These two had a 3 round affair in 2006 and Georges St. Pierre topped BJ Penn in a razor close split decision. This time around it will be a 5 round fight for the UFC welterweight title in January. It’s a great way to kick off the new year—two of the top fighters on the planet slugging it out for 170 pound supremacy. Here’s how it will play out.
Striking
Last time around the first round was a striking battle and BJ Penn came out on top. He busted up Pierre’s nose and was ahead on the score cards for outstriking the Canadian champion. Pierre notes his vision was heavily impaired due to an unintentional digit in his eye early in the bout. He experienced double vision and certainly taking on two BJ Penn’s is a terrifying experience. He settled down later in the fight but the striking edge in the last couple rounds wasn’t extremely obvious. It was an even battle. Nonetheless because of the edge Penn had in the first round and his KO power he has displayed in the feet in the past, in addition to his fearless attitude towards striking, he gets the nod in this area.
Wrestling
The best takedowns and takedown defence at welterweight match up in this fight. GSP has become legendary for his swift shots that have planted exceptional wrestlers such as Jon Fitch, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Sean Sherk and even BJ Penn on their back. We would have guessed Koscheck had the better wrestling but when the two matched up in the cage, Pierre was taking down his American competitor and thwarting takedowns from the former NCAA wrestling champ. Penn’s takedown defence is the best at 170. He can with his unhuman flexibility avoid and sprawl out of seemingly unavoidable takedown attempts. Nonetheless Pierre was able to take him down in their bout and his wrestling has gotten ever better now. Pierre can do it again and has the edge.
BJJ
BJ Penn arguably has the best BJJ in the game. He has reached demigod status on the mat and his translated his superb grappling technique perfectly to the MMA game. Pierre is a great BJJ artist himself but the realm BJ Penn has entered into on ground seems untouchable at the moment. If Pierre does take the fight to the ground he will have to fight off submission after submission. I think he’s up for the challenge, but BJ definitely has the edge in this mat war.
Cardio
BJ Penn shook off some of that negative reputation for having suspect cardio when he fought 3 hard rounds against Sean Sherk. We didn’t see him enter into the championship rounds but he should be good to go for 5 hard rounds against Pierre as the Hawaiian has been heavily devoting himself to intense training as of late. Nonetheless while Penn has been questioned in the past when it comes to lasting for the full fight with ample fuel, the same question has never been posed of Pierre. Good to go for 5 rounds whether he is injured, sick, fighting on short notice or whatever the circumstance may be, you can always count on GSP being there and fighting 100 percent for the whole fight. He has a naturally sound cardiovascular system that is only refined further with intense strength and conditioning training. Expect no less this time in what will be his toughest test yet.
The Outcome
This is a tough one to call, as are most great matchups put on in the MMA world. BJ Penn argued after his defeat to GSP the first time that all Pierre did was take him down in the first fight and did no damage. He was basically saying he beat up Pierre in the fight and all GSP did was win on his takedown success. Indeed Pierre’s face did look worse after 15 minutes and Penn did look relatively fresh as a daisy. Nonetheless 2 out of the 3 judges felt GSP outpointed Penn in the battle.
This fight will likely play out the same way. Penn has the better chance to win by finishing his opponent. With his KO power, stellar submission, and killer instinct in the cage, Penn is more dangerous to finish the fight. Pierre has KO power, but Penn has never been knocked out on the feet. Pierre has submissions but Penn is too good to get caught in them. Pierre has ground and pound but he is going to have a tough time finishing Penn with is as the Hawaiian will be attacking of his back with just as much vigor.
All that being said, Pierre is likely to be able to handle himself on the feet just fine and get the fight to the ground. From there he will successfully fight off submissions and pepper Penn with ground and pound for the decision win. That sounds quite similar to the first fight but I feel this is a good indication of how they match up.
Of course it is a different ball game this time around as they are both different fighters since then. It will be about 3 years since they first fought when they meet again in 2009, and there are different motivations this time around.
Penn is looking for revenge. That’s a big factor. A regular BJ Penn is scary, a highly motivated BJ Penn looking for revenge is a nightmare. Not that Pierre is a demure and amiable individual in the Octagon. Outside the cage he’s as friendly as they come but outside it’s quite the opposite. He is vicious, violent and perhaps the most genetically gifted athlete in the game. His motivation is to show he is a true champ that can defend his title against the best.
All these factors on top of the fact we have two of the most dynamic fighters entering into a highly unpredictable sporting event can make for a highly unforeseeable outcome. But until then we’ll go with our best guess scenario for who wins…GSP by decision after 5 action packed rounds.
