UFC 84: BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk

Training
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[quote]Mick28 wrote:
Sherk and Hughes have similar styles and Hughes destroyed Penn. I’m looking for Sherk to do the same. Sherk has freakish endurance and BJ has practically no endurance. I can see how Penn deals with Sherk either on the ground or standing up. I take nothing away from Penn he’s a good fighter, but Sherk is killing machine.[/quote]

First off, BJ Penn and Matt Hughes are 1-1. In the 4 rounds they have fought each other, using every judges scorecard and the finishes BJ won 3 of the 4.

I just simply can’t bother myself to make a drawn out reasoning for this fight. There are so many variables at work, more so than any other major MMA fight in recent history, that a million things can happen. I just honestly have a gut feeling that BJ will destroy Sherk. BJ is super motivated for this fight, more motivated than any other fight in his career. Josh Gross commented than in a recent interview everytime he mentioned Sherk’s name in a sentence BJ said “I’m going to fucking kill him”. I chose to believe BJ.

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[quote]Mick28 wrote:
Did you see BJ toward the end of their more recent fight? He was out on his feet. If Hughes had the confidence to use his fists instead of ground and pound he would have had an easy time of knocking him out.

Why was BJ out on his feet? Two things, Hughes beating on him earlier with ground and pound, something Sherk will do to him, and BJ’s own lack of conditioning.
[/quote]

BJ wasn’t out on his feet from being hit, he was tired as hell from lack of conditioning and having a broken rib. No doubt even he admits the broken rib was due to his own lack of preparation. BJ’s face is rock solid, and even when Hughes had him pinned in that crufix and was beating on his dome BJ wasn’t out or even cut. I have yet to see BJ cut or get hurt from punches.

No, not at all. The only “BJ is in shape!” talk I have heard is in relation to his last two fights, which he dominated. Before that it was “If BJ was in shape he could beat anybody”, which I believe. Prior to the GSP and Hughes II fight he was quite vocal about how little he trained.

BJ is much more than that. He has a superb single leg, and his stand is excellent. Very excellent. He has superb head movement and footwork, sneaky power, and changes levels very fluidly. He has a huge reach on Sherk and will win this fight from the outside whenever it is on the feet.

But, no, I am not going to bet anything, because I believe this fight is 50/50 and if burrito BJ shows up to my surprise I’m not going to be throwing up for his lack of perparation.

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I used to love BJ, but he probably the most disappointing fighter on the planet. This guy has zero conditioning. Not only did he gas out in hughes II and against GSP, fights he should have won, he was freaking gassed after his recent fights with Jens and Joe Stevenson. Sherk has NEVER beeen submitted, has the best cardio in the UFC, and is a better wrestler at 155 than GSP or Hughes at 170.

Sherk is not going to win via lay’n’pray like all the BJ nuthuggers are saying… He is going to win by KO from GnP in the 4th or 5th and BJ’s face is going to look like beef stew for about 2 weeks.

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I take Penn over Sherk. Lets look at their mutual opponent in GSP. After the fight with Penn, GSPs nose was broken and he was looking bad, Penn didn’t have a mark on his face. The decision of who the winner of the fight was could have gone either way. GSP scored more takedowns, Penn did more damage.

When Sherk fought GSP, GSP made him look like a little kid, and Sherk was mangled in the second round. Penn has fought top light heavyweights and gone the distance with them, Sherk was too small for 170.

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[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
We’re 3 weeks away from this fight going down. I’ve been looking forward to it since BJ won the Lightweight title back in Jan.

How do you all think the fight is going to play out?

I really want BJ to win, but I have visions of Sherk weathering a Penn storm for 2 rounds, then laying-and-praying his way to a 48-47 decision. I don’t see Sherk being able to stop Penn, but I’m not entirely sure Penn will be able to submit Sherk, who’s strong as hell.

BJ’s cardio is always a question but I think he’ll come into this fight in great shape. He has great takedown defense and if he can keep the fight standing, or at least punish Sherk a bit before getting taken down, then I think eventually BJ will catch him; either by KO or submission.

