BJ returns to WW! Fights Matt Hughes at UFC 123

MrStuffins

With another lightweight title shot not on the horizon, B.J. Penn (15-7-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) will return to the welterweight division to complete a trilogy of fights with Matt Hughes (45-7 MMA, 18-5 UFC).

The fight takes place in November at UFC 123 and could serve as the night's co-main event, a source close to the negotiations told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Hughes first hinted at the matchup in a Tuesday blog post, which prompted reports of the Penn booking.

UFC 123 takes place Nov. 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit. A light-heavyweight bout between former champs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida headlines the pay-per-view portion of the show.

Penn and Hughes, of course, have met twice before. Penn won the first meeting via submission at UFC 46, but Hughes got his revenge at UFC 63 and scored a third-round TKO. Hughes lost his long-held welterweight belt for the first time with the UFC 46 loss. Prior to UFC 63, he reclaimed the title with a win over Georges St-Pierre and successfully defended it with the Penn victory.

Hughes, who was once on the verge of retirement in recent years, has found new life in the UFC's loaded welterweight division. After a 1-3 skid that saw him lose his belt and a vacant interim title, the recent UFC Hall of Fame inductee has rebounded with consecutive wins over Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida.

Penn, meanwhile, looks to gain some traction at 170 pounds following his quick descent at lightweight. Once the world's universal No. 1 ranked 155-pounder, Penn lost his belt to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 and then suffered another decision loss to "The Answer" at UFC 118 in an August rematch. Perhaps surprisingly, Penn hasn't fared well at 170 pounds and owns a career 1-3 mark in the division.

Source


Now, at first i was kinda stumped by this, but the more i think about it, the more i like it and it makes sense. What else was out there for BJ? Nothing at LW, he was always gonna return to WW. A match against Hughes might see the motivated BJ Penn back in the octagon!

And as for Hughes, he's been called "Past It" so much lately that people are begining to forget the man is still a beast! He lost to GSP and Alves, nothing to be ashamed of. But he's now on a 3 fight win streak.

I'm really looking forward to this actually and i'm sure when i watch, there will be an old-school feel to it.

And considering BJ's RNC of Hughes at UFC46 is one of my all time favourite sports moments, i can't wait!

karl bracken

great grudge match - imagine the trash talk in this one!

Gerard.C

This fight along with Rampage and Machida would make for an unreal PPV in fairness

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Gerard.C wrote: »

This fight along with Rampage and Machida would make for an unreal PPV in fairness

+! Can't wait to see this, there have been a few lack luster UFC cards as of late, this one I'm really excited about!

Can't wait to see Hughes dominate Penn again!
Penn has been fairly disappointing in his last two fights against Edger, so hopefully he'll get away from his training camp and get some quality training in. I definitely think he needs to mix things up training wise if he's to give Hughes a run for his money.

Devastator

Im surprised BJ is fighting so soon. He looked like he lacked motivation and hunger against Edgar....I really thought he would be taking a break from fighting.

Obviously that was wrong :rolleyes::p

MrStuffins

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

+! Can't wait to see this, there have been a few lack luster UFC cards as of late, this one I'm really excited about!

UFC 116 and UFC 117 weren't good for you?

The former, IMO, was the best card i'd ever seen! And as for UFC 117, it was a very close second!

UFC 118 was a bit of a disappointment but thats bound to happen when your co main event is a fighter against a training dummy!

Kazooie

Wow. Really excited about this fight. Hughes on the way up and Penn seemingly on the slide. Have a feeling this is a fight that will motivate BJ and he definately won't want to lose to Hughes. Hope he can get his head right because I do like seeing Hughes take a beating..

TheProdigy

Kazooie wrote: »

Hughes on the way up and Penn seemingly on the slide.

I wouldn't agree that BJ is on a slide to be honest. His losses to Edgar were imo due to Frankie being a bad stylistic match-up for him. The first fight I questioned BJ's motivation and there were reports of an injury but I really do believe he was ready to get his belt back in the rematch and he was as pumped as ever, no excuses for that loss. Another flaw with BJ is his lack of a gameplan, if he took edgar down in the first or second round and tired him out then it may have been a different story. He had success in the later rounds with the TD but he was tired by then and couldnt do much damage.

Matt Hughes is past it imo, he did ok against Serra (got hurt a few times if I recall) and beat a poor Renzo Gracie. The shot he dropped Almeida with wasn't spectaclar by any means but he did well to finish him. I still think he will get badly beaten here on the stand up and TKO'd as long as BJ's cardio is up to scratch

Hail 2 Da Chimp

MrStuffins wrote: »

UFC 116 and UFC 117 weren't good for you?

The former, IMO, was the best card i'd ever seen! And as for UFC 117, it was a very close second!

UFC 118 was a bit of a disappointment but thats bound to happen when your co main event is a fighter against a training dummy!

UFC 117 was an amazing event now that I think about it - although that had more to do with Chael hyping the fight.

UFC 116 wasn't a great card IMO, Lesner Vs Carwin was the only fight I was really looking forward to.

Agreed with UFC 118.

Kazooie

TheProdigy wrote: »

I wouldn't agree that BJ is on a slide to be honest.

That's whay I said seemingly. You have to admit he didn't look motivated in the defeat to Edgar. On his game he's still without doubt best LW in the world. Just needs his head sorted.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

I think he needs to get out of that camp!

I can't see BJ making a run for any title with his current attitude. When he's good he's great, when he's not, he doesn't seem to be able to come up with any answers. I think the only thing thats going to fix that is a change of scenery...

MrStuffins

Yeah, i've thought this for a long time. He needs to go train with a proper camp. Go to Xtreme Couture and get his ass kicked and wrestled to the ground while having the likes of Couture to put their arm around ya.

I never thought I'd say this but I think BJ is gonna lose this one. He hasn't looked sharp or explosive at all in his last 2 outings and has been taken down way easier than we're used to, whilst Hughes has looked to have refound some of his old spark.

Hughes by ref stoppage in the 3rd round

dunkamania

I am disappointed in you neil for losing the fate.

They are both essentially the same fighters they were when they met last, except BJ's cardio is a little better, and Hughes's standup is a little better.

Hughes is still gonna struggle to get BJ to the ground, and his improved standup still isnt in Penn's league, and of course Penn's chin is like granite.

I still wish that Penn would leave home and take a proper training camp for his fights, but thats just not going to happen.