BJ Penn is in better shape because he is a Crossfit follower…he will win.
[quote]Matt- wrote:
BJ Penn is in better shape because he is a Crossfit follower…he will win.[/quote]
Maybe so… but he still looks doughy to me.
I think Penn’s ego will get the better of him. He’s walking into this with the wrong mindset. For him, GSP is an “easy” step back toward regaining the title he still claims to hold. Was Penn dominating during his initial run? Certainly.
However, MMA continues to prove itself as the most dynamic sport in existence. Training methodologies, strategies, and fighters are pushing the boundaries and continually redefining the sport as we know it.
I expect GSP to come out on top. He’s coming off some tremendous wins, has a ton of momentum behind him, retains a ring worthiness no amount of training can replace. Compare this to Penn’s whose claim to excellence comes from an “old” cadre of fans, many of whom resent UFC’s newfound exposure. Penn hasn’t been in the octagon for awhile. While I do expect it to be a close fight, Penn’s poor attitude and hubris will compromise his performance.
Penn’s fans cite his win over Hughes as a sure sign of victory. Unfortunately for Penn, GSP has proven to be one of the most evolutionary athletes in the UFC. If you ever sit down and watch his bouts in chronological order, he’s one of the few fighters who improves in a persistent manner from fight to fight.
I expect GSP to be dominating in this match up. I call a KO from GSP on an unsuspecting Penn in the second round.
[quote]zdrax wrote:
I think Penn’s ego will get the better of him. He’s walking into this with the wrong mindset. For him, GSP is an “easy” step back toward regaining the title he still claims to hold. Was Penn dominating during his initial run? Certainly.
However, MMA continues to prove itself as the most dynamic sport in existence. Training methodologies, strategies, and fighters are pushing the boundaries and continually redefining the sport as we know it.
I expect GSP to come out on top. He’s coming off some tremendous wins, has a ton of momentum behind him, retains a ring worthiness no amount of training can replace. Compare this to Penn’s whose claim to excellence comes from an “old” cadre of fans, many of whom resent UFC’s newfound exposure. Penn hasn’t been in the octagon for awhile. While I do expect it to be a close fight, Penn’s poor attitude and hubris will compromise his performance.
Penn’s fans cite his win over Hughes as a sure sign of victory. Unfortunately for Penn, GSP has proven to be one of the most evolutionary athletes in the UFC. If you ever sit down and watch his bouts in chronological order, he’s one of the few fighters who improves in a persistent manner from fight to fight.
I expect GSP to be dominating in this match up. I call a KO from GSP on an unsuspecting Penn in the second round. [/quote]
This is the best analysis that I have read regarding the Penn GSP match!
[quote]ZEB wrote:
Thad wrote:
Looks to be some good fights, what are everyones predictions? I think the main attraction is Penn and GSP but predicting it will be tough. -T
Penn will lose in a very close fight. Or, he will win in a very close fight.
Okay…I’m not sure on that one.[/quote]
Exactly. GSP / Penn is way too close to call.
Honestly, I won’t be upset regardless of who wins. I’d be happy to see either of them whip Hughes’ ass and take the belt.
As for Franklin / Crow, I think that one’s a little too close to call too. David has got those sick elbows and knees, but Rich is one of those guys who’s so well-rounded it’s hard to find a hole in him game.
[quote]zdrax wrote:
Compare this to Penn’s whose claim to excellence comes from an “old” cadre of fans, many of whom resent UFC’s newfound exposure. Penn hasn’t been in the octagon for awhile.[/quote]
Granted he hasn’t been in the octagon in a while, but it’s not like he’s been sitting around all this time. He’s 3 - 1 since he beat Hughes with the loss being at HW to Ryoto Machido.
But I do agree about GSP’s recent dominance and humble attitude being a big positive for him. Just look at the guys he’s run through: Mayhem, Trigg, and Sherk. Those guys definitely aren’t slouches and GSP dominated each one of them like they weren’t even in his league.
edit GSP’s record is better than I realized. I never really looked at it, but his only loss was to Hughes. Considering how he lost - made a mistake, he’s definitely learned from - his record is much more impressive than I previously gave him credit for.
