UFC 94: Answering Critics and Predicting History

A couple months ago, I wrote an article entitled "Breaking Down Georges St Pierre vs BJ Penn II," where I attempted to give an objective analysis of their upcoming fight based on primary, secondary, and tertiary research (probably the best article I've ever written, so give it a read). 

Because I was trying to be as objective as a BJ Penn nuthugger can possibly be, I simply laid out all the facts and never made any predictions.  Now that UFC 94 is just days away, prediction time has come. 

To begin with, I've been spending an awful lot of time on B/R lately.  I've also spent a considerable amount of time perusing sites like MMAJunkie.com and Sherdog.com.  It has become apparent to me that GSP is winning the popularity contest with BJ by a landslide. 

Some of the comments I've read criticizing BJ have been somewhat humorous, while others have been downright stupid.  I would just like to take this opportunity to share a few of my favorites, and give my two cents about each of them.

"BJ is 1-2 as a welterweight.  How does he think he can beat a guy like GSP?"

I don't know how many times I've heard the "BJ is 1-2 as a welterweight" argument.  The fact is, BJ is 2-2 as a welterweight, with victories over Matt Hughes and Duane Ludwig.  He's also 4-2 as a welterweight/middleweight. 

BJ's only two losses were against arguably the two best welterweights of all time, in Hughes and St. Pierre.  No matter how you look at it, neither one of those losses had anything to do with his ability. 

One was a close decision loss, which easily could have gone his way.  The other was a fight he was not just winning, but dominating, until the infamous rib injury.  Whenever I hear someone say "Hughes kicked BJ's ass," I know I'm dealing with an amateur MMA fan. 

Overall, BJ and Hughes have spent a total of 18 minutes and 53 seconds inside the octagon together.  Of those 18 minutes and 53 seconds, Hughes did little of anything that even resembled fighting. 

Okay, so he won the third round of their rematch at UFC 63.  Keep in mind, BJ had a broken rib cage and a torn oblique.  No wonder GSP was "not impressed" with Hughes' performance.

BJ could just as easily be 4-0 as a welterweight.  If you think I'm lying, I don't know what to tell you.  Go back and watch the tapes.

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