UFC 107: Will Hell Freeze Over in Memphis?

Just before reading my friend Stoker's article on the Penn vs Sanchez fight, I was going to go through my archives to find the article I had written months ago with a similar title regarding the same fight. Instead of taking the time, I eagerly read Stoker's article because, like him I am a big fan of the film "Little Big Man."

For some reason, I kept getting a feeling of deja vu, and not because we had written similar articles. It went back much further than that in fight history. Someone mentioned the extremely close fight between Matt Serra and BJ Penn as being one of Penn's most dangerous matches.

Boom! My fickle mind made a strange connection. I began writing a comment on Stoker's article and realized that I had enough to write my own article. Oh happy, happy day! I do love to write an opinion piece with a twist!

So here I am in my element, and here is my article.

If it were not for Matt Serra's abiding love for pasta and Italian cooking, he would most likely be competing at Lightweight, rather than in the Welter Weight division. He has been called a "small man" by Matt Hughes, who was referring to his stature, not his heart. Matt Serra is a small man with an enormous heart.

Because of his love of pasta, his path crossed WW champion Georges St. Pierre's. It resulted in a fight that legends are made from, kind of like the movie The Mouse That Roared , another old timers film which Stoker may recall.

No one gave a snowball's chance in Hell for Matt Serra to be able to terrorise GSP and steal his title, but it sure did happen and like me, you may have witnessed it in shock and awe.

The family members that watched that fight with me fully expected me to break into tears at my idol's loss. No way! I also had strong feelings of affection for Matt Serra and thought of what joy his children would have when hearing the David and Goliath story of how their father brought down the mightiest WW champion of them all. Yes, I was predicting the future, correctly for once.

So, now comes Diego Sanchez to challenge the man who would be king and failed in that venture to separate GSP from his belt earlier this year. How strange, there goes the deja vu feeling again.

Yes, BJ Penn once successfully challenged then Champion Matt Hughes and won the gold belt. Why was he fighting at Welter Weight, one might query? Well, it goes something like this my friends.

Once upon a time, BJ Penn became very lazy and very fond of In and Out Burgers. He has admitted to this himself in the past, so don't think I am dissing him as I did back in the day. I actually admire the Prodigy now.

At any rate, Mr. Penn preferred to compete at WW and not have to try to watch his weight. Fighting at 170 suited his appetite and distaste for training and conditioning. Bah diets! Who needs them when they have been blessed with so much talent?

Most MMA fans can fill in the rest of this part of the story, so let's leap ahead.

But guess what? Like the days of old, when my grandson and I warred over the "who is the superior fighter, Matt Hughes or Georges St. Pierre," we are now waging a war of words over Diego Sanchez and BJ Penn.

Kodi, in his 16-1/2-year-old wisdom, feels that Diego will be Penn's worst nightmare and defeat the proud Hawaiian on Dec. 12, and Grandma Dee feels the Hawaiian Emperor will prevail.

Does nothing ever change? History is repeating itself in the Willis family, only the names have changed, but who is now the innocent?

Will Hell freeze over in Memphis and give Diego that snowball's chance to upset BJ?

Does a 16-1/2 year old wrestler who is ranked seventh in his 152--pound weight class in the state of Illinois know more about MMA than his soon-to-be-64-year-old sportswriting grandmother?

Any weather predictions for Tennessee on December the 12th, my friends?