Penn is the underdog according to the bookies. Worth a bet? Or will Fitch just use his size and strength to hold him down for 3 rounds?
Hard to say for sure but I tend to favour Penn. I'm still not sold on Fitch, certainly very tough and conistant but he's never beaten a good striker with quality takedown defence IMHO. You could argue Alves the second time I spose but I think it was pretty clear ****ing up the cut had a massive effect on him.
Penn is always worth a bet against anyone , he is gonna be up for this fight there is absolutley no doubt about that , he looked sensational against Hughes both in performance and physique , he's in with a shot no doubt .............. All that said , i think he's in with a wrecking machine who is very very hard to apply any sort of effective game plan against , Fitch is an animal , he's unstoppable right now and i see Penn on the end of a 3 round beat down here , as long as Penn can keep the fight standing he makes it interesting , once Fitch starts to lean on Penn physically and utilise that wrestling and size advantage , its gonna get messy for Penn . Fitch UD 29 - 28
Look back at Fitch's career, there arent many really high level wins are there? Deigo, Thago and Alves are it for me and I think there are question marks next to the level of the first two(look what BJ did to Deigo for example) and the condiction of the latter after that cut. Due to his lack of popularity, not wanting to fight Kos and the lack of depth at 170 he's really not been tested that much outside of the GSP fight for me in which he had his ass handed to him far worse than anyone else George has faced recently. As I said its hard to say for sure(due to BJ's limated WW record aswell) but I suspect he may well be shown up as a very tough but not brilliant wrestler with decent striking and sub defence. Thats a good conbination for consistantly beating mid level opponants, not so good for facing a quality striker with good takedown defence.
Im at a loss for words , i honestly cannot beleive what im reading here , im not getting into this , hell no !!!!!!!!!!!! I MEAN SERIOUSLY ...................................
Penn could win by KO as he is a much better boxer than Fitch, Penn could win by RNC because he has superior BJJ to Fitch. However, the most likely outcome is the classic Fitch UD. But I am a Penn fan, and when he is fired up he is a special fighter. I am willing to go with the heart over the head, and say Penn wins.
Im sorry you must be mistaking me for someone else , ive got a couple of one page essays kicking around on other threads !!!! Im just refusing to get into this debate , because its not a debate , your underestimation Fitch proves to me beyond any doubt your technical knowledge of this sport is poor , and your understanding of John Fitch's skill set and style is no more than shocking Sorry mate , im done with you on this one
Horrible stylistic matchup for Penn. Of course, he is a great fighter an anything could happen. However I would definitely bet on Fitch.
Penn would wreck fitch. Youll be surprised by this matchup. If it was Penn vs. Alves, Id probably give the edge to Thiago.
This is basically a style vs style match up. If Penn can stuff Fitch's takedowns then Jonny boy hasn't got a pray. Likewise if Penn gets taken down then its hard to see him being able to get up and he's not really got a history of being particularly active off his back. Given how well Penn coped with St. Pierre's takedowns in the first round of their second fight (i.e. before St. Pierre had worn him down with standup that Fitch can't match) I favour Penn.