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Should Bj Penn be cut??

2K views 18 replies 17 participants last post by  El Bresko 
#1 ·
I know Bj Probabley won't be cut, but do you think he should?. His last 2 fights he has looked like a punch bag, last night I felt so sorry for the guy it was like he was being bullied, he looked scared. Bj is 1-4-1 in his last 6 fights with that 1 win against Matt Hughs. I know a lot of people consider him a legend, and one of the all time greats but should he really be cut.
 
#2 ·
Absolutely not. One thing people seem to forget regularly is that BJ Penn never turns down fights, and in doing so he does the exact opposite of what every single fighter in the UFC does. I'm not taking anything away from Rory, but in reality what happend last night was a middle weight beat up a lightweight.

Every fighter, and namely every champion except Junior Dos Santos cuts down crazy weight to fight men that are hopefully a little smaller than them. BJ, does exactly the opposite looking to challenge himself.

Having said that though, the answer to your question is NO, hell no!! BUT... I think it would reasonable for the UFC brass to tell him his next fight, and the rest of his fights have to be at 155.
 
#4 ·
Every fighter, and namely every champion except Junior Dos Santos cuts down crazy weight to fight men that are hopefully a little smaller than them. BJ, does exactly the opposite looking to challenge himself.
This should be completely irrelevant, no matter what the discussion is.

It's BJs fault for taking fights against much bigger fighters. He can challenge himself at lightweight too -- I really doubt he would beat the top lightweights of today.

The beatings and damage he is taking by fighting these bigger WW guys is probably worse on his body than cutting weight is, anyways.

I don't see it as BJ "challenging" himself against bigger guys. There's plenty of skilled guys out there his own size, he just doesn't want to cut the weight to make 155. Some combination of laziness and stupidity if you ask me.

Edit: that said, I don't see him ever being cut from the UFC. He's just slipping more and more out of relevance. He could have been a gatekeeper at LW at one point I think -- instead he's become a punching bag at WW.
 
#13 ·
This should be completely irrelevant, no matter what the discussion is.

It's BJs fault for taking fights against much bigger fighters. He can challenge himself at lightweight too -- I really doubt he would beat the top lightweights of today.

The beatings and damage he is taking by fighting these bigger WW guys is probably worse on his body than cutting weight is, anyways.

I don't see it as BJ "challenging" himself against bigger guys. There's plenty of skilled guys out there his own size, he just doesn't want to cut the weight to make 155. Some combination of laziness and stupidity if you ask me.

Edit: that said, I don't see him ever being cut from the UFC. He's just slipping more and more out of relevance. He could have been a gatekeeper at LW at one point I think -- instead he's become a punching bag at WW.
Your damn right there. The guy can't be bothered to cut 5 lbs to make lightweight. Who does he think he is assuming he can beat guys a weight class, maybe even two weight classes above where he should be fighting. Also the fact that he was saying he needs to drop bodyfat to beat Rory, assuming that is enough in this era of MMA is ridiculous.

He doesn't have any high level training partners, he doesn't do any high level strength and conditioning, he has a one dimensional boxing game. You cannot half arse everything and expect to win these days. The top fighters are elite athletes who make training a science and do everything they can to be the best.

BJ could rest on his laurels half a decade ago and still beat everyone not named GSP. But no longer. It just irratates me that we heard all this drivel about his fire being reignited (not the first time this rubbish has been spouted either) only to watch such a horrendous performance.

If BJ wants to be in the greatest ever convo, he needs to drop to 145 and beat Aldo to become the first person ever to win the title in 3 weight classes. He could easily make the weight in my opinion if he is walking around at a soft 160. He just needs to put the effort in.

Apologies for going off on one here. BJ just frustrates me so much by being lazy and doing all the wrong things and being a terrible example to young up and coming fighters. it is such a shame to see my former favourite fighter act and fight the way he is.
 
#3 ·
The UFC needs to force him into retirement like what they did with Chuck Liddell. BJ has been surrounded by yes-men for a long time and he will never realize that his time has past.

The fact that BJ looked soft and pudgy says a lot about his "new" training and diet.

He'll get beat up at 155 also. He needs to be forced into retirement NOW!
 
#5 ·
BJ could still beat more then half the current WWs in the UFC and even a higher % of the LWs, so no she should not be cut but maybe accept/choose fights more wisely. Having said that, we all know BJ backs down from no fight b/c that is just who he is. The UFC brass could however be smart about it and only offer fights that make since but do we really think that is their priority?.....
 
#8 ·
Not sure if I agree with your "percentages", but the smartest thing the UFC could do is convince BJ to fight at LW, and give him 2-3 middle of the road fights, hope he returns to his former self, and market a title fight (although he'd likely get stomped on).

If they got him to return to lightweight, and give him somebody like Pettis, and then a top 10 guy like dos anjos, cerrone or alvarez and he wins, they could possibly sell a LW title fight. Otherwise I have no idea what BJ is doing, other then collecting paychecks and getting thrashed in a division he shouldn't be in. I'd rather see him gatekeep in the division where he was once a champion, not get wrecked in a division that he will never accomplish anything in.
 
#9 ·
You can't cut a legend like BJ, but I do think he should seriously consider staying retired before he ends up getting hurt. BJ got seriously beat up his last 2 fights and even if he comes back at LW I see guys like Bendo just tooling him.
 
#16 ·
He won't be cut, but it's time to retire or get back in shape and I'm talking become the killer that he was back when he dominated at 155, this Welterweight business just isn't working out, I have no idea how he would do at 155 nowadays but that was clearly the best BJ Penn there's ever been.

I haven't been watching MMA that long, only been watching since 2008 but it was really sad to see BJ and Shogun lose knowing the game has likely passed them by, they contributed a lot to the sport and now they're just getting ate up by a new breed of fighter.
 
#17 ·
I think we all agree that the UFC won't cut him.
Either BJ chooses to retire, or he chooses to continue.
If he chooses to continue, I hope the UFC won't let him fight at WW.

The thing is, BJ has been really good at building hype for his last 3-4 fights, but came up so short of late that people won't buy into it anymore.

UNLESS, BJ decides to go for one last run at LW.
I'm 100% sure the hype would be huge and everyone would buy into it, all hoping to see the greatest LW the UFC has known to retire on a high note, in spectacular fashion.

Everyone likes a come back. The thing is, they won't buy into the hype unless BJ goes to 155.

It's LW or retirement for him now...
 
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