It’s not very often you see B.J. Penn unsatisfied or disappointed in his performance, so when he learned Carlos Condit was awarded a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, “The Prodigy” was hoping to earn a rematch with Jon Fitch. The two welterwei…
It’s not very often you see B.J. Penn unsatisfied or disappointed in his performance, so when he learned Carlos Condit was awarded a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, “The Prodigy” was hoping to earn a rematch with Jon Fitch.
The two welterweights fought to a draw at UFC 125 in February, which obviously left Penn wanting to avenge the decision, but was offered a more intriguing bout in Nick Diaz instead.
“Fitch keeps on saying all this stuff that he can beat me easy and all these things, so first thing I do is I call up Dana White,” Penn told FiveOuncesofPain.com. “I say, ‘You know what? Perfect, let’s fight Fitch. He said he’s ready to go and said he’d love to fight me.’”
When Penn was informed that Fitch was recovering from a shoulder injury, which would prevent him from being able to compete at UFC 137, he agreed to face Diaz.
The two have been slated to meet in the main event after St-Pierre’s knee injury forced him off the main card entirely. Condit remains the No.1 contender, and he will wait for the champion to heal, rescheduling their title bout for 2012.
As for Fitch, Penn believes they are bound to meet again at some point.
“I’ll fight Fitch anytime. I’d love to fight him again,” he said.
The UFC 137 fight card took a big hit earlier this week when the scheduled main event between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit was scrapped due to an injury sustained by the UFC welterweight champion GSP. With the event now missing its biggest draw…
The UFC 137 fight card took a big hit earlier this week when the scheduled main event between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit was scrapped due to an injury sustained by the UFC welterweight champion GSP.
With the event now missing its biggest draw, critics are beginning to question whether the event will be worth the $44.99 price tag. The knee injury is only expected to keep St-Pierre out for a few weeks, so there is a realistic possibility that we will be seeing the fight between him and Condit as soon as January 2012.
Still, UFC 137 remains an excellent card even without St-Pierre vs. Condit.
Each person will have to make his or her own choice when it comes to buying this and any UFC event, but before you decide to say “no” to this one, please take the time to check out the top five reasons why you should be rushing to your cable box to order UFC 137.
Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn has been the main attraction at UFC 137 since it was announced, even if it has only recently been made the actual main event. Carlos Condit was only awarded his title shot by default when the UFC found itself with an unexpected ho…
Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn has been the main attraction at UFC 137 since it was announced, even if it has only recently been made the actual main event. Carlos Condit was only awarded his title shot by default when the UFC found itself with an unexpected hole at the top of the card.
Condit vs. St Pierre was never going to capture the imagination of fans in the same way that Diaz vs. St Pierre had. The natural born killer’s UFC record is solid with four wins out of five and consecutive knockout of the night awards, but he has yet to achieve the kind of superstar status which really gives momentum to title ambitions.
The UFC had presumably scheduled his fight with Penn on the same card as St Pierre’s scrap with Diaz on the basis that, should he win, Condit could generate a few headlines by demanding a title shot in his victorious post fight interview.
Instead, they were forced to fast track him to a title shot after downgrading Diaz as punishment for a mysterious press conference no show. With the other welterweight contenders tied up by commitments to future cards, shuffling fighters between the co main event and the headlining fight was simply the only practical solution.
Diaz vs. St Pierre was a huge fight and, assuming the prospective challenger can get past Penn at UFC 137, it still could be. Diaz currently owns a Strikeforce welterweight belt and seeing champions from two different promotions meet is always exciting for the fans.
There is much more to Diaz’s appeal than that. Condit is also still the WEC lightweight champion but he cannot compete with the bad boy image of the unpredictable and enigmatic “Stockton Bad Boy.” Diaz is visibly uncomfortable when a microphone is stuck into his mouth and seems to struggle to string a sentence together in post fight interviews, but that only adds to his allure.
He is not a picture perfect poster boy like St Pierre who will always turn up on time to issue standardized soundbites. Diaz could say and do absolutely anything at any time, and from fighting in the hospital to failing to fulfill media commitments, he is far from your average polished and presentable UFC fighter.
This makes a Diaz fight a much more exciting occasion for the fans than a Condit fight ever could be. It is not just his personality which is unpredictable though, absolutely anything can happen once the Strikeforce lightweight champion steps inside the cage.
At one stage he lost three straight fights by decision in the UFC, his career seemed to be in decline and there was nothing to indicate he would one day become a credible challenger for the welterweight crown. Since then, Diaz has gone on a tear winning 15 out of 16 fights (the gogoplata on Takanori Gomi might read “no contest” on his record but there is no disputing that Diaz won that fight).
