Random Rant: Penn at lightweight might not be a great idea

The more I think about it, the less I like the idea of B.J. Penn possibly fighting Sean Sherk for the UFC lightweight title in November.

While I’m not a big fan of how B.J. comes off in public at times, I’m a huge fan of his talent. Does he deserve a shot at the lightweight title? Yes, but only if he’s committed to the 155 pound division.

I realize why the UFC is interested in having Sherk vs. Penn, it’s clearly the biggest marquee match the division has to offer and will help create more awareness for the 155 pounders.

While it makes sense in the short-term, how much does it make in the long-term?

It’s uncertain as to how long Penn would like to remain at lightweight. He’s made it clear he doesn’t like to make the cut and his plan is to return to welterweight sooner rather than later. He might only have 1-2 fights in him at lightweight, if that.

So the UFC might be able to give us a hell of a match at 155 pounds this November but what happens next if Penn wins? Will he keep the title and continue to represent the lightweight division? Or, will he drop the title and move on to greener pastures?

I love the UFC’s lightweight division but if Penn wins the title and doesn’t respect it enough to keep it, it makes the division not look as meaningful as it should. Whoever becomes the next title holder will look like a second class fighter because he didn’t beat Penn for the title.

Another scenario to consider is what if Sherk wins? That would give Penn three losses in his last four UFC fights. While losing to Sherk wouldn’t kill his career, it would put him in a deep hole as far as needing to rack up a lot of wins before he can fully restore his stock.

I have no problem if Penn doesn’t want to fight at lightweight. Personally, I would prefer him to move back at welterweight. He’s too good not to try and rebound and make another run at the elite fighters at 170 pounds such as Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. The dynamic of having three studs at welterweight in Hughes, GSP, and Penn could make for the most electric weight class in all of MMA. They’ve all fought each other before but I could watch them fight each other for years. It’s like when the Fabulous Freebird, the Midnight Express, and Rock ‘N’ Roll Express fought each other over and over in the NWA/WCW. Those matches never got old.

Regardless of whether he fights at lightweight or welterweight, someone who isn’t passionate about the lightweight division shouldn’t be fighting for the title. There’s no doubt Penn would be a tremendous asset at 155 pounds but the UFC has enough depth at lightweight that it doesn’t need Penn to compete there in order for the division to strive. There is no shortage of potential future challengers for Sherk with fighters such as Roger Huerta, Kenny Florian, and Joe Stevenson ready for title shots.

The long-term future of the division is sound with Thiago Tavares, Clay Guida, Tyson Griffin, and Frank Edgar. Then you have tested veterans such as Hermes Franca, Spencer Fisher, and Sam Stout. Hell, I also forgot about Marcus Aurelio and the TUF 5 fighters such as Nate Diaz, Manny Gamburyan, Gray Maynard, and Joe Lauzon. I’ve just rattled off a cavalcade of fighters and I’m still sure I left someone out.

If Penn can’t commit to the division long-term then he shouldn’t be allowed to fight for the title. One solution that might satisfy all parties involved is to have Penn compete in both divisions on a simultaneous basis. It would be a brutal schedule but if anyone is talented enough to compete for titles in two separate weight classes, it’s Penn.

Possible future UFC matchups

It appears there is some news coming out of last night’s post-UFC 73 press conference. UFC president Dana White apparently said that a rematch between Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz is in the cards. both fighters campaigned for it. Also, Ortiz claimed afterwards that he injured his back two weeks ago while training for the fight. Gee, Tito claiming injury after a fight? Wow, that’s so unlike him.

There’s also a lot of talk about matchups between B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the lightweight title and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko Cro Cop (if he beats Cheick Kongo at UFC 75) in November.

White also is believed to have confirmed that Anderson Silva’s next title defense will be against Rich Franklin in Cincinnati on October 20.

When asked about the future of Pride, White commented that in order for the promotion to continue they must secure television deals in Japan and or the U.S. In the meantime, Zuffa will continue to try and sign Pride fighters for the UFC and the WEC. Some of you may have noticed that Hayato Sakurai was shown sitting cageside. It’s unknown if he’s officially signed but when would assume so. Whether he fights in the UFC or WEC is currently unknown but White did say on The Scott Ferrall Show on Saturday that a lot of the fighters in the lighter weight classes from Japan will be featured in the WEC.

