BJ Penn Wants To Fight Diego Sanchez in Two Months, Eyes Third Fight With GSP
UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn, fresh off his successful title defense against Kenny Florian earlier this month at UFC 101, recently told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that he hopes to fight top 155-pound contender Diego Sanchez within the next two months and would like a third matchup with current welterweight title-holder Georges St-Pierre:
“[A title defense against Diego Sanchez] is gonna happen, hopefully within the next two, two-and-a-half months.
“I’m 30 now and I’m hoping to get a couple of more fights in. I know they say that in MMA, people peak later, but who knows? My whole career, fighting from age 20 to 30, I’ve gotten into real good shape and gotten out of shape and started getting back into shape again. I don’t want to do that anymore.
“Here I am. I’m in shape. I want to have fun for a couple of days, take some time off, eat some good food, and then I want to get right back into all that stuff.
[Sanchez is] really good; he’s really explosive. He’s shown that he has some knockout power and he’s a very good grappler. He’s very hungry; he’s shown that he wants to be a champion someday. This is an important fight.”
“I’d like to get a fight with St. Pierre again, but now that Diego Sanchez is next, once we get the word from Dana White, that’s what we’re gonna be thinkin’ about.”
Tags: BJ Penn, Diego Sanchez, Georges St. Pierre
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im really not thrilled about a possible third fight with gsp, but it would sell and thats what the ufc wants…more money. even though bj looked in really good shape, it wouldnt help against gsp. so what if he has better cardio. i dont think having the best cardio in the world is going to help you when your getting pwned with brutal elbows and Gnp’d the entire fight. not to mention taken down at will. but on the flipside who is left for gsp? a matchup with swick/kampmann[gunslinger seems to think gsp is going to get beasted by kampmann] and who besides me wants to see a rematch between gsp-alves/fitch?
“ON AUGUST 8, 2009 ANDERSON SILVA MADE FORREST GRIFFIN LOOK LIKE AN AMATEUR, AND ON AUGUST 8, 2009 GUNSLINGER MADE BIGCHRIS 2328 LOOK LIKE A CASUAL FAN
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im down wit either of those rematches. both r fighters that i enjoy watchin who both got owned by the deadliest thing to come outta canada since wolverine. interesting to see if they can come in wit something to throw a wrench in gsps gameplan. dont think they can tho although ill have my fingers crossed they do
GOOD LUCK ON “TRYING” TO BEAT GSP FOR WHAT NOW.. LIKE THE 3451234TH TIME? LOSE ONCE,, GET A REMATCH.. LOSE TWICE AND NOT EVEN COME CLOSE…
Edited by FR702~comments such as the one that you had at the end of your statement simply won’t be tolerated.
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Bobby, the first fight between them was really close, and some believe[myself included] bj won the first fight. it wasnt a clearcut victory, but it was close. the second fight was pwnage.
“ON AUGUST 8, 2009 ANDERSON SILVA MADE FORREST GRIFFIN LOOK LIKE AN AMATEUR, AND ON AUGUST 8, 2009 GUNSLINGER MADE BIGCHRIS 2328 LOOK LIKE A CASUAL FAN
”
I actually thought BJ looked in the best shape of his life against KenFlo. If dominates Diego, GSP III might be on the way. It seems like all the UFC champs right now are so good they have to go to another division for competition.
Ok, enough is enough BJ. Another fight with GSP? The last fight wasn’t even close and it was really only a good fight to watch if you we’re a St Pierre fan. If he really wants another shot at GSP he should prove that he deserves it by facing some top contenders in the WW division before getting another crack.
agreed, no point him jumping straight up to GSP. Maybe have him fight alves/fitch although imo they’d handle BJ as well
I do not think BJ will dominate Diego. Diego has a 5 inch reach advantage and he is explosive. He’s also got a great chin, and most accurately mirrors GSP’s attributes. I say BJ gets out-worked to a decision win by Diego. And I’m not a Diego fan. At all.
All in all, BJ needs to give up this talk about GSP.
i think BJ will choke out diego like he does every other lightweight contender
this will be a good fight diego has a litlle better stand up then Bj with reach advantage too. he can go back up if he beats diego and then gray maynard let’s go Nightmare!
i know GSP wil beat him again maybe go all 5 rounds this time with Bj’s cardio but GSP with 50-45 decision.
Honestly u believe that Deigo has better standup then Penn, goodness I know you are a big Sanchez fan but people who underestimate Penn usually end up asleep at some point during the match and that belt goes around Penn’s waist and then his opponent wakes up and asks “what happend”
Hahaha, nice. I’d like to see BJ be the second to hold two belts at the same time, but I know getting through the much larger and stronger GSP is more difficult than expected. He learned that the 2nd time. I like the new humble BJ, took an ass whoopin’ to get there.