I think if it comes down to striking between Crow/Ace, Franklin has the advantage. I doubt that’ll be a ground match, but I could be and probably am wrong about that. Regarding Penn vs GSP, I think that’ll go to the ground. Honestly, the only Penn fight I saw was him vs. Hughes and GSP seems to be a lot more explosive and powerful than Penn just from what I’ve seen. But we’ll see, I wouldn’t bet on either of those fights though!
yeah since BJ has been out of the UFC he deff. has been fighting…some tough opponets also
argueably the best 155lb fighter in the world Takanori Gomi, who is Pride’s golden boy at 155. who Penn defeated.
Duane Ludwig, rodrigo and renzo gracie…were all bigger than penn was
and his only loss after leaving the UFC was to Ryoto Machida…who knocked out Rich Franklin and Stephan Bonner…so he isn’t a slouch either
i just don’t think that GSP has been war tested yet…he is certainly impressive w/ wins over miller,trigg, and sherk…but none of those guys imposed their will and made GSP dig deep to win those fights…maybe its gsp just being that good. the time he had to dig deep was the Hughes fight which he was dominating and i think he could have fought that armbar…looked like he just gave up to me…i dunno
if i were a betting man…i wouldn’t bet on this fight too close to call…i was upset seeing the UFC book these two to fight…they are my favorite two fighters in the UFC…but excited to see how it turns out
1 hour!!
““Penn’s fans cite his win over Hughes as a sure sign of victory. Unfortunately for Penn, GSP has proven to be one of the most evolutionary athletes in the UFC. If you ever sit down and watch his bouts in chronological order, he’s one of the few fighters who improves in a persistent manner from fight to fight.””
how about his domination of gomi? and renzo gracie?
how many penn fights have you seen?
The problem with citing wins over specific opponents in MMA competition as a measure of a fighter’s ability is that, as I said before, this game changes very quickly. The Gracies have lost credibility in the MMA game because they remain so blindly tied to their style. They believe BJJ can function alone as a complete MMA style. Ironic, given how progressive BJJ was seen to be during its formative years. For the time, yes, they were exceptional. But today’s MMA competition has taken what was useful in BJJ and brought it into a full contact environment.
I believe this is Penn’s shortcoming. He is tied to his ground game and submission trainingb. As a martial artist watching another martial artist (and analyzing with a critical eye), GSP is the most complete, athletic, and technically superb fighter I have ever seen. His economy of movement, his ring savvy, his technique and tremendous athleticism put him at an entirely different level. People say this will be a close fight - I don’t think so. GSP effortlessly blends his stand-up game with his ground game, and makes them effectively inseperable. His ability to “fight” rather than bring a “stand-up” or a “ground” game makes him my go to pick.
worst decision ever
[quote]zdrax wrote:
The problem with citing wins over specific opponents in MMA competition as a measure of a fighter’s ability is that, as I said before, this game changes very quickly. The Gracies have lost credibility in the MMA game because they remain so blindly tied to their style. They believe BJJ can function alone as a complete MMA style. Ironic, given how progressive BJJ was seen to be during its formative years. For the time, yes, they were exceptional. But today’s MMA competition has taken what was useful in BJJ and brought it into a full contact environment.
I believe this is Penn’s shortcoming. He is tied to his ground game and submission trainingb. As a martial artist watching another martial artist (and analyzing with a critical eye), GSP is the most complete, athletic, and technically superb fighter I have ever seen. His economy of movement, his ring savvy, his technique and tremendous athleticism put him at an entirely different level. People say this will be a close fight - I don’t think so. GSP effortlessly blends his stand-up game with his ground game, and makes them effectively inseperable. His ability to “fight” rather than bring a “stand-up” or a “ground” game makes him my go to pick. [/quote]
so what’d you think
GSP got thrown off early with the (illegal) eye poke. Like he mentioned in the post fight interview, he’s never been seriously hurt or bled before. That showed in this bout. To his credit, he clinched and neutralized Penn’s offense. I think this may have been the first time I’ve seen someone truly intimidate GSP.
Penn’s strategy was to capitalize on GSP’s traditionally (over)-aggressive behavior and catch him in an easy sub. I was really impressed with Penn’s early stand-up. His style was very laid back and that messed with GSP’s head. That said, I don’t understand why Penn just sat there when he could have gone for a sweep, or manuevered out of the edge of the octagon later in the match.