The only loss, to KJ Noons, was subsequently avenged and Diaz has consistently beaten elite level opposition like Gomi, Frank Shamrock, Paul Daley and Gleison Tibau. Whether by TKO or submission, he finishes almost everyone of his fights, something which St Pierre has been subject to severe criticism for his recent inability to do.
The UFC welterweight division badly needs Nick Diaz because it has become a slightly stagnant place where credible title challengers seem to come and go all too quickly. If he can defeat Penn, matchmakers will be desperate to see him face St Pierre and will want to get Condit’s title shot out the way ASAP, or perhaps dispense with it altogether.
If, on the other hand, Penn emerges victorious from the UFC 137 main event it is unlikely to alter the welterweight landscape significantly. Having lost to the reigning lightweight champion twice and failed to beat St Pierre on two separate occasions, it would be extremely difficult to promote Penn as a credible title challenger at 170 lbs again.
He is in the same no man’s land as fellow former champion Rich Franklin, still a welcome addition to any card but unlikely to ever be given another shot at a title. If Diaz could win, and particularly if he can beat Penn emphatically, a title fight between him and St Pierre would suddenly become even more significant.
Condit could of course beat St Pierre and blow the entire welterweight division wide open but you wouldn’t bet on it. Jake Ellenberger is another fighter rising up the rankings but the Canadian has seen so many contenders come and go that fans could be forgiven for thinking that neither Ellenberger nor Condit will be any different.
Diaz is different. He brings something to the table which no other fighter on the UFC roster currently can and has boxing and BJJ skills as good as just about anyone in the division. For 170 lbs to become an interesting place again it is absolutely imperative that he beats BJ Penn on October 29th.
Ever since BJ Penn and Nick Diaz have been slotted into the main event picture at UFC 137, Diaz’s manager, Ceasar Gracie, has been vocal about rescheduling the bout to five rounds. UFC President Dana White announced earlier this week that the two …
Ever since BJ Penn and Nick Diaz have been slotted into the main event picture at UFC 137, Diaz’s manager, Ceasar Gracie, has been vocal about rescheduling the bout to five rounds.
UFC President Dana White announced earlier this week that the two competitors would headline the event after UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury.
“I want to be compensated accordingly and that’s it. I’m more than willing to do a five-round fight,” Penn told MMAWeekly.com.
The Hawaiian native has not competed in a five-round bout at 170 pounds since his second encounter with St-Pierre at UFC 94 in 2009. Penn was challenging for the welterweight title but ended up suffering a TKO loss to the champion in the fourth round. Since then, Penn has only moved back to the welterweight division on two separate occasions.
With the event being just one week away, both fighters seem content to meet in a five round contest.
But according to Penn, mixed martial arts is as much of a sport as it is a business, and “The Prodigy” believes he is entitled to a higher salary should the bout commence. Whether it is from the UFC boss or Gracie, he expects a raise.
“If Dana wants a five-round fight, just give me a call and we can put it together right now,” he said. “Or if Cesar wants to make it a five-round fight and he wants to compensate me personally, he can put his money where his mouth is, it’s that easy. I’ve been training to fight. I’m ready to fight.”
UFC 137 is just around the bend, and since the lineup has made more changes than a MTV awards show host, we figured we’d lay out the current odds before something else horrible happens. So, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com, check out the sweetest lines available, along with our time tested advice below.
PPV Main Card
B.J. Penn (-115) vs. Nick Diaz (-105)
Matt Mitrione (-135) vs. Cheick Kongo (+115)
Roy Nelson (-290) vs. Mirko Filipovic (+245)
Hatsu Hioki (-330) vs. George Roop (+270)
There is no line yet available for the recently bumped up Tavares/Jacoby fight.
Spike TV Prelims
Donald Cerrone (-225) vs. Dennis Siver (+185)
Tyson Griffin (-290) vs. Bart Palaszewski (+245)
The undercard odds have yet to be released as well, but we only bet big here, so forgeddaboutit!
The Main Event:
(Not yet………………………………..getting warmer…….)
UFC 137 is just around the bend, and since the lineup has made more changes than a MTV awards show host, we figured we’d lay out the current odds before something else horrible happens. So, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com, check out the sweetest lines available, along with our time tested advice below.
PPV Main Card
B.J. Penn (-115) vs. Nick Diaz (-105)
Matt Mitrione (-135) vs. Cheick Kongo (+115)
Roy Nelson (-290) vs. Mirko Filipovic (+245)
Hatsu Hioki (-330) vs. George Roop (+270)
There is no line yet available for the recently bumped up Tavares/Jacoby fight.
