UFC 94: BJ Penn v. Georges St. Pierre - Most anticipated MMA fight in history

This Saturday in Las Vegas, UFC 94 will feature one of the most highly anticipated Mixed Martial Arts fights in history - Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn. Both fighters are in their prime, the champions of their respective divisions, and are two of the most dynamic fighters in mixed martial arts today.

Georges St. Pierre - Welterweight Champion

Georges St. Pierre is a born athlete who epitomizes what it means to be a truly well-rounded mixed martial artist. Still young, he has cleared out the welterweight division in dominating fashion, and continues to improve with every single fight. While highly-regarded for his wrestling, St. Pierre has shown himself to be a skilled striker, and also dangerous on the ground. He's lightening quick, and can unleash a flurry of dynamic leg kicks, punches, and even spinning backfists before you even know what hit you.

BJ Penn - Lightweight Champion

BJ Penn is nicknamed "The Prodigy" on account of all the potential he displayed at such a young age. Penn, however, is not just living off of his potential, he has the hardcore credentials to back up such a grandiose nickname. Penn earned his ju-jitsu blackbelt in only 3 years, which is unheard of for a serious practitioner. And in case anyone had any doubts about his ju-jitsu pedigree, Penn has won a number of grappling tournaments and is the only non-Brazillian to have ever won the World Brazilian Ju-Jitsu Championship. What makes Penn even more dangerous on the ground is his flexibility, which allows him to utilize Ju Jitsu moves that are nearly impossible to prepare for in practice. Penn, though, is also well-rounded, and is equally as dangerous on his feet. He has extremely quick hands and is widely regarded as being one of the best boxers in the UFC. One issue that has plagued Penn throughout his career, however, are questions related to his cardio.

The History
With all the hype surrounding their upcoming fight, you would think that St. Pierre and Penn have never fought before. St. Pierre and Penn, however, have indeed fought in the past and met 3 years ago in a closely contested fight that saw St. Pierre take home a victory in a close split-decision.

In their previous fight, Penn came out strong and dominated St. Pierre in the first round with his world class striking, landing some effective shots with pinpoint accuracy. In the later two rounds, however, St. Pierre rallied back and relied on a series of takedowns to eek out a decision victory.

The Fight

A lot has changed since Penn and St. Pierre first fought, and it can be argued that both fighters have changed enough to make their previous fight irrelevant in analyzing their upcoming fight.

As stated earlier, one of Penn's biggest faults earlier in his career was his proper lack of conditioning. Penn's cardio even caused him to lose an important match up to Matt Hughes a few years back when he gassed out and Hughes was able to take advantage of Penn, who had been winning the fight up until that point.

This, though, is the biggest fight of Penn's career, and contrary to what ever image they tried to portray on UFC Primetime, you better believe that Penn is taking this fight seriously and is going to step into the octagon in great fighting shape.

When it comes to St. Pierre, it's hard to find any weakness's in his game. He's constantly improving, is unbelievably strong for his weight class, is super quick, and is nearly impossible to take down. Some, however, have questioned his chin, and it will be interesting to see how St. Pierre will be able to fare against Penn's world class striking.

What makes this fight so exciting is that both fighters are at the top of their game, and they both want to win this one BAD. There's even been some trash talk between the two (mostly from Penn) as the night of the fight draws near. Penn has called St. Pierre a 'quitter' and a 'little bitch', and has even had some not-so-nice remarks about St. Pierre's head trainer. St. Pierre, who isn't much of a trash talker, simply countered and said that Penn is talking trash because that's the only way he can build up his confidence for the fight.

It's important to point out the weight difference between the two fighters as BJ Penn is moving up a weight class to fight St. Pierre. Penn will most likely enter the octagon weighing in at around 170 lbs. St. Pierre, meanwhile, will weigh in at 170 lbs, but will most likely enter the octagon at around 185 lbs. 15 pounds is a significant weight advantage, but BJ Penn used to be the Welterweight champion, so that shouldn't be much of an issue. Also, keep in mind that Penn even fought once at 205 pounds (and lost to Lyoto Machida belive it or not).

With all that said, this fight will come down to pure skill and heart, and overall, I have to give this fight to St. Pierre. St. Pierre is just too dangerous in too many different ways. He's constantly evolving and Penn might have a hard time dealing with St. Pierre's strength advantage. Also, the level of competition St. Pierre has faced over the past year is a notch ahead of what Penn has faced.

