Next Saturday nite, BJ Penn will be making his way to Sydney, Australia to face off in what I think, is going to be the biggest fight in his career. He has had a succesful run at lightweight for such a long time and is regarded as one of the best in that weight class...until he met Frankie Edgar..twice.
Now he has moved back to a higher weight class (commonly a fighter will drop weight to imrpve their skills) BJ has been welterweight and lighweight champ in the UFC club, so why is this so important? I feel it is because it will cement his place in history. He KO'd long time rival (now training partner) Matt Hughes back in Nov 2010 and faces highly regarded Jon Fitch next week for a title shot @ Georges St. Pierre.
This fight is more importnat for Penn than his opponent. Both men have lost (decidedly and without a doubt) to the current champ, GSP. Penn has lost twice, and in the second match via corner stoppage. His own camp (all his family) threw the towel in to stop the beating. The result opened "Greasegate" and accused GSP of cheating, going as far as taking it to the NSAC for a loss appeal (which Penn lost also). If he beats Fitch and goes against GSP, I feel it will be history repeating itself. The Prodigy has developed a new stricking skill shown in his victory over Hughes, but can he mentally prepare himself to go against GSP for a third dance, already down 0-2? UFC 127 will be the invitation for the set-up
Also on the card will be Bisping v. Rivera & Siver v. Sotiropoulos among other fghts on the card. I dont think this is a PPV necessity but you be the judge. We will have commentary after the fight and see how things shape out in their respective divisions
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