If it makes you feel better fr, I don’t care much for BJ like many people. But he was outstanding last weekend, and is head and shoulders above everyone else in his division.
As far as a third fight btween BJ and GSP, it’d only make sense if the series were tied at one. That’s what makes trilogies compelling. I have to say though, I’d make the flight from Houston to Toronto to see GSP and Spider clash in 2010…assuming the commission in Ontario gets on board soon enough.
Frantz, but what about Rampage vs. Silva. Rampage got annihilated the first two fights, then KO’d the crap out of Silva! Hmmm?
fr702 ur exactly right m8 im a huge diego sanchez fan but bj penn looked unbelievable against kenny theres no way diego has betta stand up than bj n the only person to take down bj regularly is gsp whose a massive welterwieght n even he struggled.
Diego does not have better stand up IMO. You might think that because the last two fighters he faced werent great strikers. But BJ has WAYYY better boxing than Joe Daddy and Clay Guida. The only advantages Diego might have are that he has amazing cardio, and great wrestling. And he is stronger than Penn. But the boxing and bjj advantage def goes to Penn.
I think BJ and the UFC should wait a year or so before making another matchup against St. Pierre. They only fought in January.
I cant see gsp/bj again it is just to much!!!! BJ and sanchez should be great, I give a small edge to bj.
I find it funny how people just want Penn to lose, and well won’t give hime credit f
or the destruction of KenFlo.. I’ve seen this all over the interwebbie.. I’ve even seen comments here by someone that said Kenny was winning that fight and clearly won round one (not in this thread in another) and I was like wow is the blind hate for Penn soo bad that people seriously believe that Kenny won round 1? I didn’t know that getting knocked down and hit with a massive knee nd controlled for the round constitutes winning the round if so Mir is still the HW champ right! People want Penn to lose and won’t give the man credit for doing what a lot of people didn’t think he was going to do… Establish his dominance, go into championship round, execute a gameplan, Penn never got taken down, he dropped Flo, he won the standup, and he took Flo down (double leg) and absolutly destroyed Ken on the ground and FINISHED him… He won every aspect of that match and yet people won’t give Penn credit…. Its sad really /venting
People don’t like BJ because of how he comes off…smug. Combine that with his reputation for being a lazy trainer and it turns people off. That said, I was pulling HARD for Ken-Flo (There’s just something funny about Gaylord Focker fighting in a cage) but he was destroyed by the best BJ we’ve maybe ever seen.
Going into the fight BJ said all the right things and did all the right things. If he keeps this up, I believe you’ll find less and less BJ haters. I know I was, and he impressed the s**t outta me!
BJ vs. Diego? If we see this BJ again it won’t go past the second. Then we’ll get Diego vs. Ken-Flo!!
I noticed BJ was pretty quiet through all of the crap talk. I think he realized that everybody was turned off with all of his GSP hate. I don’t think he liked that very much.
I do find it amazing how people just let their emotion cloud their vision. I actually read on a different site that “BJ caught Kenny in a lucky RNC” that’s the kind of blind hate ppl have for him. To say BJ slamming Kenny down, passing from half guard to mount, then choking him out is “lucky”.
With that said BJ is head and shoulders above Diego. Diego isn’t a elite wrestler, he’s a very good one. Clay Guida out wrestled him that last fight. While in the mean time BJ stuffed Matt Hughes in his prime, nothing about Diego is anywhere near Hughes level of wrestling.
Diegos standup is also grossly overrated since his LW debut. He couldn’t really hurt Joe daddy and couldn’t finish him at all (while BJ and Kenflo destroyed Joe). In the Guida fight yes he hit clay with a lot of shots, but there was zero power on it. Clay survived and almost won that fight. If BJ hits you that many times, that cleanly its over…don’t believe me ask Cao Uno or Sean Sherk.
BJ walks through Diego and somehow you clowns will call it a fluke or find some reason to say he isn’t the best 155 EVER!
Best in the UFC, probably. Best EVER…no one can say.
Im glad Penn is in this state of mind. To me this is when we will see the best BJ ever. I actually thought the fight would have been close between him and Kenny, with Florian taking a dec. Now its obvious that BJ should be able to steam-roll anyone at 155. Even my boy Gray. But a third fight will be pointless. He will get put up against the cage the same way Kenny did to him but the difference will be that GSP will take him down 90% of the time that hes there.
