He systematically made lame 2 very dynamic and exciting light weight fighters by using them as tackling dummies for 3 rounds every time he was in any kind of trouble.

I dont get why people think he is so exciting, hes like Matt Hughes without the irritating personalities or ability to finish.

bj should stay at lightweight. another fight with florian would be great.

jon jones looked great

I think that BJ Penn did put in effort for this fight, but that his idea of effort is pretty minimal versus that of GSP. Quite a bit of the time, when I have watched BJ’s training sequences, you see him sitting on the edge of the cage with his other fighters/trainers. Perhaps this is just bad editing, or a chance to get commentary, much of which turned out to be pretty negative, or he really takes time to relax–I don’t know. However, the best way to be seen on camera and interviewed is standing with your gear on, and speaking about your training for the fight–not sitting relaxing.

I am glad to hear that you are now getting used to Machida. I think Machida’s style is really that of an “outside” fighter (a boxing term) which often lends itself to seeming to be boring. But if you watch closely, you soon realize that Machida is moving and striking constantly. His cage awareness is awesome, he rarely gets pushed against the fence. And now we finally see what happens when he finds a chink in his opponent’s armor and capitalizes. I agree, Machida is quite simply awesome. I guess it must be the ex-boxer in Dana White that made him say it from day one. Little did we know that boxing would play such a powerful part of MMA at this current point in time.

Keep up the good work!

Also, and I noticed this on another website, but you have to give props to Machida for shifting the dynamic of what works for MMA. I completely agree with that article that we have been believing that its wrestling, jujitsu, muay thai, and boxing that are the keys to victory.

Machida is bringing in a new element with his Karate, so is GSP. I hope this ushers in a new age where the different martial arts have a chance to showcase themselves against one another; albeit in the new dynamic of how mma has evolved. This is really groundbreaking stuff for MMA right before our eyes.

My girlfirend and I always laugh when he fights. Between the hair and the brow I can’t believe I hadn’t read about it before. I don’t see how he won that fight. He did have some impressive burps between round 1 and 2 and then again after the second, but I think that the wet blanket offense needs to be ousted. He did no damage. He controlled the fight, but didn’t fight. Very confusing. All in all one of the worst cards I have ever seen. Machida was the most exciting fight on the card. Never thought i would say that… Just goes to show where the card stands versus others.

BJ’s best just isn’t good enough for GSP. Period. BJ’s a great, great fighter, but GSP is a whole step up. Obviously, GSP had a great gameplan going in and executed it perfectly. As Randy Couture has shown, a great gameplan will make your opponent look bad.

Sam you’re dead wrong and dead right at the same time. BJ’s trying to have it both ways. Take this quote for example:

“Talk is cheap… (shows fist) this is real.” How could BJ say ‘talk is cheap’ when he was doing all the trash talking… And how can he say ‘this is real’ when he did nothing but make his record 13-5, quit a fight, and get destroyed?

While that is true to a certain extent, the magnitude of a fight like that alone can easily stop a fighter from bringing his “a-game”. Whilst watching the introductions I noticed that BJ had clear, visible bags under his eyes – and this struck me as odd. Maybe its not and maybe I just happened to notice it. But combined with his mannerisms both in the walk to the cage and during the fight BJ looked tired and almost despondent. Obviously this is pure speculation but perhaps BJ was slightly overcome by the occasion and this stopped him from performing as well as he might have done. In between rounds his corner were telling him to let his hands go; and thats exactly what he wasn’t doing, which is unlike Penn. I think he was there to “give it all” in terms of fighting to the end regardless of the beating he was taking, but I would question whether he was able to give it all mentally. He looked like a beaten man about halfway through the 1st. Let’s take nothing away from GSP though – superb work ethic, superb discipline and superb athleticism. He is unstoppable at welterweight. And, to his credit, I would have to think long and hard before eventually picking Anderson Silva to win a hypothetical fight between the two. Which says a lot, as he would be outweighed a good 20+ pounds. But lets pray for that fight. UFC 100?

and yeah, machida is the truth! i have no doubt he will be the next light heavyweight champ, and a top pound-for-pound candidate. and i also am not a bandwagonner. i believed in machida when everyone was hating. he’s so patient and he’s doing the right thing and now it’s almost his time to shine! all the people that were hating on his evasive skills and that he’s boring, i tell you to get in the ring with him and watch yourself get destroyed. he’s a genius and he knows how to play on the emotions of the other fighters and he is very unpredictable. remember; 10% physical, 90% mental.

I get that Penn is selling the fight, but I also get that he is actually pretty disrespectful. I am GSP fan, and didn’t like the way Penn was yapping. He got a well-deserved spanking in my opinion.

Machida looked great, but don’t get too enthused. He is a counter-puncher, and thus is dependent on the aggression of his opponent to make his fights impressive. Thiago was tailor-made for him. Fortunately for Machida, the big dogs in this division are that same aggressive sort, so I have to admit that predictions that Machida might soon hold the title are not unreasonable. Let’s have Machida take on Forrest Griffin. I’d love that. Winner fights Rampage (after he knocks the arms and legs off Jardine) and that winner gets a shot at Rashad.

Jon Jones was a revelation to me. That guy has the build of Anderson Silva, great striking, and some of the explosive athletecism of Urijah Faber. He cracked Bonnar with a spinning elbow, didn’t he? And those throws were amazing. If he continues to improve, he will be a force in the very near future.

Machida’s ko was impressive to say the least. Technique beat brawling, at least in that fight.

The Work Ethic deal it is hard to suddenly change a habit of not working as hard to being a dedicated focused fighter . Some have it some don’t . I guess BJ obviously didn’t have it

I more than agree with that. To be honest, I still think his cardio is comparatively very poor. Yes, it was abysmal in the Hughes fight (cracked rib or not) and it has improved slightly since then, but not by much. The reason he looked like a “new BJ” in his fights with Stevenson and Sherk is because they were largely stand-up battles which take much less out of you than grappling battles. The Stevenson bout had bits on the floor, but BJ was on top, and it was over in the 2nd; hardly enough time for any fighter to prove they have good cardio. I’m pretty sure that if Sherk has at least tried to take BJ down, forced him to grapple to some extent, he would have been gassed by the end of the 3rd, at least. I remember reading an article by you Sam where you predicted BJ by decision and in doing so said to ignore the Primetime shows, implying BJ in fact would have sufficient cardio.
He needs a new camp as Dana White is right: he’s currently surrounded by a group of yes-men that clearly don’t push or motivate him enough.

Leave bad mouthing to Tito and Boxing.

MMA is better than that.

Also, how can you on the one hand say BJ really knows how to sell a fight by saying things to get GSP fans fired up, and then get upset at GSP fans for being fired up by what BJ says? Just because you have a man-crush on BJ doesn’t mean that GSP fans have to feel the same way. I personally can’t stand BJ’s attitude, and I never have liked the guy. I’m just being honest. I think he is talented, but unfortunately is a terrible waste of talent. Can you imagine if a guy with the work ethic of Fitch had BJ’s talent? He would be incredible. Unfortunately all we get is a halfassed effort from a very talented spoiled brat. I would rather have athletes that I admire get the breaks in this sport, instead of handing out title shots to ungrateful peope who refuse to give their all. GSP deserved that win, and rather than spending all your time lamenting Penn, maybe you could spend a little more time lauding the guy who actually did work to his potential.

Regardless of any health claims, GSP was tremendous and solidified his stature as the top guy in his weight division.

You could just tell during the last episode….During the weigh ins…..During the fight that BJ was already defeated.

It doesn’t help that he has that silver spoon mentality where if its not going exactly his way he just gives up.