Filed under: UFC, NewsMMAFighting.com has UFC 127 weigh-in results for B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch and the rest of the fighters competing this Saturday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Penn made weight with his jeans on, checking in at 169 pounds. …
MMAFighting.com has UFC 127 weigh-in results for B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch and the rest of the fighters competing this Saturday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Penn made weight with his jeans on, checking in at 169 pounds. Meanwhile, Fitch registered at 170 pounds. Afterwards, Fitch referred to Penn as a “legend” but said Penn is standing in his way of a title shot. Penn thanked the fans in Australia and as he tends to do when interviewed by Joe Rogan, kept it brief.
“I’ll do my talking in the ring tomorrow,” Penn told Rogan.
Filed under: UFCFrom pithy observations to useless trivia to possibly unanswerable questions, there are any number of angles one can observe UFC 127 from. Here are eleven of them.
I. There’s more at stake for B.J. Penn than the No. 1 contender spot. F…
From pithy observations to useless trivia to possibly unanswerable questions, there are any number of angles one can observe UFC 127 from. Here are eleven of them.
I. There’s more at stake for B.J. Penn than the No. 1 contender spot. For the sake of argument, let’s say Penn loses on Saturday, as most experts expect him to. What then? At 32 years old, he’s a former champion who got more or less bounced out of his natural weight class by consecutive losses to the same opponent, and if he can’t beat Fitch, it probably signals that he has no bright future at welterweight either. He has a loyal enough fan base that he could hang around and fight hand-picked opponents for a little while, but it’s been hard enough at times for Penn to get motivated for the big fights. He needs a win if he’s to stay relevant in the UFC, and he has to know that. If he gets in the cage mumbling to himself like a madman again, look out. If he shows up looking soft and disinterested, look away.
Watch the UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch Live Weigh-Ins from Sydney, Australia at 7pm PST (10pm EST): here.
Paul Daley misses weight for BAMMA 5 Welterweight title-bout against Yuya Shirai and Ricco Rodriguez misses weight for his 215 lb catchweight fight against James McSweeney: here.
Manny Gamburyan out of UFC 128 against Rafael Assuncao due to a […]
Ashley Salazar and Corissa Furr
Watch the UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch Live Weigh-Ins from Sydney, Australia at 7pm PST (10pm EST): here.
Paul Daley misses weight for BAMMA 5 Welterweight title-bout against Yuya Shirai and Ricco Rodriguez misses weight for his 215 lb catchweight fight against James McSweeney: here.
Manny Gamburyan out of UFC 128 against Rafael Assuncao due to a back injury: here.
Showtime Sports teams with M-1 Global for M-1 Challenge in March: here.
Arianny, Brittney, and Chandella having bikini fun in the Australia sun: here.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s coach talks taking Jon Jones to the ground: here.
Don’t forget to place your bets for UFC 127 by clicking the icons in our Odds Side Bar on our Home Page. For your best bets from our MMA expert analysts click: here.
Check out our gallery of photos from the current Top 2 contenders in the Strikeforce Knockout Ring Girl competition on Facebook, then vote for your favorite: here.
MMA Fix just moved on up to a bigger and fancier office, so we don’t have our new studio built out yet to shoot our UFC 127 Betting Odds videos. But as we get through organizing our new place, we decided we would still provide you with a blog post on your best bets for […]
Our new office! And you thought we operated out of my mom’s basement.
MMA Fix just moved on up to a bigger and fancier office, so we don’t have our new studio built out yet to shoot our UFC 127 Betting Odds videos. But as we get through organizing our new place, we decided we would still provide you with a blog post on your best bets for this weekend’s event. Our very special expert MMA analysts, Larry Pepe of ProMMARadio.com and Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com have provided their UFC 127 best bet picks below:
DENNIS SIVER (+300) vs. GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS (-325):
Larry Pepe: Sotiropoulos has gone a stellar 7-0 in the UFC with his last three wins over Joe Lauzon, Kurt Pellegrino and Joe Stevenson. The Aussie is a BJJ wizard on the ground with some of the quickest and smoothest ground transitions in recent memory. Siver has won 5 of his last 6, along with 4 post-fight bonuses. The German kickboxer will have a marked advantage on the feet (remember Tommy Speer’s KO of Sotiropoulos on TUF and Pellegrino’s rocking of the Aussie in the third round of their fight at UFC 116?) while Sots will have a significant edge if the fight hits the floor. Siver has said that he isn’t afraid to roll with Sotiropoulos which makes me concerned that he may be easier to get to the ground than if he fully understands the danger in going there. Some books have this one at -500, others have it around -300. While I think Sotiropoulos wins the fight, there’s no way he should be a -500 favorite. If you can get him at -300 or less it’s worth a play but I’ve seen Siver as high as +315. At that number, there’s too much value to ignore.
Damon Martin: Sotiropoulos is a huge favorite in this fight, but it’s with good reason. He’s been steamrolling through very solid competition, and most believe this fight is actually kind of a step down in the division for him. Denis Siver is a very serviceable lightweight fighter, but he’s not on the same level with Sotiropoulos at this point.
Even with the odds so far in extreme, I’d say the money goes to Sotiropoulos on this one. He’s simply the better fighter and being at home in Australia is only going to serve to improve his performance. Unless Siver can catch him with one big shot, I don’t see another way he wins this.
