A UFC lightweight championship matchup between title-holder BJ Penn and challenger Diego Sanchez is now slated to take place at UFC 107 on December 12 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Penn and UFC President Dana White announced the new date for the matchup on Thursday on Penn’s official website (see video embedded below).
Penn-Sanchez was originally rumored for UFC 105 on November 14 in the UK, then was expected to headline a third November event which would kick off a network TV deal for the UFC, but it will instead co-headline UFC 107, which is rumored to feature a main event between light heavyweight contenders and TUF 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans, though that fight is reportedly in jeopardy due to Jackson’s possible role in the upcoming “A-Team” movie.
Penn (14-5-1) successfully defended the lightweight belt last month at UFC 101, defeating Kenny Florian by fourth-round submission for his fourth win in last five fights. Prior to a January loss to Georges St-Pierre at welterweight, “The Prodigy” won consecutive lightweight bouts over Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, and Sean Sherk.
Sanchez (23-2), a former welterweight contender with wins over the likes of Nick Diaz, Joe Riggs, and Karo Parisyan, made his anticipated lightweight debut in February with a unanimous decision over Joe Stevenson. In his most-recent fight, “Nightmare” topped Clay Guida by split decision in June in a victory that has apparently earned him a shot at the 155-pound belt.
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 107 news and UFC 107 rumors.
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Two things come to mind from this piece:
1) does this mean that the network deal Dana has been going on about is off?
2) shouldn’t Brett Rogers be doing the BA Barachus role in the A-Team remake instead of Rampage?
;)
I really hope the deal isnt dead but I suspect it is. A lot of networks are still shy about the UFC.
That is also the 1st thing I thought, is the network deal dead?
Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard that a UFC deal was “thisclose” and somehow fell thru…
Hell, I dont even think it would be the second.
Man this card is going to be sick. I can’t wait for Rampage to slap Shad around for getting in his face way back. The TUF show looks like it could be the best yet.
I know this TITLE fight will be the main even right? I don’t see how Rampage-Evans would headline above a title fight right?
Yeah the way it was written makes it seem as though that would be the case. I doubt it though. Titles get main event status. At least they should…
Sounds like a co-main event type deal here…
First bj and kenflo get pushed out of the spotlight by anderson griffin, now bj and sanchez get pushed out of the spotlight by rampage rashad.
from what i have heard rampage is “highly considering” the role for the A-team movie. Dont be suprised if he isn’t on the 107 card folks. I could see him being on the Super Bowl card in early 2010.
MTV confirmed that he is NOT playing the role
How do you guys think the fight will go?
Although diego is a good striker, wrestler, sub fighter etc i think BJ is better in each area, the only aspect pre-101 would have been BJ’s tendancy to tire early and diego’s relentless pace, but after 101 he seems to have gone someway to have fixed probably the only grey area he had, thats not to say i think he will be at Diego’s level yet but it definatley suprised people the obvious dedication and focus he has on his conditioning.
Cant see BJ losing but only way i could imagine is Diego & his camps strategy to fight for a 5 rounder with unrelenting pace through-out for a decision victory.
Maybe im wrong……….
Its been said before, but the only way BJ Penn loses at 155 is if he beats himself either thru laziness in camp, or poor attitude towards the fight.
If Penn arrives on fight night ready to go, in shape mentally and physically, which hasn’t of course always been the case, it doesn’t matter what Sanchez does, he’s going to lose.
Why? Because BJ Penn is that damned good, thats why.
Sad for the rest of the 155ers but true nonetheless.
Just ask the littlest ronin Kenny Florian…
I think BJ takes this fight. I think he is better than Diego at nearly every aspect of MMA. BJ got schooled by GSP but I dont really see anyone at 155 giving him much trouble.
I think it’s sad how the unnamed network is ducking the UFC.
Diego can win with his devastating stare down game
I honestly thought Florian was a much better match up. People think wrestler are BJ’s weakness…NO! GSP was BJ’s weakness. So unless your as good and as strong attacking BJ that way will not work. Oddly enough its BJJ guys like Matt Serra that have given BJ a harder time than wrestlers. Which is why IMO Kenny offered more of a threat than Diego does. That and leg kicks, just like Chuck, BJ never really seems to check them. Which is another reason I thought Kenny would pose more of a threat. Which is why IMO BJ walks through Diego as quickly as he did Joe Stevenson. Diego has never been on the ground with a guy BJ’s level. BJ via RNC.
i hope rashad beats jackson all page wants to do is fight in movies this hype between the two is for ratings
?
:D
was there a point in that linguistic mess?
The point is maybe we could get some state’s athletic commission to test our posters before they hit the “submit comment” button?
;)
We should get Cambridge to offer a grammatical “whiz quiz”. I’m still trying to figure that out.
WTF?
Looking at Penn vs Sanchez very similar to how I’m viewing Shogun vs Machida. Thinking that Sanchez will give the best showing against BJ to date, but still is destined for a loss. Incidentally I feel the same way about Shogun, he’s going to hang with Machida for awhile but not going to pull off the win.
If Rampage were to back out of his fight with Rashad for a movie….YOUR FIRED!!! Would be my response if I could have a say so.
And for no reason:
RUA RUA RUA RUA!
Oh yeah….
PENN PENN PENN PENN
and…
JACKSON JACKSON JACKSON.
Since rampage turned down a title fight to fight rashad, i hope he wouldn’t then go turn his back on that fight for a movie that probably won’t do as well in the box office as he would in the cage against “sugar”.
I’ve never been a diego fan, but the guy has looked good in his last couple of fights. He like bj and florian, is a veteran of the sport with over 20 w’s and imo, is one of the most well rounded lw’s @ the moment. His pace is a hard one to stick with and he’s got awesome grappling with some pretty decent subs. He doesn’t have hella power in his hands but his boxing/kickboxing has improved a bit since he dropped. However, against bj, you have to be as good or better to beat him and the truth is that diego isn’t nearly as talented as “the prodigy”. However, i do believe that @ lw, diego will prove to be penn’s biggest test and will make him really fight to keep that belt. But it’s like the philosopher jcohl said, @ 155 the only way bj will lose is if he beats himself. I expect an awesome matchup dudes!
I wonder if BJ will have his camp in Cali again. Seemed to work well for him- and his camp thought so too.
I do believe that Penn is going to be training at the RVCA center that was built here in Cali for him
Pretty decent screenname….
I know no ones gonna agree with me but i have to call it
Nightmare by TKO 3rd Round
i just think sanchez is gonna come into this fight more than ready…and even though BJ Penn is well “The Prodigy” hes probobly gonna look past Sanchez which is well an advantage for “Nightmare”
bj penn…yes yes….what a prodigy….ive been watching him for quite some time now….very smart fighter….even when he is unprepared he still fights with mostly technique. not outrageously powerful or fast but does have skill and a veteran status which brings a bit more confidence to the fight…penn’s quick jabs and stout straight hands will try to keep diego’s onslaught at bay…diego, quick, explosive and ability to hold a fast pace, will most assuredly pose a threat to penn’s 155 status. when i found out diego was dropping to 155 i was rocked by the possibilities. one man makes me think penn will fall in this matchup. his name is clay guida. the diego guida fight showed all of us the passion diego has for fighting…whether it was standing up or when he had guida in his guard, diego showed us that he can go full bore, at a pace that many cant keep up with…155 is where diego belongs…4th or 5th round is where we will find out if diego has enough explosiveness to pull out the win….i definitely dont see diego tapping penn or vice versa. itll come down to strikes, whether ground and pounding or standup from either individual….i thought it was a mistake for sean sherk to box penn even tho sherk is a built like a brick sh*thouse and has decent boxing ability. i dont think itll be the same this time tho….diego is much faster than sherk and it wont be power that wins this fight for either opponent. calm nerves, stamina and speed will take this fight…no matter whos hand is raised…while i love to watch both fighters throw down, i have to say i want diego to take the fight…i have to go with CLAXP on this one….
GET SUM DIEGO!!!