I just read that Dana White is looking to pit Penn against Jon Fitch on the February 27th card in Australia. I love the matchup. Fitch is like GSP-light with great takedowns, endless cardio and a deep mental toughness. The winner of the fight will likely be right behind Jake Shields for a shot at the 170 pound title. It makes me feel a little bad for Fitch. The guy has already won 5 straight since losing to GSP including wins over Thiago, Saunders and Alves. And now he has to beat BJ Penn? That's one long road back to a title shot. With the addition of Shields and now Penn, 170 just became an interesting division. The idea of Penn campaigning at 170 and not just a one-and-done move up, seems like a good decision.
fighting penn is the next best thing for fitch aside from a title shot, which he's not getting anytime soon nor does anyone even care to see him get one. at least he'll get to fight a legend and possibly add another significant W to his ledger.
Fitch should be getting the next title shot. He deserves it way more than Shields does. He's basically beaten everyone not named GSP. I'd rather see BJ vs Shields, that would be an epic grappling match.
I agree with this. Fitch has done enough to get the winner of GSP-Koscheck. Meanwhile, BJ and Shields would be an interesting matchup and the winner would 100% be the top challenger.
But in the end it's all about money and making people order the ppv. Fitch is a hard sell because he's as exciting as watching grass grow. Plus on top of that GSP kicked his ass already. It would be an extremely hard sell. Picture this UFC 139 GSP VERSUS that boring decision guy who GSP already dominated before....Dana is smart he is hoping somebody more marketable comes along and beats Fitch
You are exactly right on every point. Fitch in a rematch is a horrible sell. That is exactly why the UFC continues to avoid doing it. They keep throwing tough guys at Fitch and hoping he trips up. The problem is that Fitch, boring or not, keeps winning. But he never looks exciting in doing it. The good thing for the UFC is there are good fights popping up at 170 that don't involve recycled challengers for GSP. Shields, Condit, Diaz, Kampmann and my boy Chris Lytle are all putting themselves in the mix. And now Penn makes it even more interesting. The problem is I think Fitch beats all of them including Penn and Shields. Sadly Fitch really is the best guy at 170 south of GSP. He deserves another shot regardless of how the first fight went and regardless of how boring he is.
Fitch has only beaten Thiago Alves out of the entire top 15 right now. His resume is pretty overrated, though he has beaten a ton of tough guys. I think Shields is more deserving. HE beat Kampmann who is better than Alves IMO, who was really weight drained at the time of the fight, and he just came down from being probably one of the top ranked MWs and beating Dan Henderson who's much bigger as well as Mayhem. I think Fitch loses to BJ. The only guy he's fought recently who's any good off his back swept him and controlled him in GSP and his takedowns aren't exactly GSP-esque, as shown by GSP himself and Mike Pierce. Diego fought him close too. BJ has GSP-like TDD. And unlike GSP and Edgar, Fitch cannot hold his own on the feet with BJ.
Exactly. I think if in the end they are forced to do GSP/Fitch II they should co-main event with it because if they headline with that fight I sure won't go watch it. People wouldn't mind it that much if the show was headlined with some proper main event fight and have Gsp/Fitch co-headline.
Don't revise history. Thiago was undefeated and had just knocked out Koscheck when Fitch schooled him. Saunders had just knocked out Marcus Davis when he met Fitch. And Alves, weight drained or not, had beaten everyone put in front of him except GSP and Fitch. Not matter how you spin or slice it, Fitch is 13-1 in the UFC with the only loss being to one of the Top 2 or 3 pound-for-pound guys in the world. I am the biggest Jake Shields fan on the planet and he absolutely deserves a title shot. It's just too bad for Fitch because the guy just keeps winning. Personally I don't know why Fitch and Shields couldn't have been matched to decide the next shot. And on the Penn-Fitch match, Penn has great takedown defense at 155 but he's shown issues with it at 170. GSP had no problems taking him down. Hughes in their second fight managed it. And Fitch hits about what? 80-85% of his takedown attempts at 170? I think staying on his feet against Fitch will be a big challenge for Penn.