Larry’s Bet: Sotiropoulos at -325 or less
Damon’s Bet: Even with the odds so far in extreme, I’d say the money goes to Sotiropoulos on this one. He’s simply the better fighter and being at home in Australia is only going to serve to improve his performance. Unless Siver can catch him with one big shot, I don’t see another way he wins this.
Larry Pepe: Bisping has gone 6-2 since moving down to Middleweight with his only losses coming to Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson. Rivera has had a nice run lately, winning three straight against Osterneck, Kimmons and Quarry. (Only Kimmons still has a job in the UFC.) While he is a solid striker and may hold a power advantage over the Brit, Rivera is taking a big step up in competition here and hasn’t fought in 11 months. That’s not a winning scenario. Bisping has beaten better strikers than Rivera in Leben and, most recently, Akiyama and should be able to do the same here. He’s a younger, more active, more well-rounded fighter with a deeper gas tank and an added level of motivation to make Rivera pay for his barrage of online videos.
Damon Martin: If you asked me about this fight 3 months ago, I’d say Michael Bisping all day. I think he’s the faster fighter, the more diverse fighter, and usually sticks to his game plan perfectly to get him the win. Now however, Rivera is in Bisping’s head, plain and simple. The videos that Rivera put together have Bisping seething with anger and he would have been much better served to just laugh those off and stick to a cool calm demeanor.
Instead, Bisping looks legitimately rattled by what Rivera has done to hype this fight up and I think it could cost him in the end. If he starts stepping forward too much and getting aggressive out of anger, Rivera can and will knock him out. Don’t doubt Rivera’s power on the feet, and he does have tremendous stand-up. He’s been working boxing with Peter Welch for years, and also does jiu-jitsu with the Florian brothers.
Larry’s Bet: Bisping
Damon’s Bet: This would be a great underdog bet for UFC 127. Put your money on Jorge Rivera for the upset.
Larry Pepe: My heart says BJ but my head can’t ignore the facts. Since his return at UFC 58 in 2006, Penn has gone 1-3 in the welterweight division. He is a phenomenal fighter at 155 pounds and the more skilled mixed martial artist in this fight, but size matters in MMA circa 2011. Fitch is 13-1 in the UFC with a grinding, highly criticized style that rarely sees him finish a fight. The last time he scored a stoppage was 2007 against Roan Carneiro and he’s been involved in eight straight decisions since. I expect him to be involved in another decision on Saturday night that will see him wear Penn down and expose a cardio deficiency we’ve seen with The Prodigy at 170. If BJ wins it happens early, but don’t bet on it.
Damon Martin: This fight to me is simply one I look at where Jon Fitch fights the anti-B.J. Penn style. He powers people around in the clinch, looks for takedowns, and has a tremendous wrestling base. I see this fight going similar to the 2nd fight between Penn and Georges St-Pierre.
Fitch needs to pressure Penn against the cage and not let him stand on the outside and throw his jab. Fitch has never let any other opponent do that to him, so I don’t know why Penn would be the first. If Penn can stuff the takedowns and stay off the cage, he has a shot, but I just don’t see him being able to do that.
Larry’s Bet: Fitch
Damon’s Bet: I think Fitch takes him down and grinds him into the mat for a unanimous decision win.
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveThe UFC 127 main event between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch could mark the beginning of the end of the UFC’s welterweight division as we know it. UFC president Dana White has already said the winner is probably the next No….
The UFC 127 main event between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch could mark the beginning of the end of the UFC’s welterweight division as we know it. UFC president Dana White has already said the winner is probably the next No. 1 contender, and with champion Georges St. Pierre’s potential weight class move to face Anderson Silva in a superfight looming in the shadows, the top of the division could soon be rearranged.
Both Penn and Fitch are fighting for the chance to be king when the dust settles. Of course, they got here by very different methods. Penn seemed like he was in for a long run as UFC lightweight champ when he was derailed twice by Frankie Edgar. From there, a move to welterweight was the logical choice, and he announced his arrival by blasting Matt Hughes in a 21-second knockout last November.
Meanwhile, Fitch has rolled through his recent competition, winning five straight fights since his title loss to St. Pierre. But he still faces criticism from fans about his inability to finish. He’s been to a decision in eight straight fights. In matching them, the UFC hopes the pairing of the grinding technician against a game fighter with top takedown defense results in a more dynamic performance from Fitch or a legit claim as top contender for Penn en route to a title shot.
So TUF 13 coaches, Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos have already given their predictions of a victorious Jon Fitch at UFC 127 against BJ Penn, but they also both expect Fitch to win this fight via decision. Let’s face it folks, we all do… So why not make a little money on our […]
So TUF 13 coaches, Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos have already given their predictions of a victorious Jon Fitch at UFC 127 against BJ Penn, but they also both expect Fitch to win this fight via decision. Let’s face it folks, we all do… So why not make a little money on our collective disappointment expectations? Currently, the online sportsbook, Bodog has their prop bets up and to get in on a little Fitch win-by-decision action, you only have to lay down -130. The price should continue to go up, so get your best value by placing your bets now! Click on our Bodog icon in the Odds Side Bar to the right of our Home Page to bet now.
MMAFighting.com has UFC 127 weigh-in results for B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch and the rest of the fighters competing this Saturday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
From pithy observations to useless trivia to possibly unanswerable questions, there are any number of angles one can observe 
The 