Filed under: UFC, WEC, Rankings, OverallWith his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
He’s long been considered one of the truly elite fighters in mix…
With his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
He’s long been considered one of the truly elite fighters in mixed martial arts, but the soon-to-be 32-year-old Penn has looked in his two fights this year like he has slowed down. Penn is the greatest lightweight ever to fight in MMA, but even the greatest decline eventually.
So Penn isn’t in my pound-for-pound Top 10 anymore. To find out who is, read on.
(Mr. Excitement. PicProps: Peace Magazine, Canada’s "Street Style" Magazine. No, seriously.)
There seems to be quite a bit of electronic hand-wringing going on this week about the prospect of Frankie Edgar’s first post-BJ Penn title def…
There seems to be quite a bit of electronic hand-wringing going on this week about the prospect of Frankie Edgar’s first post-BJ Penn title defense coming against Gray Maynard. Reactions range from sheer disbelief that Edgar handled Penn in two straight fights, to pundits wondering aloud if Edgar and Maynard are really the best 155-pounders in the world to a palpable feeling of dread about watching these two match their respective styles for five rounds. While both guys are too classy to say what really needs to be said to these detractors — we’d probably go with something along the lines of "Tough shit, assholes," but that’s just us — you can’t expect them to change their fighting styles just to please the fans, either.
For his part, Edgar said at the UFC 118 post-fight press conference that he plans to just keep winning fights until the haters stop hating. Now Maynard is also on-record saying he will just keep on keeping on, at least until someone can stop the takedowns.
If someone had told you six months ago, that in September, people would be discussing whether or not Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II is a marketable championship fight, many of us would have laughed and told buddy to piss off. Really, following BJ Penn’s violent and bloody stoppage of Diego Sanchez last December, who could […]
If someone had told you six months ago, that in September, people would be discussing whether or not Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II is a marketable championship fight, many of us would have laughed and told buddy to piss off. Really, following BJ Penn’s violent and bloody stoppage of Diego Sanchez last December, who could have imagined that as 2010 neared its end, not only would Penn not be the champ, he’d be one or two wins away from contending? That’s some crazy sh-t. Kind of like Fedor getting tapped out in the first round…
In terms of whether or not a rematch between Edgar and Maynard can move some serious PPV’s, well, yes, clearly neither guy has put together the resume yet of a legend like Penn, so things might cool down in the hype department. And don’t expect Maynard to engage in any Chael Sonnen like, ‘deconstructive criticism’ with Edgar to help sell the fight. Speaking to MMA Weekly recently the bruising wrestler stated:
“It’s great competition. He trains hard. He’s a cool guy too. It’s cool because his dad is always like ‘hey Gray!’ talks to me and stuff; nicest guy in the world. So trash talk ain’t gonna happen,” Maynard said. “But I guarantee you he’s going to train hard, and I’ll train, and it’s going to be a good fight.”…”It’s all business. Throw the trash talk out, it’s just all business.”
So as it looks now, scandalous comments aren’t going to be flying between these guys (and clearly Dad jokes are out), but that doesn’t mean the rematch can’t be a thoroughly entertaining and violent affair.
(VidProps: BJPenn.com, "The, uh, Home of MMA")
Fear not, those of you who thought you sniffed a subtle hint of finality in BJ Penn’s initial melancholy video statement after his UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar. “The Prodigy” s…
Fear not, those of you who thought you sniffed a subtle hint of finality in BJ Penn’s initial melancholy video statement after his UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar. “The Prodigy” says he ain’t done. Sure, it sounded bad when Penn started “thanking the fans for their support over the years” in that first vid – and the depressing elevator music didn’t help, either – but according to Penn’s latest melancholy video statement he wants another fight ASAP and plans on “jumping back in the gym” as early as tomorrow. Or, is it today? Beats me. What time is it in Hawaii, anyway?
“I’ve just been hanging out these last couple of days,” Penn says here. “But I’m going to stick to what I said about being as active as I can … Let me try to contact the UFC (to) get a fight as soon as possible. Luckily, I didn’t get any injuries (against Edgar) … I can still build off my last camp. I didn’t go out, I didn’t party or anything (Ed. Note: I should hope not). So, that’s it. I’m going to jump in the gym tomorrow and go full blast, back training again.”
So that sounds encouraging. Make no mistake though, these are dark times in Hilo.
Filed under: UFCI don’t know what’s more troubling about B.J. Penn’s most recent loss — the fact that he posted a video to his website that sounded oddly like a precursor to a farewell the day after his defeat at UFC 118, or the fact that he hasn’t be…
I don’t know what’s more troubling about B.J. Penn‘s most recent loss — the fact that he posted a video to his website that sounded oddly like a precursor to a farewell the day after his defeat at UFC 118, or the fact that he hasn’t been able to get too fired up about either of his losses to Frankie Edgar.
If it were anybody else, a little post-fight melancholy would be perfectly understandable. You lose your belt via narrow decision, then lose the immediate rematch by getting shut out five rounds to none, you’re bound to be a little bummed.
But this is B.J. Penn we’re talking about. He’s been known to dabble in a conspiracy theory or two after a defeat, or turn his ire on the next unfortunate soul to get in the cage with him. He’s the guy who Dana White once said would show up to your house every morning looking to fight if you somehow owned a win over him.
Now he gets beaten up and pushed around by a smaller, quicker fighter, and he can’t even work up enough fire in the belly to demand a completely unreasonable third fight. What gives?
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, LightweightsNo one can doubt Frankie Edgar anymore.
After Edgar beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision in April, a lot of people believed that the fight was a fluke, that the judges erred, and that Penn wa…
After Edgar beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision in April, a lot of people believed that the fight was a fluke, that the judges erred, and that Penn was still the best lightweight in mixed martial arts. But now that Edgar has defeated Penn once again at UFC 118, there’s no room for debate: Edgar is the undisputed champion.
Except that Edgar has one loss on his record, and that one loss is to Gray Maynard, who has been anointed the next challenger to Edgar’s title. Maynard could make a case that he deserves to be considered the top fighter in the division, but unless he makes that case again in the cage, I’m sticking with Edgar at No. 1. The rest of the rankings are below.
With his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
I don’t know what’s more troubling about 
No one can doubt Frankie Edgar anymore.