UFC 127 Fight Card: Should the Winner of Fitch-Penn Get a WW Title Shot?

The UFC did away with tournaments long ago, so even though the winner of this weekend's welterweight main event has been "promised" a title shot, nothing is ever set in stone with UFC matchmaking.

In fact, there are still a lot of factors to consider. Will St-Pierre remain champion or will challenger Jake Shields dethrone him in their April meeting? Will St-Pierre leave the division to challenge middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a superfight?

The most important factors for Jon Fitch and BJ Penn, however, is how they perform at UFC 127. Will their performance justify a shot at the title and/or another bout with St-Pierre, who has already handily beat both men before?

With a victory, it would be hard to deny either standout a title shot, but let us take a look at what Penn and Fitch have to live up to with Saturday's high stakes.

If Jon Fitch Wins

 Since his defeat to St-Pierre in 2008, Fitch has wracked up five straight unanimous decision victories. The impressive streak is not entirely different from his first run to the title.

In his first run, he had already shown to be probably the No. 2 man in the division after a victory over Diego Sanchez, but still had a perfunctory matchup against Chris Wilson before being scheduled for the title.

Fitch won the fight by the skin of his teeth, and still was awarded the title shot despite the uninspiring performance and surprisingly competitive match.

Similarly, against Penn, it will not matter if Fitch grinds out a close decision victory, he is still far and away the top man for the title shot.

What an excellent performance against Penn WILL do, is encourage St-Pierre, if he beats Shields, to remain at welterweight and give Fitch his much desired rematch.

If BJ Penn Wins

 BJ Penn would love to get another shot at current champion St-Pierre, but the matchup does not hold much interest for the fans.

GSP is already 2-0 against Penn, with the last fight being quite lopsided (apart from a mostly inconsequential "greasing" controversy).

If Penn can blow Fitch out of the water, however, then it would be hard to deny the legend another shot at the title, whether it be against Shields or GSP.

It's not going to be an easy task, as Fitch has not been finished in over eight years.

If Penn wins in less than dominant fashion, it could make sense for him to take another high profile welterweight fight (related article).

Penn is only coming off a single win in the division and marquee matchups might be of more interest to him than titles.

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