BJ Penn vs. GSP:
Two Champions, One Belt At Risk

In their 2006 fight, BJ Penn managed to win the first round quite decidedly. He used aggressive striking to turn GSP’s face into a bloody mess. After losing a round for the first time in his career, Georges St Pierre used his wrestling to win the second and third round. And he won the close split-decision.

Now it’s 2009 – some things have changed while some things haven’t. Georges still has the ability to take down whomever the hell he wants. He’s basically a better version of who he was. Granted, his maturity as a fighter came at the cost of going through the whole Matt Serra fiasco.

BJ Penn still comes across as being an egotistical prick. That will probably never change. He might be a nice guy to his family but when he’s on camera he can’t stop talking about how great he is. What has changed for him is his training regime. He’s rededicated himself to the sport and has become the lightweight champion as a result.

Both these guys are dominating in their own respective weight classes. Most folks (including myself) believe that BJ should still be fighting the (several) top contenders at 155. But in true BJ fashion he’s taking on a new challenge because he’s just too damn good for his true weight class. He must get bored easily.

So, I’ll predict GSP to win by “any means necessary” at UFC 94. It’d be great to see a finish but I’ll be happy to see a win for my Canadian Hero, even if he has to grind him out like in the last two rounds of their first fight. Anything that sends Penn back to his natural weight class would be good for the UFC.

In all fairness BJ does have fast hands that could trouble GSP, no matter what the size difference is on fight night. However if Georges remains calm (and not panic, like when he started getting hit by Matt Serra in their first fight) he should win the match. There’s no way Penn’s submissions (good as they are) will be enough to match Georges’ athletic ability to pull out of bad spots.

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