BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian
BJ Penn defeats Kenny Florian And finally, after waiting over a year, the real BJ Penn returned to the octagon. He reminded everyone why 155 is his weight class. We can only hope that he defends his belt on a regular basis. Unlike Anderson Silva, Penn hasn’t cleaned out his division yet. Kenny Florian put on a good performance. The first few rounds were very competitive. Indeed, Florian attempted to employ the GSP strategy against Penn. Unfortunately, Kenny doesn’t have the strength or wrestling pedigree of the French Canadian. Also problematic was BJ’s improved cardio. Penn looked bulkier than he ever has. That wacky strength and conditioning routine must have paid off. BJ had been touted as the best 1st round fighter ever. Obviously, he wanted to take that goodness and distribute it throughout four other rounds. At first it seemed like he wasn’t motivated to finish his opponent. Joe even speculated that he had over-trained for the match. As it turned out, Penn was merely pacing himself. When he got Kenny down in the fourth round, he fought diligently to get the rear naked choke. There wasn’t anything that Kenny could have done differently. He knew that his best bet was to drag BJ to the later rounds. He was wise to avoid getting into a slugfest, as Penn was clearly the more dangerous striker. When he got taken down, Kenny knew he was in big trouble. Despite that, he just couldn’t escape from the superior grappler. This was the toughest challenge Penn has had in the lightweight division since the first Jens Pulver fight. An unmotivated BJ Penn would have lost to Kenny Florian at UFC 101. Georges St. Pierre would tell Kenny that this will prove to be an essential learning experience in his career. At this point, that notion will offer Kenny very little comfort. As for Penn, look for him to be the one to challenge Anderson Silva. Maybe Kenny can be the interim lightweight champion? Next Fight: George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop
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