Tag: The Potato Nation Speaks

The Potato Nation Speaks: BJ Penn Has No Chance Versus Frankie Edgar


(Herb Dean convincing BJ Penn not to drop to featherweight. / Photo via Getty Images) 

By Matt Saccaro

The majority of CagePotato readers do not give BJ Penn a chance to beat Frankie Edgar in their featherweight meeting next year. Out of nearly 1,000 people who voted on our previous sidebar poll, 55% believe that Penn will get his ass kicked by Edgar and then retire for a 400th time (and then perhaps break a CagePotato ban by unretiring for a 401st time).

33% of the voters had even less confidence in Penn. What could be worse than getting your ass kicked again, you ask? Not even being able to make 145 pounds in the first place. That’s right. A third of our readership is skeptical about Penn’s commitment to fitness and thinks that Penn at featherweight is a pipe dream.

It also appears that 7% of our readers are delusional (or just decided to be trolls and skew our results by voting for the most insane selection). They believe that Penn will become the UFC featherweight champion by the end of 2014. No joke.

And the ultimate minority, the remaining 5%? They think that Penn will get his revenge on Edgar and then retire afterwards.

Thankfully, it appears that most of our readers have a grip on reality. Penn lost decisively to Edgar two times, largely because he was slower than Edgar and had worse conditioning. These problems will only be exacerbated when Penn, who’s notorious for his poor conditioning and inability to fight to the death, attempts to drop down to featherweight — a weight class Edgar has fought in twice now without any sign that he’s been depleted by the weight cut. Penn, once he realizes that he’s not a young man anymore and that he wasted his prime thinking that he was too good to train hard, will very likely retire again.


(Herb Dean convincing BJ Penn not to drop to featherweight. / Photo via Getty Images) 

By Matt Saccaro

The majority of CagePotato readers do not give BJ Penn a chance to beat Frankie Edgar in their featherweight meeting next year. Out of nearly 1,000 people who voted on our previous sidebar poll, 55% believe that Penn will get his ass kicked by Edgar and then retire for a 400th time (and then perhaps break a CagePotato ban by unretiring for a 401st time).

33% of the voters had even less confidence in Penn. What could be worse than getting your ass kicked again, you ask? Not even being able to make 145 pounds in the first place. That’s right. A third of our readership is skeptical about Penn’s commitment to fitness and thinks that Penn at featherweight is a pipe dream.

It also appears that 7% of our readers are delusional (or just decided to be trolls and skew our results by voting for the most insane selection). They believe that Penn will become the UFC featherweight champion by the end of 2014. No joke.

And the ultimate minority, the remaining 5%? They think that Penn will get his revenge on Edgar and then retire afterwards.

Thankfully, it appears that most of our readers have a grip on reality. Penn lost decisively to Edgar two times, largely because he was slower than Edgar and had worse conditioning. These problems will only be exacerbated when Penn, who’s notorious for his poor conditioning and inability to fight to the death, attempts to drop down to featherweight — a weight class Edgar has fought in twice now without any sign that he’s been depleted by the weight cut. Penn, once he realizes that he’s not a young man anymore and that he wasted his prime thinking that he was too good to train hard, will very likely retire again.

Regarding those who think Penn can’t even make the cut to 145, well, let’s just say that we at CagePotato don’t think that little of Penn. We just think that Edgar is the better fighter. The reasons he beat Penn will still be present (and more apparent) when they face off after their TUF 19 coaching stint.

And Penn winning the title? The 70-odd people who believe that are the last few stragglers that after all this time still believe that the mythical “motivated BJ Penn” is the pound-for-pound GOAT.

Oh, and the 5% of people who think Penn will win and retire? The only part they’re probably right about is the retiring.

Want your voice heard? Be sure to vote in our current sidebar poll “Was Alexander Gustafsson Robbed at UFC 165?” and stay tuned for the next installment of The Potato Nation Speaks!

Related: B.J. Penn Would Rather Finish Trilogy With Frankie Edgar at Lightweight