Basically what I’m saying is I see this fight going either way. I’ll go with what I want to see and say that BJ wins by a 3rd round TKO.

As for the 2 other big fights:

Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
This is do-or-die territory for Wand. He needs to win to stay credible in the division. A loss would be his 4th straight and would knock him well down the list of contenders. Jardine is coming off a big win over Liddell, but hasn’t fought in a while.

Jardine likes to engage, which always makes for an exciting fight. We’re unsure of how good his ground skills are, though, and that’s where Wand has a slight edge. This will be an all-out brawl and should be great to watch.

Prediction: Silva by KO.

Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Everyone seems to like Machida in this one. I can see why. Guy has an unorthodox style for MMA, but he gets his opponents to fight his kind of fight, and ultimately wins every time. Tito’s future is up in the air. Will it be his last fight in the UFC? I think we’ll see a very-motivated Tito Ortiz in this fight.

He’d like nothing better than to beat Machida, then stick it to Dana White and co. and bolt the company - or do what he did last time and hold out for 6 months until they pay him what he wants. We all know Tito’s gameplan…takedown and ground-and-pound.

Prediction: Ortiz by UD.[/quote]

frankly im not a huge fan of sherk. mainly because i haven’t seen many of his fights. so im going for BJ on this one. terrible reasoning, but bj isss part korean.
bj via UD

silva vs jardine. you said it. do or die. i have no doubt in my mind that dana would release wand from his contract if he loses to jardine. it seems to be the trend these days. but i dont think silva is gonna lose this one. although jardines a terrible fight for silva, im gonna have faith that he’s gonna make a big splash with this fight. silva via ko 2nd round

i really hated tito, but you cant not like the guy. he is a solid fighter, whether hes on tv or not. he’s got character and charisma, something most ufc fighters dont have. machida is undefeated. hes been around but im still like who the hell is this guy? not a spectacular fighter, but tito should push the action… machida needs to be tested with pressure.

tito via split decision :X

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[quote]chitown34 wrote:
I used to love BJ, but he probably the most disappointing fighter on the planet. This guy has zero conditioning. Not only did he gas out in hughes II and against GSP, fights he should have won, he was freaking gassed after his recent fights with Jens and Joe Stevenson. Sherk has NEVER beeen submitted, has the best cardio in the UFC, and is a better wrestler at 155 than GSP or Hughes at 170.

Sherk is not going to win via lay’n’pray like all the BJ nuthuggers are saying… He is going to win by KO from GnP in the 4th or 5th and BJ’s face is going to look like beef stew for about 2 weeks.[/quote]

you are in for a ruuuude awakening buddy
i wonder how many fighters in this WORLD can keep up with matt hughes and GSP…

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If BJ comes in shape, I think he will kill Sherk. But that’s always the question with BJ.

BJ by second round TKO.

I really hope Wandy gets his shit together and beats the ugly off Jardine like I know he can. Keith’s style just begs for Wandy murder.

Axe Murderer by round one KO.

Tito and Machida I kind of expect to be a snore fest, just a gut feeling.

Machida by UD?

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It’s great to read everyone’s really intelligent posts surrounding the match-ups. However, way too many references to Hughes in support of Penn rather than citing GSP. Seriously, GSP is hands down #1 at welter, christ, he has basically sent Hughes into retirement. He may not have looked as dominating as some would have thought against Serra, but you gotta give the guy a little credit for protecting his nugget and insuring the victory. I hope we don’t see more of that protective style of fighting from GSP in the future cuz the dood can just flat out bring it from every angle and is inarguably the best all around fighter at 170.

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[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
chitown34 wrote:
I used to love BJ, but he probably the most disappointing fighter on the planet. This guy has zero conditioning. Not only did he gas out in hughes II and against GSP, fights he should have won, he was freaking gassed after his recent fights with Jens and Joe Stevenson. Sherk has NEVER beeen submitted, has the best cardio in the UFC, and is a better wrestler at 155 than GSP or Hughes at 170.