Penn’s lethargic approach hurt him at the end of this bout. Penn was unscathed at the end of the match and only slightly winded, versus GSP who took a beating. GSP’s aggressiveness and continual pressure showed favorably on the scorecard. Had Penn turned up the heat after hurting GSP in the first round, I think the outcome could have easily been in Penn’s favor. GSP created opportunities for himself while Penn waited for one to be presented to him.
The way Penn reacted at the end of the fight makes me think that he won’t be coming back any time soon unless the UFC drops a huge load of cash in his lap.
I’m sure this will stir up tons of controversy. The UFC rewards aggressive behavior, ring control, and takedowns, not just pure damage inflicted. Grading GSP on those markers, he’s the clear winner, despite the obvious fact that he took more damage than Penn.
i was looking for you to say something more along the lines of “sorry, i had no idea what i was talking about when i said BJ only had a ground game, so i shouldnt condescend so much next time”
GSP had a great comeback win. Penn looked like he had completely gassed out as he spent the last 3 minutes of roiund three looking at the time.
Franklin/Crow was dissapointing.
Frankilin looked pale and sickly, broke his left hand in round two, and could barely walk after the fight.
Crow looked like both of his hands were broken as he really did nothing except throw a few kicks.
I think that is part of the downside of the sport. Everyone is training so hard that they over due it, injure them self, and then compete gimped. Be interesting to see what Crow’s people have to say.
Way to tough it out though for Rich, 22 and 1 now. Who’s he going to clown next? I hope its Swick
[quote]zdrax wrote:
I’m sure this will stir up tons of controversy. The UFC rewards aggressive behavior, ring control, and takedowns, not just pure damage inflicted. Grading GSP on those markers, he’s the clear winner, despite the obvious fact that he took more damage than Penn.
[/quote]
The thing is he really didn’t take all that much damage though when you think about it. The one cut by his eye was from the illegal thumb. So the damage doesn’t really matter becaue it was done illegally. The only other injury he suffered was a bloody nose which really isn’t anything. It just bleeds like crazy and smears on your face making it look much worse then it really is. You can’t give a guy a W on illegal damage and a bloody nose.
Davids face looked like a jigsaw puzzle when the match was over, holy crap. I’ve never seen an eye swell as much as that. Overall this wasn’t the most exciting UFC I’ve seen but still impressive. I gotta hand it to Franklin though, he is tough as hell and incredibly athletic. Hopefully he can make a full recovery from the broken hand. I wish they would have showed some of the other undercards, we missed like 3 fights.
I’m already on the edge of my seat for the Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie fight in May.
That should be incredible.
Ok, I thought it was overall a pretty good PPV.
First bout was a nice fight and a good win. London (my city) TeamTompkins is making noise. GSP was great fight all the way to the end. BJ looking as good as usual maybe he can add a little more depth to that division if he stays. Franklin/Crow fight…just plain sad. Did Crow think he was winning so he didn’t have to punch or even make it look like he wanted to win? He looked like he was only worried about being hit so he jus blocked/dodged the whole fight, pathetic. Anways overall pretty good, looking forward to next months Heavyweight looks good as usual for the title.
[quote]ScrambyEggs wrote:
zdrax wrote:
I’m sure this will stir up tons of controversy. The UFC rewards aggressive behavior, ring control, and takedowns, not just pure damage inflicted. Grading GSP on those markers, he’s the clear winner, despite the obvious fact that he took more damage than Penn.
The thing is he really didn’t take all that much damage though when you think about it. The one cut by his eye was from the illegal thumb. So the damage doesn’t really matter becaue it was done illegally. The only other injury he suffered was a bloody nose which really isn’t anything. It just bleeds like crazy and smears on your face making it look much worse then it really is. You can’t give a guy a W on illegal damage and a bloody nose. [/quote]
Illegal thumb…he was throwing a punch, I’ve gone over the replay five times and there is no way you can determine from the angle they showed whether or not his thumb or his knuckle poked him in the eye, either way you guys make it sound as if it was intentional which it obviously wasn’t.
I give GSP credit for sticking with it, but three takedowns is his tally for the fight, and that is all he did besides defend subs on the ground and eat jabs on his feet. Just pulling the bullshit lay and pray should not be enough to give someone a W.
And he wasn’t just bleeding, you’ll notice a decent amount of brusing around his right eye as well.