Penn’s camp denies reports he’ll fight Sanchez in August

Josh Gross of Sherdog.com has filed a second report that contradicts a story he initially reported earlier in the week. The original report, which had listed Gross on the byline but now lists the Sherdog.com staff, claimed that an anonymous source had informed the site that B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez had agreed to fight on the undercard of UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas.

Gross is now reporting that Penn’s camp has informed Sherdog.com that Penn will not be facing Sanchez in August. However, they did not rule out the possibility of the matchup taking place at a later date.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Report: Sanchez vs. Penn at UFC 74

According to Sherdog.com, B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez have both agreed to fight each other on the undercard of UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A UFC heavyweight title match between Randy Couture and Gabriel Gonzaga will serve as the card’s main event.

The report is surprising because UFC president Dana White said recently that Penn was in the mix for a UFC lightweight title shot following his dominating win over Jens Pulver during the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 5. However, fighting Sanchez at 170 lbs. doesn’t mean he can’t drop back down again before the end of the year and fight the winner of this weekend’s UFC lightweight title bout between Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca.

A TV station in Albuquerque, NM had claimed in the past that Sanchez would be fighting Hayato Sakurai from Pride but it’s looking like that won’t be the case at this point.

I’m looking forward to this match between Sanchez and Penn. I think Penn will win the bout but I expect Sanchez to come back strong following a disappointing loss to Josh Koscheck several months back. Sanchez didn’t look like himself and it was later reported that he was sick. Sometimes injury excuses are bogus but in the case of Sanchez, I think it was legit because it was other people who revealed the information. He’ll be motivated for Penn and I expect a war.

A second consecutive loss for Sanchez would hurt him but he’s a favorite of the UFC so it won’t kill his career. Kudos to Sanchez and the UFC for putting together this match instead of trying to toss him a layup.

Read the report here.

Thoughts on TUF 5 Finale

I watched last night’s live finale of the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter. I thought it was a so-so show.

The production was terrible last night. It seems like they misfired a lot of pre-recorded stuff and played it during times when Mike Goldberg was supposed to speak live. The pacing of the show also sucked, due in large part to how quick the first two matches were. It was great seeing two matches that were taped during the preliminary portion of the show. However, there are just too many commercials. It felt like we were being punished because the first matches ended so quickly and that we got pelted with more commercials than usual. I really wish the UFC would have gotten a deal with HBO because it would have been a way to see cards without paying $39.95 and not having to deal with commercials.

I also wish the UFC would start covering their events like it was a sporting event. Why do we have to see a Shannon Lee interview? I realize Spike wants Bruce Lee Day promoted, but just do a live read or a pre-recorded advertisement. If you’re going to interview someone, why not last words from B.J. Penn or Jens Pulver (as opposed to regurgitated comments from the “Bad Blood” TV special)? I really thought they did a poor job of promoting the main event during the telecast. Or, they could have interviewed Tito Ortiz and or Rashad Evans in order to hype UFC 73 in two weeks.

Another thing they used to do which I miss is that Joe Rogan would interview Dana White in the crowd for a few minutes and Dana would give a quick state of the UFC type speech. Ask him about Pride or Fedor and have him say the same things he’s been saying in interviews. Have we heard it before? Yes, but it still would be a better way to fill time than what they do now. And besides, not everyone has heard of or heard about Fedor.

My comments on the matches and fighters:

Roger Huerta vs. Doug Evans – Evans looked solid and once again I must complement the UFC on the scouting they’ve been doing recently. They aren’t relying on Pride for new talent, they are scouring the world for young fighters. They are getting a lot of good young Brazilian fighters and a lot of strong fighters from the smaller shows in the U.S. A lot of people seem to be turning on Huerta from what I’ve been reading in the forums but I think he’s legit. He didn’t dominate last night but Evans was better than advertised and Huerta took the fight on short notice so who knows if he was even in training.

Thales Leites vs. Felix Sword – I was impressed by what I saw from Leites. As for Sword, not so much. I’d be real interested in seeing Leites fight against better competition.

