and hard facts.

Alright, I’m home from work now and I can respond to the other people’s posts. The name of the magazine is the October edition of FightSport (No 13). Their website is www.fightsportusa.com. I have no idea if this article is available online, but I actually went and bought the magazine to prove the point.

Before I start, I’d like to mention once again that he laughed after saying it, so maybe it’s taken out of context but read further and judge for you. If you go to page 74 and read the middle column you will find the following (I will type exactly as it appears in the magazine):

Interviewer – Why do you want a rematch with GSP so badly?
Supposed BJ Penn – Because I think he takes steroids and he’s a coward (laughs)
Interviewer – You really think he takes steroids? But he has been tested in the past and always passed.
Supposed BJ Penn – There are tests in Mr. Olympia and they pass.

So, it may have been a joke as I will once again qualify, but he never said just kidding and this isn’t the kind of joke I’d say in a print article. Buy the magazine for yourself or better yet one of you can give me your address and I can mail it to you so I can save the match I’m going to use to burn this.

As for a video, as I said it’s a magazine article and it would be quite stupid to print something like this on their side if he didn’t actually say it as there could be repercussions…Once again, the magazine was not called the National Enquirer. Take it for what it’s worth

Finally, I don’t read the Sherdog forums, maybe you should read my post before you automatically stick up for your boy.

Kevin, I don’t hang out on the forums all day long, so when I said I’d post later, I meant just that.

I guess my comment is being looked at by a MOD?

I just went to the website that the article was posted on and it says that they made a mistake printing the steroid comments by BJ Penn. It was printed, but I guess it was a mistake?!?! If my first comment ever gets posted, you can read exactly what was said.

Don’t know why my comment isn’t getting posted, but I would like to say that it was printed in Fightsport magazine (which I saw, not the online story to which there is a headline on the front page of their website), not on Sherdog. Maybe try reading my comment before you mention another website. Secondly…Kevin just because you’ve never seen me here before doesn’t mean I haven’t been, so look down your nose at someone else, I post in a lot of GSP articles.

RRRRRRRR!!! Why don’t my comments show up?

So they just admitted that that statement which you wrote to us from the magazine, was not legit. Is that correct? Good, I didnt think Penn would say somehting like that.

lol, you come at me for saying it’s a fake story that I heard like a month ago, then you say oops it was not correct.. you owe me an apology buddy. lol just kidding, but BJ wouldn’t slander himself!

Hey, I was just reporting on an article I read. I thought you were saying I got it from Sherdog. I read it right…Anyway, no hard feelings…I guess I just misunderstood.

it’s cool bro, just was old news and fake. no biggie.

Shoot, yeah your right, I still do not think that is that big of a difference. Everybody ages diffently, and unless there is like a 10 year difference in my opinion, I think it is not very valid to start playing the “in his prime” or “over the hill” cards.

i never said that BJ’s over the hill, he’s far from it, but Gsp was still able to beat him before Gsp’s prime. Now that Gsp’s in his prime though i think he’ll handle Bj from start to finish.

we wont know either fighters TRUE prime until AFTER they hit their high points and start to decline