Is a Nightmare About To Hit the UFC Lightweight Division?

Since Jan. 19, 2008, "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn has been unstoppable as the UFC lightweight champion.

His destruction of Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, and Kenny Florian have cemented his place as the greatest lightweight fighter in the world. He is also one of only two UFC fighters to hold championship gold in two different weight divisions.

At UFC 94, B.J. moved back up in weight to challenge UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre to avenge a previous loss. B.J. Penn found out the hard way that night that he wasn't on the same level as GSP. Penn was dominated the whole fight and his corner ended up throwing in the towel between the fourth and fifth rounds.

Meanwhile, Kenny Florian was waiting for his shot at the lightweight champion, Penn. The fight was scheduled for UFC 101 in Philadelphia. Several people thought that the loss to St-Pierre was so devastating that B.J. would not mentally recover and that Kenny Florian would use that to his advantage and win the gold.

Unfortunately for Florian, the loss to GSP lit a fire under B.J. and he found a new motivation to train. Penn ended up showing why he is the most feared lightweight in the world when he dominated Kenny and eventually choked him out in the fourth round.

Ever since UFC 95, the lightweight division has been experiencing a nightmare and now that nightmare is the No. 1 contender for B.J.'s title. Former UFC welterweight and winner of season one of The Ultimate Fighter, Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez is now fighting at 155 pounds.

At UFC 95 he defeated Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision and then won a split-decision over Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter Nine finale.

At UFC 107, Diego will challenge the seemingly unstoppable B.J. Penn for the UFC lightweight title. Diego could prove to be the biggest challenge for B.J. since he won the title.

What's very interesting in this fight, is the fact that neither fighter has ever been submitted or knocked out. B.J. Penn has a granite chin and fighters like Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre and Lyoto Machida were never able to knock him out. B.J. is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with one of the greatest ground games in MMA today. The big question is, how can Diego win this fight?

It is highly improbable that Diego will win by K.O. or submission. If there is any weakness in B.J. penn (and even that is questionable) it's his cardio.

Diego Sanchez has great cardio and he always pushes the pace. His best strategy is going to be aggressiveness and always being in B.J.'s face. The only way Sanchez can win this fight is by decision. But can he survive that long?

B.J. has never lost to a lightweight fighter since UFC 35 against Jens Pulver. Other than that, Lyoto Machida, Matt Hughes and GSP are the only men to beat B.J. Penn. If there is any weakness in Diego's game, B.J. will be the man to capitalize on it.

UFC 107's main event between B.J. and Diego should be very interesting. It will be very interesting to see if Sanchez can do any damage on Penn, I personally doubt it. Diego should prove to be a worthy challenger, but I truly believe it's a bad time to fight "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn.