White: Penn To Defend Both Titles If He Wins Welterweight Championship
Since rumors of a rematch between UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre first surfaced, the question of whether Penn would relinquish his 155-pound title and remain solely focused on the 170-pound division or defend both titles simultaneously has been asked frequently.
UFC President Dana White this week confirmed at a press conference for the January 31st event that Penn, should he defeat GSP at UFC 94, will defend both titles.
“Once you win the title and you accomplish so many things in the fight business, then it becomes about legendary status, making your mark, going down as one of the greatest fighters of all time,” said White. “The problem I always talk about with B.J. is trying to contain this kid and keep him focused on staying at 155 and defending his title there. He’s been doing that. And I think now is the time. Now is a great time. He’s saying if he wins the 170-pound title, he’s going to defend both titles.
“Should B.J. win, one of the things he would do is defend two titles at the same time. Nobody has ever done that. It’s never been done.”
If Penn wins, the frequncy of title defenses in both the lightweight and welterweight divisions will immediately be cut in half until Penn loses a championship bout. Kenny Florian is currently in line for Penn’s first 155-pound defense, while Thiago Alves is likely to face the winner of the UFC 94 welterweight championship bout for the 170-pound title.
Tags: BJ Penn
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why so he gets killed? i expect tko win by gsp any round. bj is like 5″10″ and meant for 155 and GSP is like 6″0″ meant for welter wieght maybe middlewieght becuase he cuts like 35 pounds so gsp is to huge and strong for bj and bj going up a wieght class so unlikly to win maybe gsp will hurt bj’s huge ego a little bit and i hope my man KENFLO takes away his belt i was suprised win he beat joe daddy
I kinda feel bad for Florian if Penn wins. Cause even if he intends on defending both belts, odds are GSP would get a rematch and Alves is waiting. Seems like both belts could end up getting defended once or twice in the whole year which I don’t like. Not to mention guys like Alves and KenFlo will only fight once or twice in the year which equally sucks.
Especially because Florian is bound to want to fight again, probably Sherk, which would be very risky for his #1 contender status. Also, no one wants to see Sherk get another shot at Penn.
man i hope penn wins, then no1 will be able to say hes not the best p4p fighter in the world, i belive penn will win via tko in the 2nd
JOHNBOY I’m with you on this one. But I must admit it is only because he is from the US.
I really like both Penn and GSP. I’m torn between the two. Fight style, career progression, accomplishments. Just torn. My last option to make my choice is there country.
So, good luck GSP but I have to cheer for my countrymen!
As for predictions??? I think anyone is pretty bold to go out on a limb for either one. This is way too close to call.
GSP has overcome a lot of adversity and learned a lot of lessons. Same for BJ, however I think BJ is just absolutely outside himself…edge to BJ.
I agree that BJ will win and he IS the best p4p fighter in the world. I think His jab will cause enough damage for GSP to go for the take down…when this happens BJ will do one of two things, He will land a knee when GSP shots or just let him take it to the ground and sub him…the ground is not where GSP wants this fight even tho he is a good wrestler BJ is GREAT off his back. So it will come down to a stand up battle in which i give BJ the edge…i predict an amazing fight.
Gi87 i agree with everything u just said, bj’s jab on gsp subject chin = long night for gsp, only way gsp wins this is take down an ground and pound, which int guna happen cos if gsp takes him down penn will submit him or just get back up, i seem to remember a man called randy couture (dont no if any1 heared of him) saying that he found it very hard to take bj down then when he did take him down even harder to keep him there,
As good as BJ is, I still think if he was to go up against A Silva he would beat him maybe 1/10 times because his striking is his edge verus GSP. His BJJ is better then Silva but he has to get it to the ground is where I see the problem. Silva would just pick him apart like he does to everyone.
@ufcmanz, what areyou talking about? Why would he go up against A.S.? When he beats GSP he will have a fight scheduled ~every4-5months and his first 2 r tough opponents KFlow, Alves. He will not fight Anderson he just wont have the time.
lol-BJ has the edge in stand up because of his jab?Pass that chit around-cause whatever you’re smokin must be good.BJ has to deal with GSP’s kicks to land that jab,and guaranteed,those kicks do more damage than those annoying little jabs.And if BJ takes him down off of one of those kicks,do you really think he will be able to keep him there?GSP is weakest on his back but I just don’t see him being there let alone staying there.BJ is an amazing fighter but he should stick with LW.
Prediction: GSP via TKO
COME ON!!!!!!I LIKE PENN BUT ITS ALMOST OBVIOUS TO ME THAT GSP WILL WIN.WHATS DIFFERENT THIS TIME GUYS???AS FOR SILVA HIS BEST CHANCE OF COMPETITION IS AT 205 WHERE HE SHOULD STAY.OTHERWISE GSP VS SILVA WOULD BE INTERSTING.
ahhh haha are you serious al. when anderson is the middleweight and light heavyweight champ he will be the best pound for pound
everyone is drunk of the think bj’s stand up is better then gsp. Fitch would work bj. i dont understand how he gets to just fight for the belt he should earn it.
people understand this was in the maken ages ago…. and gsp with TKO …….. but kenny will b the new UFC lightweight champion
GSP’s standup has improved so much since they last met, he is a much more aggressive explosive fighter than before. BJ has heavy hands and usually a straight forward attack, i think GSP has many more tools to beat him than before.
OK…. so IF B.J. wins and get both belts. And lets say somehow, miraculously, Florian beats him (this is hypothetical don’t scream and yell) would Florian be the 155 and 170lb champ??? It seems to me that each time a multiple belt holder fought at the lower of the 2 weights, both belts should be on the line. What do you think???
not at all ethan, if that was the case bj belt would be up for grabs in the gsp fight an all,
I doubt it Ethan as if they fought it has to be 1 weight class but i’d imagine they could fight again for the other belt if Florian wanted too.
I like GSP but why are some people convinced he will steamroll BJ ?
BJ Submissions are better than GSP’s and he has an granite chin the only down side i see for BJ is that GSP has far better cardio and speed.
BJ is being way over looked IMO
For real, has anyone seen their first fight (GSP vs. PENN)? Because half the comments on this page doesn’t sound like it. I think this fight will be too clost to call, but comments like if GSP takes him down he’ll get submitted easily. For real, go get UFC 58 on dvd, where were the submissions then? Either guy can take either guy. We’ll see who’s better on Jan. 31st.
I thought it was obvious that when Penn wins the title he will have to defend them both
I think GSP’S submissions are awesome now and probably still improving.The last fight against Hughes had some crazy ground skills and subs., i know it was a less than better Hughes but that display by GSP wowed me. This fight could go either way as shown by Serra’s KO over GSP. BJ’s hands are way more lethal than Serra’s, but what got GSP last time were the jabs and the fact he stood there without good head movement and tried to trade with BJ, bad game plan.
@ fr, thanks, I thought I was over thinking it.
Its simple to me too
bj penn not strong enough for gsp. also too light.
end of story.
i’d like to see silva vs gsp!!!!
Penn has a wicked googley.
Penn gave GSP a big run for his money the last time they fought. Penn seems to really have rededicated himself to the sport. He was tyin fools in knots while eating doughnuts for years. I think he will have much improved cardio this go round.
I do not think 170 is ideal for Penn but he has proved he can hang.
I also think it will be rediculously difficult to retain 2 weight class titles. Yo-yoing will really be a strain on the body.
I think this fight could go any direction. I need to see which fighters show up. I think if they both show up with A+ game, Penn wins by an inch.
Dig,
Penn may not yoyo very much. He hates to cut weight, so he may not gain that much, he may just go with his walking around weight to fight at 170.
no mamen, i think bj penn should’ve stayed at 155 and defend it at least 5 times, once he proves he can beat anyone on his division, he can go up and compete against whoever the champion is at 170. the same applies for all the champion.
I dont even know why Bj penn gets a fight with GSP, Matt hughes smashed bj. GSP beats Matt hughes the same way he beat Bj
what a idiot!!! Matt Hughes smashed bj cuz he gassed out… bj whooped his butt the first fight and gassed in the second so dont say stuff you dont know about…
I like where you’re coming from, but I must humbly disagree. GSP is much stronger and faster than BJ Penn by a long shot. BJ is a great mind but GSP isn’t too bad in the game plan department either. I see no way that BJ has his way in this fight at all. Going to the ground, I do not think he’ll be able to keep GSP down. Standing, GSP is going to make a living playground out of his calves with kicks and GSP has the reach as well. I sincerely see no way GSP loses here. Even in mental toughness. Just ask John Fitch.
BJ Penn seems to have a ‘Jonestown’ kool-aid effect on many…i’ve never seen the dedication in him, that many other fighters possess. he’s great, but he knows it, and his ego is his vice. anything can happen in a fight, but GSP has this one in the bag, and i believe Alves offers a lot more of a challenge to GSP than Penn does. Penn should stick to what he knows…155 lbs and pineapples.
