BJ Penn is 'happy at 155' and 'too experienced' to look past Frankie Edgar at UFC 112

He cant go 5 minutes without mentioning GSP. He needs to forget about WW! GSP is only getting better and a rematch will be just as one-sided as the last fight (if not worse). Another loss at the hands of GSP and instead of going down as the best LW of all time he will be remembered as the guy who repeatedly got his ass beat down by St. Pierre.

Penn really seems to be in the right frame of mind. After this fight, I’d rather see him defend the belt against someone other than Gray. Maybe Tyson Griffin.

Edgars only chance at winning this would be to try to outpoint him in a 5 rd boxing match. If the fight goes to the ground at BJ’s bidding, Edgar has the scrambling skills to maybe, maybe get back up. On his feet, he’s got pretty quick hands and good footwork so he has a prayer of hanging with BJ in the stand-up, for awhile.

But, as everyone knows, he’s in the snowball’s chance in hell category. But just to show how dominant BJ is at LW, I actually think Edgar has a better chance at beating him than anyone else right now. It would be similar to BJ’s only loss at LW if Edgar were to win, because the Pulver victory would be how he would pull it off. BJ would look dominant for two rounds (maybe almost get a sub— Frankie saved by the bell) and then Edgar would squeak by on his boxing the last three.

Of course, BJ has changed a ton since that first championship fight. I was thinking about Edgar taking him down, but the only way he could do it would be if BJ got off balance throwing a big strike and Edgar shot in. But I have only seen that happen in the first round of his fight against Renzo Gracie, who got his only takedown when BJ threw a big looping hook and Renzo dove under it.

But BJ has improved radically since then. He never overextends himself with his striking now. His boxing is very technically sound, more so then Edgars, and he hits much harder. So good luck there, Frankie. Edgar’s only edge might be hand speed, but even that is debatable.

The big problem with all of the LWs when dealing with BJ’s stand-up is that he hits much harder then all of them. So after the very first real exchange, they all get gun shy (see Stevenson- dropped with first punch, Florian- tentative all fight, and Sanchez- backing up after getting wobbled in the first exchange). Only Sherk has had the guts and the chin to stand in the pocket with him. And then he got KO’d.

So, we’ll have to see with Frankie. Maybe he has a great chin, too. Sucks for him that Penn has a legendary granite chin. Sucks for him that taking BJ down could lose the fight for him, as well.

It’s looking like Penn is perhaps more dominant at LW as anyone in any other weight class. I think Marquardt has a better shot at unseating AS, or someone like say KOs has at beating GSP, than anyone at LW has of beating BJ. Doesn’t mean I rate BJ higher on the P4P list, just think he has a tighter lock on his division than anyone else.

I love this mindset that BJ has. Because this is exactly what I’ve been saying. Just because fans and pundits think somebody doesn’t stand a chance doesn’t mean the fight shouldn’t take place. Penn still has to go thru the motions of camp, staying fit, getting up on fight night and giving his best to beat his opponent. None of those things are sure things. That’s what tells us all who a true champion is. Someone who goes out there night after night and beats up anybody put in their path regardless of the threat they pose. Rack up some title defenses. Beat all the best 155 lbers and cement a legacy before you go up and try to get another belt in someone else’s turf.

I’ll never understand why everyone is so quick to give up on a good thing.

Both physically and mentally. With that said, I think Frankie won’t go away so easily. I think he fights pretty smart and scrambles really well. I think he is going to fair a lot better than people expect. Not saying he will beat BJ but I think it’s going to be a good fight. He’ll have a better showing than Diego I believe.