GSP had no problems taking him down the SECOND fight. Plus Hughes only took BJ down when BJ broke his rib and was damn near dead. GSP is a much better grappler than Fitch though and used grease. Ben Saunders isn't very good, the others are, but the point being none is effective off of their back. Especially Saunders, he got cut for that exact reason. GSP swept Fitch and I think BJ can too. Plus I think Shields beats Fitch clearly. Everyone who says Fitch would win that fight easily hasn't seen those two grapple against each other. Shields sweeps him at will. I think if Fitch gets him down, he gets swept.
I have friends that have seen them grapple against each other live and all of them say its practically a dead even matchup. The sad thing is they all say Fitch has better stand up and that is really saying how bad Shield's stand up is.
I can't dispute this but according to Rogan and videos on the net, Shields tools Fitch in grappling. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kKTgWUYsNB8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kKTgWUYsNB8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Oh geez. Even BJ dropped that nonsense. Regarding Shield-Fitch, over the years I have thought many guys would win easily and they ended up getting their asses handed to them. That's why they actually fight rather than just speculate. When's the last time you saw BJ easily sweep anyone? And at 170? Not a chance. If Fitch can take BJ down, it's a bad night for BJ. Period.
That was good stuff TLC, nice video. I called my friend who trained down there with Fitch. He said he was talking about mma fighting more so. I admit, he kind of changed his tune a little when I brough up this video. Not so sure how reliable of a source he is anymore. Good Shit TLC.
I don't think there is any question that Shields has grappling that is on a different planet than, not just Fitch, but almost anyone in MMA. Hell, his grappling is SO good that he has managed to become one of the best fighters in the world with very poor stand up. That being said, I would still love to see Shields-Fitch in an MMA match. Fitch has realistically been the #2 WW in the UFC for some time. Only GSP clearly has his number. So it only makes sense that a title shot should run through Fitch in my opinion. Remember, I am the one that was ridiculed for having Shields in my top 5 P4P so I think very highly of the guy. But much like Belfort's shot at Silva, I think he needs to do a little more in the UFC to earn a fight with GSP.
Really? So that's the last time? 4+ years ago? As I said, BJ would have difficulty at 170 with Mr. Human Velcro himself, Jon Fitch.
He asked who BJ has swept at 170, and I named Matt Hughes which he pointed out how long ago that was, but the question was unfair to begin with considering BJ hasn't even been fighting at 170 in a long time.
Actually, I didn't limit it to 170. Tell me anyone that BJ's easily swept in recent fights? Has he even had to? I can only remember him getting taken down by GSP and Edgar recently and I don't remember him sweeping either. I will check out any examples you know. I just personally don't think BJ has done anything remarkable off his back for sometime. When you combine that with a bigger guy with great takedowns and top control, it spells trouble. I would love to pick BJ in this fight and will listen to any reasoning that gives him a shot.
Ok, now it makes sense, sorry dude just call me slow. But Trpl just made a great point, I never saw BJ sweep Edgar and that fight was just recently and Edgar is 155 soaking wet at best. He will have his hands full with Fitch.
BJ escaped to standing everytime Edgar took him down though. He wasn't trying to sweep, he was stupidly trying to KO Frankie.
I think Edgar got the takedown and then basically let it get back to standing. Regardless, it doesn't answer the question as to when was the last time BJ had success sweeping anyone or being effective of his back.
I would have liked to see BJ fight Maynard. Maynard would have got the takedown and BJ would have had to fight off his back, which in my mind would have led to Maynard getting tapped.
I think I stated it in a thread about whether BJ would be champion again, but I think if Maynard beats Edgar, Penn could be the LW Champ again. At 155 pounds I think BJ would have a good chance at stuffing takedown attempts by Maynard. And if it got to the ground, BJ's wouldn't be at a size disadvantage and could work well off his back. But it looks the UFC is going to keep him at 170 for awhile.
