The UFC 101 fight card is out, and is highlighted by what could be a classic tilt as B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn will set out to defend his lightweight title against Kenny Florian.Penn (13-5-1) is coming off a loss to Georges St. Pierre in which he was dominated, and maybe that was enough to show him that he belongs in the lightweight division, not the welterweight. As a lightweight, Penn has enough size, and his technique is unrivalled. He can contort his limbs into seemingly impossible positions to get opponents into submissions, but with a background in boxing, he can also knock you out if need be. The only knocks on Penn are his stamina and motivation, but that shouldn’t be a problem on August 8th.
Florian (11-3) earned the No.1 contender by submitting Joe Stevenson with a rear-naked choke, which is like his specialty: five of “Ken-Flo’s” seven submissions have come via the rear-naked choke. But it’s standing up where he’ll have a slight advantage over Penn, as he has the sharpest elbows in the UFC, and he has devastating knees in the Muay Thai clinch. His last loss was six fights ago, when he lost to Sean Sherk for the vacant lightweight belt, so the nerves could be a factor that your handicapping software won’t pick up on.
Penn is the betting favorite with odds of -220, and he’ll be fired up to show he’s still the top dog after his embarrassing loss to GSP and the resulting controversy over Vaseline (Penn’s corner alleges that GSP’s corner greased him up so Penn couldn’t get a hold of him with his legs). Florian will give him a go, and as was said before, he’ll try to keep the fight on their feet. Florian is good enough on the ground, but he’s not on Penn’s level when it comes to submissions and technique. Both of these fighters can go the distance, and this is a fight that looks it could go the full 25 minutes. Penn’s conditioning is much better was a lightweight than a welterweight, and he’ll have enough in the tank to narrowly earn a decision over the gutsy Florian.
Daily sports pick: B.J. Penn.