Penn in the past hasn’t shown the dedication, but lately he has, he’s taking a different approach now versus what he used to.
does penn lose his title if he loses this fight? He should lose the title and another fight should happen for the lightweight title. Penn gets the welterweight title for winning the fight, but what does GSP get???Nothing? If thats the case it’s not fair to GSP
you GSP fans have no clue what your talking about. No edge goes to GSP at al….BJ is far superior in striking, take down defense, BJJ, head and foott movement. You could say GSPs edge would be the grappling but it is easily canceled out by BJs BJJ. It makes me chuckle inside to know all you GSP fans will be empty pocketed after betting againt the PRODIGY………FIN
Why the heck would BJ lose the lightweight title by fighting at WW. Lets see…what are the chances of GSP being able to defend a title at 155 when the guy reportedly walks around at close to 200 pounds?? That whole idea is dumb. Hendo didn’t lose the middleweight Pride Belt to Rampage when he lost at 205…the UFC LW belt won’t be any different with BJ fighting at 170. They are two different weight classes. Its like Appalachian State (an FCS team) playing beating Michigan (a BCS team) last year. Michigan is supposed to be better than App because they are in a higher division, so the loss to an FCS team counts against them, the same way it allowed App to make it into the national rankings. Had they won, the loss would not have counted against Apps standing in the FCS rankings, because they were playing a team in a higher ranked division. A WW against a LW is supposed to win because they have a weight advantage (in theory) so a win or loss at that weight class affects both fighters standing in the WW division, but not at LW.
Ah BJ. The guy wins and defends his belt once at lightweight (after losing his last 2 welterweight fights) and gets a shot at the welterweight title while Anderson has demolished his division and still has to win at least 2 fights at Lightheavy.
GSP will not loose a single round to Penn. Mark my works people. Watch a tape of the Fitch fight, and then the Penn fight. Compare GSP’s striking. 500% improved. I cannot wait to have all the BJ lovers silenced, forever. No more P4P scale BJ. After the GSP loss, Florian will take your lightweight belt. Then what? Plead that you deserve to fight Anderson Silva? The sad thing is he will probably get the fight.
BJ Penn asked GSP for the fight GSP accepted, GSP wanted four months off to heal up soo he could come into this fight 100%, yes GSP striking has gotten better I agree, I believe also that Penn will win this match and if he doesn’t so be it… KenFlo beating Penn is unlikely tho Kenflo is dangerous forsure I just don’t think he has it in him…..
If GSP does win against Penn (which I don’t think he will) he should dispose of Alves then challenge Anderson Silva for his title just to make it fair for the GSP diehards, you know never fight at MW and get a title shot but seriously I would like to see GSP v Silva before Silva retires
BJ Penn will defend the WW title after he beats GSP then beats KenFlo (who deserves the shot @ LW forsure) the BJ Penn v Thiago Alves for the WW title whynot
when GSP when i’mg gonna laugh and say i knew it and i told ya so. because there seems no chance for bj. i mean there is but only if he gets lucky GSP via tko unless he has a chin like fitch holy cow did jon take a beating
and i think bj will beat kenflo to but i want kenflo to win… but he might be better than i think he suprised me when he fought joe i thought he title chance was going to be taken away but nope submit round 1
so hopfully for me he suprises me again and has a huge upset
Well cj i dont think you know anything yourself! Maybe bj should have came prepared and he would not have GASSED you idiot!!!
gsp is bigger, stronger, better at striking than bj.
i dont see bj winning. he should stick to his weight. i see gsp going for bigger guys, ex. randy, ice-man, silva.
bj seems naturally smaller.
gsp could hurt bj, i’ve been wondering if he damaged serra with those knees – he hasn’t fought since has he?
How funny is it that there are people that “know” that GSP is going to win and there are people that “know” that BJ is going to win.
I say, super funny.
I think it proves what I said earlier “As for predictions??? I think anyone is pretty bold to go out on a limb for either one. This is way too close to call.”
Not one person can argue that this is a wash and one of them is just going to mop the floor with the other. Impossible. If anyone says that GSP or BJ are going to totally dominate the fight and/or you can seriously think you can call this fight…I BRAND YOU AN ETERNAL DOUCHE BAG!!!
well J ufc you need to watch both fights cuz it sure looks like matt is gettin pounded to me
but your right… matt pounded him out at the end… but penn choked him out in the first round in the first fight and had him in the second fight but didnt care much to train… i know my stuff so i sure aint a idiot playa…. but i think penn and gsp will go five rounds with penn winning by split decison for payback from the first fight wit gsp
CJ
No way. If you “know your stuff”, then you would know that GSP posesses every single tool to overwhelm Penn. Strength. Stamina. Reach. Standup. Wrestling. There is no way BJ can rely just on BJJ to pull this out. Not a chance.