PHILADELPHIA – Fighters make fights, not styles, and coming into UFC 101 a huge question was whether B.J. Penn had anything left to give the sport and if he could deliver another history-making performance, extending his streak of more than seven years without a loss in at 155 pounds.
If anyone had doubts about Penn’s ability after a dominating loss at the hands of welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 94, they were gone after Saturday night’s submission victory over Kenny Florian.
In front of more than 17,000 fans, the lightweight champ proved he’s still the top fighter in a stacked division. Penn (14-5-1) not only looked like a champion, he fought like one; content to bide the time that he knew he had — gassing himself early in a reckless attempt to stop the fight would put him in harm’s way against a young challenger who was eager to “kill the master.”
Opponents train for Penn’s spider-like legs and deceptive boxing skills, but one can’t prepare for what he doesn’t know. Penn looked prepared to go all five rounds after moving his team to Southern California and having a strong training camp with famed strength and conditioning coach Mark Marinovich (father of USC great and NFL washout Todd Marinovich). He almost needed to.
“When I woke up this morning, I thought, ‘I’ve been at this thing for nine years. What the hell am I doing with myself?'” Penn said after the fight.
For the better part of three rounds, Florian (11-4) did enough to be in the fight, executing a gameplan similar to those of previous victorious Penn opponents like St-Pierre or Matt Hughes, trying to wear down Penn by forcing him to carry his opponent’s weight. Penn’s conditioning is always a hot-button issue.
The change in this fight, it seems, came in Penn’s corner after the third round, as Penn’s brother instructed him to “give him another look.” After a grapple along the cage, Penn evaded an elbow from Florian, then pelted him with two rights as they broke the clinch along the wall.
Penn switched levels and took Florian’s legs from below, leading to a huge slam that took this fight to the mat for the first time in more than 15 minutes with Penn in half-guard. In the final sequence, the champion battered Florian with short elbows to soften up his eventual pass to mount. Florian tried to defend the rear-naked choke after conceding his back twice (and two more eventual switches to mount and back again), twice peeling Penn’s arm off the back of head before Penn was able to cinch the hold for the victory.
At the postfight press conferece, UFC President Dana White hinted to a potential fight with another Ultimate Fighter alumnus — Diego Sanchez — who won a recent split decision over Clay Guida. Sanchez, who also had previously competed in UFC’s welterweight division before dropping down to compete at lightweight, sets a strong fight pace and his wrestling skills and strength are comparable to Hughes, which could present those same style challenges for Penn that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva covets.
A super-fight isn’t the only way to prove that one sits among the best fighters in the pound-for-pound discussions. His losses to St-Pierre and Hughes notwithstanding, Penn has always relied on his superior skills in matches, but perhaps because of those losses, Penn might be reaching his full potential as a fighter.