Joe Lauzon vs. Brandon Melendez – Melendez looked better than I thought and Lauzon looked good, but not great. Lauzon definitely belongs in the UFC but is he championship material? I’m not so sure.

Gray Maynard vs. Rob Emerson – I am glad this match was shown. The ending was too strange not to get immediate coverage on TV. It wasn’t the type of thing we should have had to read about on the Internet and then wait until the DVD came out so we could watch the extras. I really have an issue with the decision. Yes, Maynard was clearly out. However, he never tapped! Emerson is the one who quit. And I realize the referee has the right to stop the fight if someone is unconscious, however, Steve Mazzagatti  (did Bruce Buffer pronounce his name three different ways last night?) didn’t immediately respond to Maynard. As soon as he saw Emerson tap that was it. He stopped the match in response to Emerson’s actions, not Maynard. I don’t like the fact that they made a ruling on the fight after the fact.

Nate Diaz vs. Manny Gamburyan – This match left a sour taste in my mouth but you really can’t be mad at anyone. The fighters can’t be held accountable because they are doing the best they can. The UFC can’t be held accountable because they don’t control what happens during a fight. Gamburyan’s shoulder re-injury was just a freak thing. He’s a tough dude so if he’s tapping from the pain then you know it must have been bad. But while one freak ending during a fight card makes the night more interesting, a second freak ending is one too many. Especially when the winner of the TUF 5 finale is decided as a result of it. Yes, I know Manny will be in the UFC even though he lost but we all invested so much time into the show with the center of attention being which of the 16 contestants would win. To see Diaz win on a technicality when he’s the type of fighter that doesn’t need a technicality to win, sucked. Not to mention, the fight was really good up until the point. Some of you disagreed with me picking Manny over Nate, but Gamburyan clearly won the first round. I know they went by the rules, but I would have loved to see the match declared a no-contest and that the winner of TUF 5 would be decided on a later date. Important outcomes shouldn’t be decided on freak injuries.

B.J. Penn vs. Jens Pulver – I guess I was disappointed because this was nothing like their first match in 2002. Jens fought his ass off and did a great job of getting out of submissions, but as much as I hate to say it, B.J. Penn dominated him last night. Penn landed the harder punches and really controlled the pace on the ground. Penn jumped on Jens and never let up. Penn looked to be the best shape I’ve seen him in for quite some time. You know, he’s fought at 155 lbs. before but he looked emaciated compared to the way he looked last night. Penn cut to 155 lbs. but still had some muscle mass. If he really has re-dedicated himself to conditioning then there is no reason for him to fight another match at 155 lbs. He should go right back to 170 lbs. and fight the top guys at welterweight. If Penn is in top shape, then there’s nobody in the world that can stop him. I’m really excited that Pulver is going down to 145 lbs. I am a huge fan of his and if he wasn’t able to drop, I think retirement might have been his only option. When he returned to the UFC, the WEC wasn’t even a twinkle in Zuffa’s eye so fighting at 145 lbs. for the company wasn’t an option even though it’s his best weight class. It’s kind of funny how things worked out? Oh, my biggest issue of the night was the fact that B.J. pulled that crappy stunt and told us all to go to his web site if we wanted to know what he thought. Total BS. The UFC pays him a lot of money to fight in big matches. After such a buildup, the UFC has a right to his post-fight comments. If I was Dana White, I would fine his ass for refusing an interview request from a Zuffa employee. I know nobody says anything in those interviews anyway, but Jens’ comments were interesting and I wanted to hear B.J.’s side of things and not a marketing ploy! And yes, like a sucker I went to his site to see if he said anything noteworthy, but the damn thing had crashed!

Thoughts on tonight’s TUF 5 finale…

After a strong show last night from Strikeforce and EliteXC, I’m in the mood for more MMA and am looking forward to tonight’s live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET.

I believe four matches are scheduled to be televised but I only have time to give my thoughts on the main three.

