Trust me, I was yelling the same thing from the beginning of the fight. I thought UFC 118 would be different. BJ Penn should have implemented the “Jens Pulver” game plan of getting a hold of him and working in the clinch or on the ground from the beginning.
Penn is a very proud individual, so my guess is that he wanted to prove that his standup was much better than Frankie Edgar’s since he’s demolished everyone else in the Lightweight Division — it obviously wasn’t that night.
He did try to take Edgar down in the later rounds, but by that time it was too late. Edgar’s confidence was rising and Penn was starting to get demoralized. Penn will be back though, Edgar is just his kryptonite.
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?
Thanks to the internet, I’ve been watching the weigh-ins for a lot of the MMA events and the UFC does it big. I just saw UFC 118 and they do it right. They’ve made an event out of it and surprisingly enough — it’s like clockwork. They start on time, and they get those fighters out on those scales with the quickness. Within that 30 minute timeframe, you get to see a lot of things that prepare you for event, and I wanted to share that with you:
1. Arianny Celeste :)
Who doesn’t want to see more of Arianny Celeste? Watch for her making faces or giggling in the background. Not much else to say here…but I can’t wait for November. I just had to get that out of the way.
2. To make, or not to make, weight
Making weight is a huge part of the fight game, and if you don’t you’ve got a huge problem. The fight can be cancelled or you can lose a percentage of your purse, which is usually given to the opponent. Fighters don’t make a ton of money in MMA yet, so it’s important to make weight.
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 was lucky enough to be in Las Vegas during UFC 100 (for a bachelor party) and actually attended the first UFC Fan Expo. If you haven’t gone to a UFC Fan Expo, I truly encourage that you do because there’s nothing like it. You’ll be blown away if you’re an MMA fan. The next one is actually this weekend in Boston during UFC 118, and here are the reasons why you should check it out:
1. Meet MMA Fighters in person!
We’re lucky enough to be living during a time where MMA isn’t crazy big (yet!) where the superstars are hard to find and less approachable. In basketball, football, or baseball, it’s so difficult to even get close to any of the athletes. At these expos, you’ll see fighters just walking around like regular people — ask for pictures, autographs or even just chat about MMA. You’ll meet so many people in the span of just a couple days.
2. Beautiful women lure MMA fans to their booths
I don’t know about you, but it’s always good to see some beautiful women when going to any event. For the lady fans, I’m sure the fighters are already good enough eye candy for you — so don’t worry. Anyways, there’s going to be a ton of apparel companies, nutrition companies, and other stuff there that’ll need women to draw us MMA fans to their booths. Let’s just say they do it successfully.
