Nobody has ever knocked Diego out. He has an excellent chin. Koscheck is a bigger hitter than Penn and he hit Diego with alot of ****. Punches, Headkicks, and Diego never even appeared stunned. And as far as standup, while BJ may be technically better with his Boxing, Diego is the more explosive striker. If Penn wins it will by sub IMO, because his Jiu jitsu is tighter, but at the same time Diego is a great scrambler, and it will be fun watching him against someone like Penn. Tough fight to call.
You mean Penn gogoplata round 1 right? :smoke Seriously though, this wont be an easy fight for Penn as Diego is no slouch, that being said I just don't see Penn losing this fight. I'll eat my words come Saturday night if Diego does yes-cartwheel BJ Penn to hell, but I don't think Diego will pull it off.
BJ will get top position damage Diego with punches, Diego will try to scramble up BJ will take his back. Bam republican national convention.
I'm looking for Sanchez to seriously test BJ's gas tank in this one. I think that Sanchez could pull off the upset in the championship rounds or take a decision.
I have been wanting to see this fight since Diego moved down from WW. And when Diego was at WW I badly wanted to see him fight GSP and Hughes. Diego is very dangerous and I think the biggest problem he has had was gameplanning and being outsized against Fitch. Diego: Decent Standup. He looks good against wrestlers but he has tremendous deficiencies in his striking and I predict him to look horrible on his feet against BJ. Decent Takedowns. He is persistent but his takedowns are not fluid and he comes up short alot. Great in the scramble. Great GNP Very good Grappling. GOOD Cardio, but his cardio has never been tested past 3 rounds. Anybody disagree with the above? As was made above, the comparison between Kos and BJ's striking has no bearing. Kos may be stronger but BJ is much faster with his hands and more accurate and much more fluid. Kos may have hit diego but BJ will counter him and hit him when he isn't expecting. Those are the shots that crack an iron chin. 1. BJ feels him out, jabs and stuffs his takedowns in the first 2. BJ picks up the pace, hurts him with a combination, takes him down, gets top position and submits him in the 2nd. That is my prediction. :good The old BJ, when he first entered the ufc I think Diego might give some trouble to and might even beat. BJ is too smart now and too patient. He's too intelligent now.
That's a good prediction on what the fight may look like. It may play out just like that. Or it may not. We never really know how a fight is gonna go because anything can happen in a fight. Hughes shouldn't have beaten Penn in that rematch, but it happened. Penn's cardio failed him in a fight he was looking great in, and Hughes went in for the kill and finished him as soon as he smelled blood. Infact, Hughes was the first man to stop Penn. Penn's Boxing is very good for MMA, but you're basing his Boxing against guys in recent past that couldn't touch him. Stevenson, Sherk, hell even Florian didn't wanna engage. Penn dictated all those fights pretty much. Diego is gonna wanna push the Pace. Like GSP did. That's the kind of fighter that can get to Penn. A relentless cardio freak. I don't think Diego's TDA's are gonna put Penn on his back. I think we'll see BJ sprawl & brawl and keep it on the feet. But Sanchez is a big lightweight. Not as good of a wrestler as Sean Sherk, but brut strenght and persistance might play a factor. Constant persistance from Diego may cause some big problems in the later rounds. If BJ can keep it up all night, then he just may win, but if he can't, he's gonna get stopped.
If BJ does not manage to keep the fight standiing he is going to get stopped? So BJ wont be able to sweep deigo, submit him from the guard or manage to defend himself enough to keep himself from being stopped?