A motivated and in shape BJ Penn is a scary thought, but St. Pierre is a world class mma fighter who hasn't even peaked yet. He's survived strikes from Penn before, and is strong enough and skilled enough to avoid any of BJ's submissions on the ground. Overall, I have to give the edge to St. Pierre by a hair.

UFC 94 Press Conference Part 3

UFC 94 Press Conference Part 2

UFC 94 Press Conference Part 1

Dana White Interview on ESPN Radio

Interview with Dana White where he mentions that he's tired of chasing Fedor, and if he wants in the UFC, he knows who to call. Also interesting are White's thoughts on Affliction, GoldenBoy, De La Hoya supposedly getting 5 million to attend Affliction (white disputes that), and perenial douchebag Jerry (gary) Millen.

Dana White's Video Blog #4

The fourth installment of Dana White's video blog, prepping up the fight between GSP and BJ Penn.

BJJ Creator Helio Gracie Passes Away

BJJ creator and legend Helio Gracie passed away today in his home in Rio de Janeiro. Helio Gracie and his brother first developed Brazilian Ju Jitsu in the early 1930's, and refined the art specifically so that smaller fighters would be able to counteract the sized difference of larger opponents. Today, BJJ is an integral component of every MMA fighter's repitoire. He truly is a legend.

Kim Couture gives up the info on Mark Coleman and her husband

Check out this video clip of Kim Couture giving the inside scoop on Mark Coleman's assertion that he couldn't afford a training camp, and what her husbands deal has meant for UFC fighters as a whole. A pretty informative and no-holds-barred interview. Definitely worth checking out.

UFC 91 does gangbusters ratings wise on Spike

The UFC hates Affliction, as Dana White has stated in the past, even though they can't stop it, they don't need to help it. With that in mind, the UFC engaged in some interesting counter-programming this past Saturday night to coincide with Affliction's Fedor v. Arlovski card. The UFC showed UFC 91 which featured Brock Lesnar fighting former UFC Heavyweight and Lightweight champion Randy Couture - and it did well. Really well. According to Spike, the replay of UFC 91 was the highest rated show on all of Television Saturday night for males in the 18-34 demographic.

Going head to head with the "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" pay-per-view broadcast, Spike TV's replay of "UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar" peaked with 3.3 million viewers, Spike TV officials today announced.

According to MMA Junkie, the replay averaged over 2 million viewers at every moment of the airing, and the replay "peaked with 3.3 million viewers", making it the "most-watched taped UFC event in network history."

UFC 91 was one of the all-time best PPV shows for the UFC, but that was soon surpassed by UFC 92. If things going according to plan, the STACKED UFC 94 event featuring BJ Penn v. Georges St. Pierre will break all PPV records.

Future of Affliction is uncertain

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio isn't overly enthusiastic about a third show for Affliction. The struggling MMA promotion had a fairly decent showing this past Saturday as Andre Arlovski failed to put a dent in Fedor's unbeaten record. There were also a number of other exciting fights from Vitor Belfort knocking out Matt Lindland in horrific fashion, to Josh Barnett beating Gilbert Yvel. Nevertheless, the promotion (which first made its money by selling t-shirts) is bleeding money. While the fighters certainly love their inflated salaries (Arlovski made 1.5 million for the fight), the very thing that's attracting fighters to Affliction is hurting the companies bottom line.

When asked about the possibility for a third Affliction show, Atencio was quoted as saying:

“I just don’t want to get ahead of myself. I’m just not that guy. Until we get things finalized and until I have 10 fights under my belt, I’m just not gonna be that guy. You don’t know what’s going to happen in this industry, the economy is not doing well. These guys are the ones. These guys are the warriors. They put their lives on the line and fight and train hard. Hopefully, there’s someone out there who can give them another home and hopefully that will continue to be us.”

That doesn't sound too promising to me. While Affliction certainly made a decent amount of money from Saturdays show, some estimates indicate that on the whole, the promotion might have lost almost 2 million dollars when it's all said and done. It doesn't take an economics major to figure out that that's a business model that can't sustain itself.

Dana White has said that he'd be shocked if there's a third Affliction show. And the way things appear to be going, I'd be shocked as well.

