From the ashes of UFC 123 in Detroit just last night, a few match ups have been announced for the imminent future.
Most surprisingly was the announcement of former champion BJ Penn remaining in the welterweight division for the time being, where he will next face former title challenger and current top contender Jon Fitch in his next bout.
Dan White confirmed the news during the post-fight press conference following last nights affair in Michigan at the Palace in Auburn Hills before a loud and ruckus crowd.
BJ Penn was by far the most impressive in last nights co-main event, when he was able to dispatch his rival in Matt Hughes. The bout was billed as a battle of legends, where both men had faced each other twice before, and were there to complete a trilogy that has been 6 years in the making. Both men had split wins before coming into their third meeting, and the final bout was for all the marbles.
After two disappointing losses to current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, Penn revitalized his career when he was able to knockout Matt Hughes, the latest UFC Hall of Famer who was riding a three fight win streak heading into the match. It took just 21 seconds inside of the first round for “The Prodigy” to make his mark once again inside the octagon.
With the victory, Penn has now placed himself up on the map in the welterweight division and will now face Jon Fitch, serving as the headliner for UFC 127. The event takes place at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia on February 27.
Fitch was originally expected to face budding welterweight prospect Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126, but has since been pulled from that match up in favor of a headlining spot against Penn.
So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the news? Do you prefer BJ in the 170-pound division? How do you favor in the Fitch/Penn match up? Sound off in the comment section below.
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The fight will be like how GSP beats BJ.
Great match up. For me Fitch is favorite but anything can happen. Although impressive, I can’t make much of penn’s win against hughes because it was too quick. He caught hughes off guard and punished him for it. But if they were to fight again today I don’t know who’d win. And Fitch has really been working hard for his next match up with GSP, his focus on becoming better and dominating opponents (as GSP does) is the reason why I think he’s favorite against BJ.
@TS
LOL… yeah must agree thou.. beating anybody not named GSP or Frankie,
BJ can compete at either division and I really think he’d have a realistic chance of beating anybody at either division not named GSP or Frankie Edgar.
I like the speed advantage he showed last night at 170 though. I think he’s going to knock a few people out.
I agree. I think in the speed department he holds a huge advantage as a welterweight, and people underestimate the power in his punches..but I’m also sure they won’t now after what happened last night. I think BJ still has a chance against Edgar, but it does his mind right being away from the 155-pound division for now, and maybe a few wins from now he can return to the lightweight class. However, Fitch is going to be one of his toughest match ups for sure in his career. It’s also a very intriguing fight and I’m very curious how that one is going to pan out.