Spike TV Prelims
Donald Cerrone (-225) vs. Dennis Siver (+185)
Tyson Griffin (-290) vs. Bart Palaszewski (+245)
The undercard odds have yet to be released as well, but we only bet big here, so forgeddaboutit!
The Main Event: With a line as even as Penn/Diaz, you might as well be basing your pick on attendance records at this point. Both are excellent submission artists with equally deadly striking and blocks of granite for chins. It has all the ingredients for one hell of a fight, but a hard one to invest in. If the fight is changed to a five rounder, which is still up in the air, you gotta think it favors Diaz, who can literally run, swim, and cycle miles around Penn. But Paul Daley was pretty damn close to finishing him in his last fight, I don’t care what anyone says. So if you think Penn is the man to actually put Diaz away, then a modest bet wouldn’t be a terrible decision.
The Good Dogs: If Cheick Kongo’s miracle win over Pat Barry taught us anything, it’s that the man can take a licking and keep on ticking. Does Mitrione have more power in his hands than Barry? Doubtful. Has he fought anyone even close to Kongo’s level? Nope. It’s not that Mitrione can’t win it, because Kongo has looked less than brilliant as of late, the Hail Mary knockout excluded. But Kongo’s experience should pay dividends if this goes into the later rounds, so a bet on him seems fair. Having been the underdog before, Siver is tempting at +185, but he barely eeked out the nod over Matt Wiman (which I believe he deserved) and Cerrone will dictate where and how the fight takes place.
The Easy Bet: Look, I am about as big a Cro Cop fan as you get get, but even I cannot see him winning this one. Nelson has a far superior ground game plus the power to knock Cro Cop out, which, let’s be honest, has been getting to be less and less of an accomplishment. And if Mirko couldn’t knockout the man Big Nog knocked out in half a round, then he aint’ doing it to “Big Country.” I see this one ending with Cro Cop flat on his back and looking up at the lights, wondering why in the hell he named his son Filip Filipovic.
Stay the Hell Away From: George Roop. The man has never been one for consistency, and though he has scored brilliant knockouts over Chan Sung Jung and Josh Grispi, he was also blown out of the water by Mark Hominick, and has dropped decisions to Eddie Wineland and Shane Nelson. Shane who you ask? Exactly. Hatsu Hioki takes this with ease.
Official CagePotato parlay: Kongo + Nelson + Cerrone
A bet of 50 bucks nets you $158.82, or enough to buy that UFC glove autographed by Fedor Emelianenko you’ve always wanted, though I imagine its asking price is only headed downhill.
We’re not sure if it was creative editing or if Nick Diaz has had a change of heart about his views on the PR obligations of being a fighter, but Stockton’s favorite son almost seemed happy doing this pre-UFC 137 promo for UFC.com.
“He’s my favorite fighter. He’s better than they are. He’s better than everybody. I know where he came from; he came from my school. As far as I’m concerned he came from where I came from and that’s why he’s here. I gotta win these fights. I don’t think it matters what I do; I think I have to win. I love competition. It gets me right. It makes everything work,” Diaz explained. “I know who’s in this sport. It’s shit…not what I do. MMA fans, in general, are looking forward to this fight. I kind of think that we have some of the same style, therefore we have some of the same fans and I respect his style of fighting.”
(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)
We’re not sure if it was creative editing or if Nick Diaz has had a change of heart about his views on the PR obligations of being a fighter, but Stockton’s favorite son almost seemed happy doing this pre-UFC 137 promo for UFC.com.
“He’s my favorite fighter. He’s better than they are. He’s better than everybody. I know where he came from; he came from my school. As far as I’m concerned he came from where I came from and that’s why he’s here. I gotta win these fights. I don’t think it matters what I do; I think I have to win. I love competition. It gets me right. It makes everything work,” Diaz explained. “I know who’s in this sport. It’s shit…not what I do. MMA fans, in general, are looking forward to this fight. I kind of think that we have some of the same style, therefore we have some of the same fans and I respect his style of fighting.”
Another somewhat surprising statement Diaz made is that he isn’t happy hurting anybody he fights, unless of course they interrupt his buddy’s post-fight victory celebration.
“I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t want anybody to be hurt. I want to win. I want to come out on top. I want to be in exciting fights. This is all I’ve got. This is who I am.”
Diaz closes the interview off with a smart reply to the stupid question of, “What’s your game plan for this fight?”
“I have the same game plan every fight, and that’s to win — win the fight.”
And yes, that’s a smile he cracked at the end. Looks like Nick is playing the game and playing it well.
It’s not very often you see B.J. Penn unsatisfied or disappointed in his performance, so when he learned Carlos Condit was awarded a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, “The Prodigy” was hoping to earn a rematch with Jon Fitch. 