BJ should stay at 155 and defend that belt another 5-6 times then he can claim to be the best LW champ ever(although he likely allready is) and one of the best champions/fighters of all time no questions asked.
haha finally get to see bj lose his title!
Lose his title? Is GSP droppin down to 155? Get real, Sanchez can’t beat Penn w/ those powerless punches.
i dont think penn should get a free pass to fight GSP a 3rd time…
i think he should have to beat a couple other WW’s before having a title shot…
Cry BJ penn should earn his shot, not demand it like the spoiled lil rich kid he is
A good big man will beat a good little man 99/100.
I think BJ wanting to fight again so soon is a smart decision on his part. This way he has a better chance of staying in great shape. If he comes into this fight the way he did against Florian, he will beat Diego.
If Penn comes in lazy, and with worse cardio than last fight, he could very well get beaten. Diego has phenomenal cardio, and improved stand up. I still say BJ has better boxing and bjj than Diego.
I think no matter what, Diego has to come into this fight with a different strategy than the Guida fight. Otherwise he will rush right into a KO or submission in a matter of minutes.
BJ should wait at least till the end of the year till he starts talking about a third fight with GSP. He has a responsibility at 155 and that is to defend his belt. With lots of fighters on the rise in that division (Diego, Gray, Edgar, etc.) he needs to worry about keeping that belt around his waist.
That’s some really positive words for BJ, exactly what you want to hear from a champion. Hell if he wants to fight GSP again then let him, however he needs to get past Sanchez first and if he does then who could begrudge him a 3rd fight.
Bj vs diego is gonna be a good fight hopefully…. better than vs florian. diego is much more explosive. and hopefully bj is in better shape then from the florian fight. he didn’t train right for a mma fight, its different from football, wrestling and boxing, its a different sport.
GSP vs bj. gsp will win. if bj is in good shape, it will last til 3 or 4 rounds, maybe even all 5, but bj will lose. SIZE DOES MATTER IN MMA. these are 2 world class fighters. bj has got skills but gsp is just one of the best fighters in the world.
your saying BJ didnt train right for an mma fight? dude did you watch the florian fight? BJ looked like he trained hella good cuz his cardio was the best its been in a long time. he trained better than he has in a long time.
they barely even fought it out to test his cardio…. that fight was borish
“Rude and clumsy in behavior,” is that what you really meant?
So after Sanchez gets the beating of his life by BJ, I can’t wait to see Deigo and Kenny Florian again. Poor Ken-Flo, stuck as a gatekeeper for a while. I wonder if he could cut to 145. Big pay decrease then I guess.
I want to see BJ fight GSP a third time, but to do it right he needs to have at least two more dominating wins at LW: Diego and Edgar.
Then he needs to move up to WW and at the very least beat Alves, and preferably beat Alves and Kos or Fitch. If he proves that he can handle the bigger guys in the division and maybe even finish them like GSP couldn’t, then he def qualifies for a last shot at GSP.
I’m not saying BJ would win, but I think he could make the fight much more competitive. And if it’s competitive, then he has a chance. There’s still something unresolved between them because of the whole greasing fiasco. Whether or not there was anything to that, who knows?
There should be an interim LW belt while BJ moves up and has one or two fights at WW, before facing GSP. Of course, he has to win those fights, but I would love to see BJ vs. Alves, that would be amazing.
BJ has the best jits of anyone WW or below. Would like to see how that would fare against other top WW’s not named GSP.
I don’t understand why BJ keeps trying to go for glory at welterweight. The last time he beat anyone outside the lightweight class was in 2005 when he beat Renzo Gracie in K1.
He has a much worse record at welterweight, so he should be made to fight lower-ranked welterweight fighters first before he goes for the title in that class.
People often say that BJ Penn is one of the best pound for pound fighters. I disagree. He has tremendous skill in MMA, but his greatest successes have been at lightweight. We have actual proof that he doesn’t do as well outside that class.
What people often forget is that the pound for pound ranking system was made so that you forget about weight class. So yes BJ penn is a P4P top 5 guy.
Mmmmm…not on my list. He’s top 10, but not top 5.
By all means your welcome to your opinion. I personally donr feel Fedor should be in the top 5, but that’s just me. Despite the way you or I feel most un biased sites and magazines have both in the top 5.
Mousasi has honestly jumped into mine with the way he took apart Babalu. I would love to see him against Machida and/or A. Silva.
I also believe BJ’s pride is what drives him for another match with GSP.
He did look great against Ken and consider as an opponent he is possibly the number one for BJ to face. I dont think BJ will ever be in better shape than 155 considering the work he HAS to do to attain the weight.
