UFC 127 Fight Card: B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch Showdown Preview
This Saturday night, February 26, 2011, the UFC returns to the land down under at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Excitement will fill the air as UFC 127 presents 12 solid matchups, with the headliner being B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch.
The 32-year-old, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion from Kailua, Hawaii, B.J. Penn (16-7-1) returns in a welterweight showdown against the 32-year-old contender from San Jose by way of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Jon Fitch (26-3-0, 1NC).
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Penn, who has been in fewer fights (24 to Fitch's 30), comes in with more experience, having faced tougher competition.
He's faced the likes of current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre (21-2-0), losing to him twice in 2006 and 2009 by KO/TKO. He's also faced veteran Matt Hughes (45-8-0) three times, losing to him twice, once in 2004 and once in 2006.
In Penn's last fight, at UFC 123 in November last year, he destroyed Hughes in the first round in just 21 seconds. Prior to that, he had been in two disappointing unanimous-decision losses to current UFC Lightweight Champion Frank Edgar (13-1-1).
Fitch, who is a solid welterweight contender and Vegas favorite, comes in with a UFC eight-fight winning streak. Most of his victories being by unanimous decision, his latest was against Thiago Alves (23-6-0) in August, 2010.
Georges St. Pierre (21-2-1) and Diego Sanchez (24-4-0) have both been common opponents for the two fighters, with Fitch also losing to St. Pierre in 2008 by unanimous decision. On the other hand, both Penn and Fitch have each defeated Sanchez, Penn by TKO in 2009 and Fitch by split decision in 2007.
This matchup will be interesting to see if Penn is securely back to old form after losing twice to Edgar and then knocking out Matt Hughes. Generally, he tends to rise and fight better once he is in a seriously competitive bout or behind.
Fitch should provide him with that challenge.
He's a very skillful wrestler that likes to grind it out. He'll be looking to take Penn down early on, as Penn is most dangerous when standing and trading shots.
Dana White has mentioned that the winner of this bout will get a shot at the welterweight title—but that's since come into question, as Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has mentioned that if he defeats Jake Shields (26-4-1) in April, 2011, he'll move up to middleweight, leaving the division open for the winner of this bout.
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