Sherk is not going to win via lay’n’pray like all the BJ nuthuggers are saying… He is going to win by KO from GnP in the 4th or 5th and BJ’s face is going to look like beef stew for about 2 weeks.

you are in for a ruuuude awakening buddy
i wonder how many fighters in this WORLD can keep up with matt hughes and GSP… [/quote]

Did you watch Penn vs Hughes II? Yes, BJ was impressive in the first two rounds as he always is. No one is disputing that. Watch his first fight with Jens. He absolutely dominated the first 2 rounds. Same with GSP, he was winning early. Unfortunately for BJ, he has to fight Sherk for 5 rounds.

In Jens 1 he lost three straight rounds and gave up a decision. Against Hughes II he gassed, got taken down, and Hughes won by stoppage. Against GSP, Penn gassed and gave up the third round. I strongly believe BJ will win the first, maybe even the second round against Sherk.

However, as I stated before, Sherk has NEVER been submitted and if BJ doesn’t submit him in the first two rounds he is in serious trouble. Sherk will exhaust Penn with the pace he sets, and I think by the 4th round BJ will be dead tired, dropping his hands, and giving up the easy shot.

If Penn got in really good shape and is able to hang with Sherk for 5 rounds, he will win because he is the better fighter. Do I think he will show up in shape? Hell no.

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BetUS has the odds currently at -185 Silva, +145 Jardine.

Interesting. But I’m not putting any money down on this fight. (I’ve learned the hard way)!

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[quote]Damici wrote:
BetUS has the odds currently at -185 Silva, +145 Jardine.

Interesting. But I’m not putting any money down on this fight. (I’ve learned the hard way)![/quote]

Damn, that makes it tempting… I really have a gut feeling that Silva is going to rip Jardine’s head off, but I’ve been dead-ass wrong in the past, and MMA has shown us countless times that hell does freeze over at UFC events.

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Truthfully, although I don’t see Silva vs. Jardine going the distance, I wish they could make the more intriguing fights (like this one) 5 rounds on the off chance that it does go the distance.

If Liddell / Jardine went 5 rounds, who knows what the outcome would’ve been? Maybe Chuck would’ve eventually caught Jardine . . .

If Liddell / Silva had gone 5 rounds – man!! THAT wouldn’t been interesting! I think either Silva would’ve eventually gotten knocked out OR, since Chuck was tiring, Wandy might’ve gotten his wits together and turned the tide somehow. Maybe it would’ve been a full 5-round brawl without either guy finishing the other. But it would’ve been great.

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[quote] I really hope Wandy gets his shit together and beats the ugly off Jardine like I know he can. Keith’s style just begs for Wandy murder.

Axe Murderer by round one KO. [/quote]

I have so much respect for Wandy…he’s amazing. However, there is absolutely no fucking way he can beat the ugly off Jardine. As great a fighter as he is, he is epically ugly. Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Rocky Marciano could not beat the ugly off Jardine if they fought him at the same time. He will always retain the ugly. But, Wandy by TKO round 2.

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[quote]danew wrote:
I really hope Wandy gets his shit together and beats the ugly off Jardine like I know he can. Keith’s style just begs for Wandy murder.

Axe Murderer by round one KO.

I have so much respect for Wandy…he’s amazing. However, there is absolutely no fucking way he can beat the ugly off Jardine. As great a fighter as he is, he is epically ugly. Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Rocky Marciano could not beat the ugly off Jardine if they fought him at the same time. He will always retain the ugly. But, Wandy by TKO round 2.

[/quote]

You do have a point there.

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bj in 2nd round by kemora.
wanderlai in 2nd by tko.

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As much as I want Jardine to lose, he keeps winning. I say he takes it by decision after delivering a brutal beating to Wandy’s legs via shin kicks.

BJ by sub. Time to take the title!

Ortiz and Machida could go either way. I’m a fan of both of their fighting styles so as long as they keep pushing the action I’ll be happy.

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Sean Sherk by GnP TKO round 4(when BJ Penn is so tired he cant stand up)

Wanderlei Silva by Matt Brown round 2

Silva will chase Jardine down (unlike Liddel who allowed Jardine to set the pace) and beat him silly

Machida in round 2. Either by knockout or submission.

Ortiz is done in the UFC and is living on past glories…