Published on various sites, November 2010
The rivalry between BJ Penn and Matt Hughes is ostensibly concluded, after the latter was removed from his consciousness at UFC 123 in their rubber match. This was the first fight in the trilogy in which the UFC Welterweight championship was not on the line, but something tells me that the belt was actually not far from the picture, despite the list of worthy contenders ahead of this pair in the 170lbs ranks of the UFC.
Now, as two UFC legends, I have no qualms whatsoever with the third matchup of Hughes vs Penn. The outcome surprised me greatly; it was fast, explosive, and while some may have felt short changed, I enjoyed seeing the knockout. From a hype perspective, Hughes is officially done with regards to the top tier, but the jaded lightweight Penn has a new image of resurgence, after destroying his rival. So, this is all fine.
But reading how this may have title implications is straight up disturbing. That is the zuffa hype machine at work, and that is NOT what the situation merits.
BJ’s last encounter with the current title-holder GSP did not go as planned for him; leading not to victory, but to lengthy court proceedings from the bitter lightweight. Hughes of course has a trilogy with St-Pierre under his belt too, and his decline was shown there, as he won the first and decisively dropped the latter two to the champ. Simply put; beating the shell of Matt Hughes does NOT equate to being able to hang with GSP, nor does it mean you deserve a chance to.
As I said, Penn is a UFC legend, and has held the title before. But lets be real; Jon Fitch’s streak at welterweight continues without a title shot being granted. Koscheck will face GSP after this season of the Ultimate Fighter has concluded; UFC newbie Jake Shields is nailed on for a subsequent shot; Carlos Condit leapfrogged up there with his first round stoppage of Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy, and behind them Kampmann, Chris Lytle and Thiago Alves wait in the wings. Should they all be spectacularly ignored because both Penn and the UFC felt that after going 0-2 at lightweight, BJ needed to smash the fading Hughes to recapture his mojo and image as a top shelf fighter?
No.
A motivated BJ Penn is a great fighter. But please; don’t let the hype machine con people into seeing his win over Hughes as some kind of major stepping stone to a title shot at 170lbs; a chance to redeem himself against the champion, who so emphatically proved that BJ could not handle him at UFC 94. Because that wouldn’t be fair on the likes of Jon Fitch and the rest of the top 10, and it wouldn’t be fair on the fans.
Fletch
No comments:
Post a Comment