By Robert Rousseau
May 27, 2008:
Georges St. Pierre boasts a 16-2 overall mixed martial arts record with seven (T)KO's and five submission victories to his credit. B.J. Penn, on the other hand, holds a 13-4-1 mixed martial arts record with five (T)KO's and five submission victories. By the way, one of Penn's losses came at the hands of St. Pierre back on March 4, 2006 via majority decision. The win did not come St. Pierre's way without controversy, however, as the current UFC Welterweight Champion took a beating in the first stanza and didn't look nearly as good as Penn when the fight was over. Still, he did appear to win the final two rounds after Penn gassed.
Regardless, it shouldn't be any wonder that after defeating Sean Sherk and becoming the clear and undisputed UFC Lightweight Champion, Penn asked the crowd the following.
"Do you want B.J. Penn to fight GSP?"
Guess what, folks? They erupted. But would the result be any different in a five round fight than it was in the three round battle waged in 2006?
Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn 2
First St. Pierre has to get through his fight with Jon Fitch. Then, of course, the UFC would have to want the fight to happen. But if it did, boy would it ever be big.
The last time these two met Penn dominated St. Pierre in the first round on his feet. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to stop the man from Canada in that first round and then became tired.
That's when St. Pierre took over. First, his jab started to work. Second, he started taking Penn down at will and executing some ground and pound. Did St. Pierre do anywhere near the damage that Penn did to him in the initial round? No. That said, there was very little chance of Penn winning another stanza the way he was gasping for air.
Here are the differences in these two elite fighters to look out for that might make a GSP vs. B.J. Penn fight different today.
First, St. Pierre is a much more confident fighter than the one that met up with Penn earlier in his career after two victories over Matt Hughes by stoppage and a revenge victory over Matt Serra.
On the other hand, B.J. Penn appears to be training much harder since his loss to Matt Hughes.
Said another way, St. Pierre seems better at submissions, better on his feet, and more confident, which, to be frank, has always seemed like the only thing that could get in his way (his own head, in other words). On the flip side, Penn seems to have improved his cardio to the point that he likely wouldn't gas after only one round, even if he were up against a much bigger and stronger fighter in St. Pierre.
With all of that on the table, who wins? Well, that's a tough question-one that shouldn't be answered unless Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn 2 actually comes to fruition.
So come back and look for an answer at a later date if this fight in fact goes through.
