I don’t think the outcome of the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard will effect BJ Penn’s decision to stay at Welterweight or drop down to Lightweight. That decision is in his own hands. If he beats Jon Fitch, he stays — if not, he has to decide.
Q&A with WeHeartMMA - Kenny Florian forgot to ask me what his game plan should be against Gray Maynard, and now look at him. He’s missed his opportunity for a 3rd UFC Lightweight Title Fight. Don’t make his mistake, ask me something today!
Another great UFC card in the books with UFC 118. You got to see some great grappling, a stand up scrap, and just pure MMA. It was a good mix of everything except a good knockout, but in true MMA fashion we some great submissions. I’m still heartbroken about the BJ Penn loss, but I won’t make that ruin the whole card in general. Here are my results for the event and don’t forget to check out the “Community Prediction Results” at the bottom:
1. Frankie Edgar dominated BJ Penn everywhere — again!
Wow. I definitely didn’t expect that. I thought BJ Penn was going to go into that fight with a totally different game plan of going after Frankie Edgar and working his ground game. He definitely tried that in the later rounds, but he should have done more in the earlier rounds. Now, Frankie Edgar definitely did amazing, you can’t take that away. He played his game and showed some awesome wrestling takedowns and crisp boxing. I love BJ Penn and it was just hard to watch the fight. He lost decisively.
(-1) Prediction: BJ Penn over Frankie Edgar
2. Randy Couture shows James Toney the full MMA experience
Did anyone really think anything else was going to happen? Randy Couture goes for the low single leg takedown, then proceeds to mount James Toney. A few ground and pound punches here and there before he snaps on an arm triangle choke. The full MMA experience for Toney’s MMA debut. I’m just happy this is over and we can get to real MMA, and it’ll be interesting who Couture fights next. Rich Franklin?
(+1) Prediction: Randy Couture over James Toney
There are three interesting story lines coming into UFC 118. First, will Frankie Edgar repeat and retain his title or will BJ Penn come back stronger than ever before? Second, who will be the #1 contender in the Lightweight Division? Lastly third, what will James Toney do against Randy Couture? If that doesn’t get you excited for this Saturday, I don’t know what will. I can’t wait and here are my predictions:
1. BJ Penn imposes a “Jens Pulver” game plan and dominates
BJ Penn will catch up with the speed of Frankie Edgar. Instead of seeing Edgar bounce around and pepper Penn with combos, Penn will close the distance / grab a hold of Edgar and impose the “Jens Pulver” game plan. Penn is the naturally bigger fighter and he needs to use it to smother Edgar. Whether it’s in the clinch, against the cage, or on the ground — Penn needs to dictate where the fight goes. When it gets to the ground, Edgar will be swarmed by Penn’s limbs and gets caught in a rear-naked choke. Add Edgar to the list of Kenny Florian, Joe Stevenson, Jens Pulver, Matt Hughes, and Takanori Gomi.
Prediction: BJ Penn over Frankie Edgar via rear-naked choke (submission)
2. Randy Couture will take James Toney to school - MMA 101
This one is easy. Bell rings — Randy Couture walks up to James Toney with hands held high and punches a bit until he clinches. From that point, he pushes Toney into the cage where he eventually is taken down. Once on the ground, Couture advances into mount and reigns down elbows and punches. Text book MMA.
Prediction: Randy Couture over James Toney via TKO
I really used to like Gray Maynard, but after the Nate Diaz fight — I lost a bit of respect for the guy. The reason why was that he didn’t want to fight BJ Penn, who was the UFC Lightweight Champion at the time. Then when Frankie Edgar beat BJ Penn, Maynard comes forward like he’s the #1 contender. All of a sudden he wants to fight for the title. Why the change of heart? Kind of weird, but Kenny Florian isn’t Frankie Edgar. Here are the reasons why Florian will be the bully, not Maynard:
1. Florian has a superior stand up game
Florian has improved his boxing, seen in the Takenori Gomi fight. He imposed a nice jab to keep the distance and put some great combos together. Now, add that to some lethal leg kicks — you’ve got a handful and Maynard knows that. Maynard only has boxing and heavy hands. He’ll try to get inside and clinch / work against the cage, but that won’t happen when the jabs keep him at bay.
2. Maynard’s wrestling will be nullified
Maynard will obviously want to get the fight to the ground. If he’s able to catch Florian and successfully get him to the ground, he’ll have a lot of work to do from there. Florian has a wicked ground game, especially off his back. His Brazilian Jui-Jitsu is impeccable, and Maynard will have to continue to defend reversals and submissions. He won’t be able to do much on the ground and he’ll get frustrated.
