UFC 94 Results: GSP Dominates BJ Penn, Lyoto Machida KO's Thiago Silva

Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre was regarded as one of the world's best before his mega fight with Lightweight Champion BJ Penn. After a dominating 20-minute performance that resulted in Penn tapping out between rounds, GSP made his case as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter at UFC 94 in Las Vegas, NV, Saturday night.

GSP (20-2) simply dominated Penn for four rounds, grounding him and landing punches at will. Penn had no answer for the larger GSP, who kept catching Penn in the Matt Hughes crucifix move and hitting elbows and punches.

An exhausted Penn (13-5-1) remained in the corner with his back turned toward the octagon between the fourth and fifth rounds when his brother told referee Herb Dean that Penn was done. It was a good call as Penn was worn down and an extra five minutes would have been pointless.

So what now for GSP? No. 1 contender Thiago Alves was in the ring following the fight and did a quick post-fight interview to attempt to generate some anticipation. However, there is one fight out there that truly would be a mega-bout and while they are 15 pounds apart in weight classes, I don't think there's a fight fan alive that wouldn't want to see GSP take on Anderson Silva in the end-all, be-all of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

In other action, Lyoto Machida moved within striking distance of a Light Heavyweight title shot with an out-of-nowhere KO win over Thiago Silva and Clay Guida picked up a big win to round out a full undercard of action.

And now, the RRC as-it-happened recap of UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn:

*****
- Clay Guida def. Nate Diaz via split decision: I didn't see this fight live, so these details are from various 'net writeups. All three judges had it 29-28 with two for Guida and one for Diaz. Crowd was popping hard for Guida all night, who needed this win to stay relevant in the division. Now on a three-fight win streak, one more big win could mean a great '09 for Guida. Diaz is young enough that he can absorb this loss and move on.

- Karo Parisyan def. Dong Hyun Kim via split decision: I also didn't catch this, but have heard it was kinda flat. Again, all judges had 29-28 with two going for Parisyan and one for Kim which the crowd hated. Dave Meltzer said it best: "They probably both deserved to lose."

- Jon Jones def. Stephan Bonnar via unanimous decision: Jones looked good in dispatching Bonnar, who had a ton of ring rust to work off coming into this one. The undefeated Jones took Bonnar down at will and even hit a back suplex and spinning back elbow in the first round. Mike Goldberg made an interesting observation that of his seven fights to date, six were during two-day tournaments. One judge had 30-27, while two had it 29-28. Jones is going to be someone to watch in the L.H. division in the future.
- Lyoto Machida def. Thiago Silva via 1st round KO: Machida had no problem taking Silva down at will and surprised at lot of people by how he finished this. As the first round was coming to a close, Machida threw Silva down and came down with a straight right that connected on the button, knocking Silva out to close the round. Official time was 4:59 of the first and Machida was pumped. Silva's left eye was very swollen. Machida had a great post-fight promo in playing to the crowd. Safe to say he's earned a title shot?

- Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre defeated Lightweight BJ Penn via fourth round TKO (ref stoppage): While the build had everyone thinking this would be the greatest fight in UFC history, St. Pierre ensured that this would forever be known as a one-sided affair that crowned GSP as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.

Round One: The intensity to start the fight was off the chain and the in-production build made me wonder why they couldn't accomplish this with the Primetime series. As the fight began, people were popping huge for GSP. The first round centered around St. Pierre going for a single-leg takedown and Penn defending against it. At one point, Penn was yelling at referee Herb Dean about GSP grabbing his shorts—a great Ric Flair-like heel move. GSP takes the first round 10-9.

Round Two: GSP got the takedown early and started connecting from the top position, attempting to corral Penn in the Hughes crucifx. He was dominant on top, but Penn was doing enough to stay out of trouble even though his offense was effectively neutralized. GSP again won the round 10-9 and ready to go an hour. BJ, meanwhile, looked a bit winded.

Round Three: It's more of the same from Round Two as GSP has Penn down on ground again and you get a sinking feeling that this is going to end at any time now. The fight got back to standing and roles reversed for a few seconds as Penn was then trying to take GSP down.

The largely pro-GSP crowd begain chanting for BJ, likely hoping for some sort of comeback that would help bring the fight a bit more equal. No chance. Round 10-9 for GSP. In the corner, BJ's cutmen were saying 'we can turn this around' which is never good. This is as lopsided as it gets; a picture perfect display as to why GSP is the best in the world.

Round Four: GSP has side control again and Penn is just getting dominated, again getting caught in the Hughes crucifix. Essentially, this is round three without getting to a standing position. Penn is exhausted and his corner has ice on his neck. As the fight ends, Penn's face is swollen; a portrait of a beaten and dominated man. Next stop: a Lightweight title defense against Kenny Florian, but I'm sure that's the further thing from his mind tonight.

> On the untelevised undercard:

- Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo via split decision
- Jake O'Brien def. Christian Wellisch via split decision
- John Howard def. Chris Wilson via split decision
- Thiago Tavares def. Manny Gamburyan via unan. decision

Josh Nason - josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com] - has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!