BJ Penn at 145lb Opens Many Doors for the WEC and BJ Penn's Legacy
After the BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez fight I began to think what is next for BJ Penn. Could a move up to 170 be a big challenge and help build his legacy? I began to think what if he moved down to 145 and challenged for the WEC Featherweight title while still holding the UFC lightweight title.
Immediately I got excited by this. A 10-pound cut isn't hard for BJ Penn to do. He could easily maintain a body that can be at 145 and 155. The fights would be awesome for him. Rematch with Pulver? Urijah Faber? Mike Brown? How about Jose Aldo?
All these fights would be amazing. Let’s face it, BJ Penn is a great fighter but at 170 he doesn't have the size and strength to hang with the big guys in that division. A third GSP fight is not something I want to see. BJ Penn fighting for a WEC title with fresh new fighters would be something I would gladly pay for on PPV.
This brought me to my next thought. Is this something that the WEC needs to reach that next step and break into the PPV scene? There has been talk about Urijah Faber vs. Jose Aldo as a possible PPV card. While that is a great fight I don't believe it would have the backing like it would if a current UFC champion stepped down a weight class and challenged the fighters in the WEC.
It would show WEC as top competition and would bring over new fans that are loyal to the UFC. If people bring up MMA around me I often will bring up WEC just to see if they know what it is. Many people don't know what WEC is. If they do, they have no idea it’s owned by Zuffa and treat it as lesser competition with no name fighters.
BJ Penn has stated that he is looking to make a name for himself. That BJ Penn is looking for top level competition and to be a dominant champion for a long time. BJ Penn should move down a division and challenge for the Featherweight title. He has the frame and it can be done. He has already fought at 170+.
He doesn’t need to be moving up in weight to find top level competition. While this probably will never happen, let’s hope it does. This would create amazing fights between amazing fighters that deserve to be shown in the same spotlight that the UFC has.