B.J. Penn vs. Jens Pulver – I will be rooting for Pulver all the way in this one but if I have to make a pick, it has to be Penn. Pulver has a ton of heart but the 155 lbs. division has change in recent years. It’s like a refuge for new welterweights in the UFC who don’t want to be buried in an already overcrowded division. So those who could make the cut, have done it. Pulver was a small lightweight to begin with but the size difference isn’t even more pronounced. As for Penn, you never know which version you’re going to see but whether he’s in shape or not, his technique is flawless. Pound-for-pound there aren’t many better pure fighters than him in the world. After tough losses to Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes, the drop in weight for a temporary period made sense. However, Penn really doesn’t want to fight lightweight and there’s always a chance he moves back to 170 pounds right after this fight (there’s enough depth in the lightweight division now that Penn isn’t necessarily needed). The only reason why he’s making this drop is to get another shot at Pulver stemming from their controversial match five years ago. Once this fight is over, will Penn really want to keep making the cut? Perhaps he’ll be in line for a lightweight title shot, but how important is the lightweight title if he doesn’t plan to defend it? Why let a guy fight for a title in a weight class when he doesn’t intend to stick around. It kind of makes the title look unimportant. As for Pulver, I’m a huge fan of his and am really happy to know he’s open to the idea of fighting in the WEC at 145 lbs. He’s a true featherweight. After losing to Joe Lauzon last year, I was kind of worried as to what Pulver’s long-term future would be like but thanks to the WEC, there’s a long-term plan for him with Zuffa. While I strongly believe Penn is going to win, Pulver isn’t going to go out like a punk and this should be an entertaining match while it lasts.

Roger Huerta vs. Doug Evans – Evans is undefeated and a very credible fighter but he’s been brought in to lose to the UFC’s next lightweight cover boy in Huerta. I expect a quick and decisive victory for him.

Nate Diaz vs. Manny Gamburyan – Most people are picking Diaz but I’m going with Manny. The guy is one tough dude and a tough matchup because of his fighting style. He just runs in and body locks his opponent in an effort to prevent them from executing their game plan. Diaz is a very talented fighter but he showed some holes vs. Corey Hill and if Gamburyan gets a hold of him, how much of his offense will he be able to utilize? This might not be the most exciting fight in the world because of Gamburyan’s style, but I’m still interested in it because I am not really sure how it’s going to go and I want to see how things play out.

Lauzon considering move to Hawaii

There’s a really good article on InsideFighting.com that manages to do what the TUF cameras couldn’t: capture Joe Lauzon’s unique story and tell it to an audience.

Lauzon will be fighting on the undercard of Saturday’s TUF 5 finale. When it’s all said and done, he’ll need to get back home in time to be at his IT job by Monday.

However, Lauzon is being recruited to live his job and move to Hawaii and train… with B.J. Penn:

“BJ has talked to me a couple of times about coming to Hawaii where he is to train. He said he has a fighters’ house and that I could stay there for one to two years and just train. But my student loans are $800 a month. I went to kind of an expensive school and was kind of setting the path for working full time and not to be scraping by. And when you are a full time fighter you kind of are scraping by. Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture are doing well but most full time fighters are not at that level.”

Lauzon goes on to say that he’s been looking into IT jobs in Hawaii.

To read the entire article, check out:

http://www.insidefighting.com/betweenRoundsDisp.aspx?uid=3705

B.J. Penn addresses future in the lightweight division

I recently conducted an interview with UFC lightweight contender B.J. Penn and it’s available now on CBS Sportsline at:

http://www.sportsline.com/mmaboxing/story/10230886

In the interview we discuss exactly why he dislikes Jens Pulver; whether he sees the lightweight division as his long-term home; and whether or not he believes that he and Pulver will shake hands and bury the hatchet after they fight Saturday on the live season finale of the fifth installment of The Ultimate Fighter.

Pulver could be WEC-bound

I did not hear it live, but there are reports circulating that Monte Cox said on Sherdog Radio today that after his bout with B.J. Penn during the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter on June 23, Jens Pulver will go to the WEC and fight in the 145 pound division.

Featherweight is definitely a better class for Pulver but the announcement is a little perplexing. I mean, what if Pulver beats Penn and earns a shot at the UFC lightweight title? It comes off as if they are anticipating that Jens will lose.