He cant put on the muscle required to match GSP in such a short time so he would have to get the weight somehow.
I love the “NEW” B.J. Attitude now! Quit crying and complaining suck that S#!+ up and go beat the h3ll outta the next guy and Go For More!!
Great Job BJ!! That’s what I call A Champ!
Bj was not in great shape. bj was in a lot better shape than he’s been in lately. if u watch the fight again, his footwork slowed down sooo much and his mouth was open, and his hands were getting lower. he is still one of the best p4p fighers. he WON the belt against the most dominating welter weight.
Sheesh… no one gives Diego a chance… seem to remember him only losing 2 fights… and one fight really… that josh koscheck fight was bull.. he tried standing up cuz lame ass Noob MMA viewers boo the technical ground game… he totally took control of Koscheck the few seconds they were on the ground.. as for BJ penn.. he fought worthless Ken Flo… a person who not in the least deserved a shot at the title… BJ was just standin around not gettin dropped to the mat.. then decided to finally fight and won in like a minute… BJ penn and Diego… Diego will win… cuz he’s hungrier… and brings more to the table… Diego’s never been submitted, or knocked out… took his only 2 losses to a decision… only fight that looked like he really lost… the John Fitch fight.. the guy was too strong…. either way… Diego’s gonna surprise the hell outta BJ.. and the rest who don’t give him a shot… I can’t wait to see it…
Diego has never faced a fighter on BJ’s level, never fought in a title fight, and will be exposed as a B level fighter just like every other TUF winner that fights elite competition. Diego is a good wrestler, with zero standup, good cardio, and IMO he has a weak mind. He offers no threats standing or on the ground to BJ, the best he can offer is lay n pray. and before people get outraged and say Diego is a great wrestler blah blah blah, is he better than Hughes in his prime at 170? NO he isnt and BJ stuffed Matt all night before he got hurt at the end of the 2nd. By the way you can hate on Kenny all you want but Kenny had enough skill to finish 5 of his last 6 fights and most of those finishes were in the 1st round. Deigo as a LW (a weight he were he is suppose to be bigger and badder in) has yet to finish a fight against Joe and Clay. and less we forget Joe didnt make it out of the 1st against Kenny and was pwnd by BJ for 2 rounds.
BJ Penn winner in the 3rd via RNC
That’s harsh, calling Rampage C level (since he got dominated by Griffin – a TUF winner). And Liddell, he’s like Z level, after getting murdered by Rashad, another TUF winner.
Keep it up, fanboi.
Forrest dominated Rampage? really? dominated? okay. and at this point who hasent KO’d Chuck? and im a huge Liddell fan. not impressed. i am impressed with Lyoto truly dominating Rashad and ending with a brutal beating.
Yeah, he dominated Rampage. He landed a hell of a lot more ground strikes and total strikes. He had more submission attempts and he had more dominant positions. And he had a 10-8 round and one when Rampage could barely walk back to his corner.
The only round Jackson clearly won was the 4th – also the only round he out-struck Griffin. He had a knock down in the first, but other than that he did nothing. Not a single thing. Definitely not enough to even make the fight close. Not compared the the second, where griffin landed over 40 GROUND strikes and Jackson didn’t land a single one. Or the third where Jackson was chopped down with 20 leg kicks.
There was a huge debate about this after the fight. There is no way anyone can look at numbers and say Jackson didn’t clearly lose that fight.
source
Don’t see why BJ v GSP isn’t an interesting or needed fight. As I recall its 1-1 and according to Official MMA rules they need the tie breaker. I hope BJ ties him up with both belts.
BJ v Diego…BJ will simply out class Mr. Wacko Wacko.
1-1? How did you get that? GSP is officially 2-0 against BJ. Agreed, the first fight was close but opinions aside the win went to St. Pierre. Also, I have never heard of “official MMA rules” requiring a tie break even if they were 1-1.
When you factor in “grease gate” it makes it 1-1
Did you get that out of your copy of the official mma rules too? Sec 32-A:
Loser complains of illegal advantage, even head to head record and force third and meaningless bout.
So is that a bit of humor coming through??? Just a little fishing and you bit…on to our next dual. lol
Good to be back
Diego is not a B level fighter and has already extensively proved that. Witness his W’s in classic matches vs. Nick Diaz and Karo (in his prime). His only losses are a very close fight with Fitch, who most feel is a top 3 WW and Kos, who he lost another decision to when not in the best health. And Kos is no slouch– he has probably pushed GSP harder than anyone in recent memory (not counting Serra).