This opens up an interesting question, though. Where would all of the Affliction fighters go, in particular Fedor. Supposedly, the UFC offered Fedor 1.2 million bucks to fight for them, but the 2 sides couldn't work out contract particulars such as whether or not Fedor would be allowed to continue to compete in Sambo tournaments etc. These hypotheticals, however, are a little pre-mature, but if something happens, the sooner the better. We've seen how long Elite XC is dragging their feet while a number of great fighters on their roster are stuck with nowhere to go. Hopefully if Affliction closes up shop as a fight promotion, the fighters will soon land themselves another gig, preferably with the UFC, since that's where the bulk of the fighting talent resides these days.

BJ Penn talks preparation for his upcoming fight

Fedor stops Arlovski in first round

Arlovski seemed to be in control of the fight until he decided to get a little flashy and go for a flying knee. Fedor countered with an overhand right that dropped Arlovski like a stone.


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Tito Ortiz won't return to the UFC as long as Dana White is in charge

In a piece of news that shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz announced that he will not come back to the UFC as long as Dana White is in charge.

Ortiz is currently working for Affliction and will be handling some of the play by play for tonight's heavyweight clash between Fedor and Arlovski. Currently recuperating from back surgery, Ortiz's fight future is still up in the air. The earliest he might return to the ring would be sometime in early June, but it remains to be seen if Affliction will even be around by then. With Elite XC apparently out of the mix, Ortiz doesn't have many options left open for him should Affliction close up shop.

Tonight, the UFC is doing a little bit of counter-programming and will be replaying the Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture matchup from November. We'll have to wait and see how Affliction's PPV numbers stack up. So far, word is that ticket sales haven't been so hot.

Jerry Miller calls Dana White - Fedor Vlog

Jerry Miller calling Dana White inviting him to the Fedor/Affliction fight. What a cocky douche!

Bas Rutten still not a fan of Gary (Jerry) Millen

The beef between Bas Rutten and Jerry Millen stretch back to the Pride Days. Rutten has in the past exposed Millen as being a 'fake', and not really having that MMA knowledge. I don't know too much about Millen, but in the Fedor Vlogs he's been peddling around this week he seems like a complete douchebag.

In any event, during the weigh ins yesterday, Millen apparently took it upon himself to give an impromptu introduction of Fedor. You would think with the way that Millen talks about Fedor, that they've been good buddies since childhood or something. The guy just seems like a complete toolbag. Anyways, after Millen went up to the mic, Rutten had some colorful words that he said on the air about his long time nemesis.

"“There’s the asshole. Oh! did I just say this on TV?”

Funny stuff. Check out the drama behind the Millen/Rutten relationship over here, it's really quite entertaining.

BJ Penn surprised that St. Pierre isn't on steroids

The war of words between Penn and St. Pierre continues to heat up - though the battle seems to be mostly one sided at this point. Penn, who has expressed dissatisfaction with the way he's been portrayed on UFC Primetime recently lashed out against St. Pierre on Sirius Satellite radio program called "Hardcore Sports Radio."

Penn was quoted as saying:

"It’s surprising that he’s in such good shape without the use of steroids or growth hormones, he’s eating cheeseburgers and all that. (GSP trainer) Firas [Zahabi], after the fight, he can go home, walk to his bedroom, take his shoes off, lie down in his bed, take about 20 or 30 minutes and go fuck himself."

Wow. And this is right after a UFC conference call where BJ Penn was laughing and making fun of St. Pierre for seeing a sports psychologist.

Either Penn is trying to get inside St. Pierre's head, is genuinely afraid of his skills, or just plain doesn't like the guy. Or, in typical Penn fashion, he could just be drumming up hype for their Jan. 31 supermatch as he is likely to get a cut of the PPV buys.

Ultimate Fighter 7 Winner Amir Sadollah injured, out of UFC Fight Night

MMA Junkie is reporting that Ultimate Fighter 7 winner Amir Sadollah has been forced drop out of his scheduled fight night card on February 7. This is the second time Sadollah has been forced to drop out of a fight - the first time due to a leg infection. The last time we saw Sadollah in the octagon was June, and it will be interesting to see just how long his layoff is going to be.

Fedor v. Arlovski weigh in

Snapshot from today's weigh in. If you didn't know any better, you would think Fedor time traveled straight from UFC 1. I'm predicting Fedor wins this one. Hopefully it will be as exciting as his complete destruction of Tim Sylvia