UFC 101: BJ PENN STOPS FLORIAN TO RETAIN TITLE

BJ Penn withstood the challenge of a game Kenny Florian before defending his UFC lightweight title, earning a tapout victory in the fourth round.  The fight was the main event of UFC 101 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was an impressive showing by the Hilo, Hawaii based Penn who was routed by UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in his previous outing.  Back at his preferred weight, however, Penn showed the dominance that has earned him the reputation of being among the best lightweight mixed martial artists in the world.

From the outset, Florian quickly realized the difficult task in front of him.  Penn is a particularly tough matchup for any fighter due to his versatility.  He’s among the best “pound for pound” strikers in the sport, but is even more dangerous on the ground where his insane flexibility and virtuosic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills are rivaled by few fighters.  K-Flo quickly tried to implement a game plan consisting of mauling Penn against the cage wall, presumably in an effort to wear down his opponent.  There has always been some doubt about Penn’s conditioning, and Florian likely felt that his best chance of winning was to take the fight into the later rounds and test his opponent’s stamina.

The opening round was a relatively even affair, though Penn took control in the final 30 seconds as he tagged Florian with a hard overhand right followed by a knee strike.  The frame ended before he could administer more damage, and Florian appeared completely recovered by the time the second round began.  Florian continued to implement his ‘bull to the cage wall’ fight plan with some degree of success, but any time Penn got the distance his far superior striking skills became evident.  In the second, Penn again scored with his sharp punching to win an otherwise even round.  The pattern repeated itself in the third, and despite not doing much damage to Penn the relatively even round gave Florian hope that his strategy would pay dividends.

That proved to not be the case in the fourth round, as Penn quickly got a takedown and at that point was well on his way to victory.  He passed guard with ease and mounted a punishing ground and pound attack. “K-Flo” gave up his back, and that was all the opportunity that Penn needed to lock in a rear naked choke and get the submission.

Penn gave a very brief postfight interview saying only that “he loves the fans” and “he loves Hawaii” before giving his website address and leaving the cage.  Next up to challenge for his lightweight belt will likely be Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez.  While Sanchez is perhaps the most intense fighter in the sport it’s difficult to see how he’ll be able to contend with the versatility of the champion.