Diego has proved he can make the weight cut. He’s more explosive than Florian and a bigger challenge for BJ. He’s also a little crazy and that’s a good thing. Didn’t BJ say you have to be a little crazy to be a great fighter?
The fight won’t last as long as the BJ/Florian fight but it will be more competitive and exciting. I predict one of, if not the most exciting fight of BJ’s career.
BJ by second round RNC!
I would also not use the word wrestler in describing Diego. He’s a guy who has always had great ground skills, either with subs or with GnP and has recently come a long way as a striker. His wrestling is probably third on the list to his jits and his stand-up.
I got BJ all day against any LW in the world, but Diego is a bigger threat than Florian, I assure you. He will push BJ harder, but his aggressiveness will mean a shorter fight.
really Diego’s Jits is his best quality? can you name me the last submission hes finished anyone with? dont worry ill wait.
You make a good point, but Diego did start his mma career by getting most of his wins by sub (2 RNC, 2 arm bars, Kimura). Recently he’s been more about striking and got his a black belt in BJJ.
But if you consider his ability to scramble well on the ground a wrestling skill, then I’ll give you that because that is clearly a major strength.
I just never though of him as a wrestler the way I think of say Kos and Fitch as wrestlers or Hughes, etc. He’s closer to someone like Serra, another jits guy with pretty decent striking who doesn’t get a lot of subs (unless you count the ones from the deli). But he’s got a more well-rounded striking game than Serra, who’s more about just boxing.
david bielkheden- submission due to strikes…… still a tap out
NOT due to his Jui Jitsu
This is a good move by bj imo. is lack of dicipline and focus have proven to be his demise in mostly all of his losses and it sounds as though he’s finally learned from his mistakes. This Bj Penn sounds like he’s focused and wants to stay that way. If Bj waits longer to defend his title, he might get restless and fall back into old habits.
Diego, wether people like it or not, is the current #1 contender @ lw for a lot of reasons.
1. He’s “the nightmare” who just “made the lw division more exciting” because he was a “contender” @ ww.
2. He just beat a tough lw, guida, like guida has never been beaten before.
3. Maynard (the supposed #1 contender) is fighting huerta and the only other guy who could be a top contender Frankie Edgar, just isn’t marketable enough to face “The Prodigy” Bj Penn for the title.
Plus, imo this is an exciting fight. I think diego is currently in his prime and in the best shape of his career. He hasn’t been super impressive but then again who has been more impressive then he has @ lw? Maynrad and Edgar have all won by decision victories and these decision victories were against opponents they should have finished but didn’t.
I look forward to this fight if it happens and i think this will be a fast paced fight but bj will submitt him in the 2nd round.
This is a good news, bad news deal for Penn.
The good news is that he’ll throw Sanchez a beating at 155 just like he does everyone else, but the bad news is that another GSP fight, unless its held at 155, will end no differently than the first two times they fought.
GSP couldn’t make 155 if they held a gun to Mandy Moore’s head, and Penn at 170 MIGHT be a top-10 contender, but thats about it.
As much as I respect the Prodigy’s accomplishments, he’s just going to have to content himself with the fact that he’s the best 155er on the planet, and can’t beat GSP at 170.
Finally I’ll also re-post this as a reminder to all of you thinking about picking Sanchez, or Maynard, or who picked Kenny Florian, to win in a fight with BJ Penn at 155:
BJ Penn only beats himself at 155. If he shows up on fight night in shape and mentally prepared, there isn’t a 155er in the world that can beat him, regardless of how skilled they are, as Penn keeps proving.
Sorry, but thats just how it is…
You say “if they held a gun to Mandy Moore’s head” like that would be a bad idea…
DIEGO Sanchez will (not try) but will OUTCARDIO and OUTSTRIKE B.J.Penn.
He will give NON-STOP action that B.J.Penn would be able to counter only for the first round, after that Sanchez will continue and WILL NOT STOP.
Again I say Sanchez will be 100 mph and B.J.Penn will keep up but unfortunely Sanchez GAS runs deep way, way bigger tank. That the only way I see B.J.Penn winning is in the 1st round after that…………
and the NEW LIGHT WEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD…………………..
DIEEEEGOOOO “THE NIGHTMARE” SAAANCHEZZZZZZ!
Sorry, but thats just how it is…
sanchez will test bj’s cardio more than ever and eventually wear penn out and thats when penn will get caught
sanchez wins in 3rd KO
The Nightmare Diego Sanchez all the way !!!!!!!!!!!
seems like he is looking past Diego mistake should be a great fight Diego gets the belt watch and learn knuckle heads !!!