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Official UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn Discussion Thread

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Boogie

Member
Another UFC PPV airs tonight, and I’m here to give you the rundown. The prelims are filled with no-namers, so I’m bothering with breaking down those fights, but here’s the main card:


Jens Pulver (21-6-1) vs. Joe Lauzon (13-3)

The UFC’s former lightweight champion returns to the octagon. He’s fighting a solid up-and-comer in Joe Lauzon, but this fight is definitely being put out there as a tune-up fight for Pulver. I expect him to get the win, and I can’t wait to see him thrown into the UFC’s renewed lightweight mix.

Jason Lambert (22-5) vs. Rashad Evans (8-0)

Lambert is a man who has been on a tear. He’s on an 8 fight winning streak, including three wins in the UFC, but he has yet to had one of his fights televised. Tonight, he faces Rashad “Pillowfists” Evans, and I think he has the best chance for derailing Evans’ nap-inducing winning streak. Here’s hoping. Lambert by TKO.

Mike “Quick” Swick (9-1) vs. David Loiseau (14-5)

Swick has been impressive. Since coming off of the first season of TUF, he is 4-0 in the UFC, and none of his fights have gotten past the first round. Hell, none of them have even gotten to the second HALF of the first round. This should be his greatest test yet, however. Loiseau was not impressive in his title bout against Franklin, and yet he is the only fighter in 20 fights to take Franklin to a decision. He remains an experience, dangerous opponent. This could be the fight of the night. It could be a standup battle, in which case I do not know who would come out the victor. Swick probably has a better overall ground game, but Loiseau has good defense, and his ground and pound elbows are second to none. No prediction here.

Gabe Ruediger (10-2) vs. Melvin Guillard (20-5-2)

Don’t know anything about Ruediger, so I’m going with Melvin “The Racist” Guillard by KO.

Main Event:

UFC Welterweight Championship Bout

Matt Hughes (39-4) vs. BJ Penn (10-3)
IMG_0346.jpg


Well, if I can’t have GSP facing Hughes, this rematch is the next best thing. Was Penn’s win a fluke? Has Hughes improved enough since their first meeting? Does Penn have the mental fortitude to win a fight after the first round?

Penn’s striking and jiu-jitsu are both better than Hughes’. In the first fight, it was a punch that helped Penn get Matt down. But Matt actually tried to play an open guard with BJ, which while admirable, may have been a mistake.

I think that Matt will have a fire lit under him to avenge this loss, and I believe he will fight smarter than Penn. I see him grinding out a decision win, or a stoppage in the later rounds. But I won’t be surprised if Penn takes it.
 

Boogie

Member
Jeffahn said:
Rickson by RNC.

...

thanks for your thoughtful and witty insight. Just drop a few Kimbo-isms and a "WAR (insert fighter here)" and you're well on your way to being a sherdog mouthbreather.
 

Slo

Member
I'll be watching it sometime tommorrow morning. I think Hughes will avenge his loss, and quite impressively.
 

BlackMage

Banned
i'm really pulling for swick.. i hope he takes it. i like jens a lot, also. as far as hughes vs penn.. i can't make a decision on who i think will win. it should be a close fight.
 

Boogie

Member
ToxicAdam said:
Can someone tell me who the black guy was that killed LeBen a couple months ago? Has he fought since then?

Anderson Silva. He's fighting Rich Franklin for the title on October 14. I recall answering this question from you before :lol :p
 

ToxicAdam

Member
Boogie said:
Anderson Silva. He's fighting Rich Franklin for the title on October 14. I recall answering this question from you before :lol :p


Sorry Boogie, I must not have rechecked after I asked last time!


He is pretty awesome (from that one fight I have seen). Can't wait to see him fight again.
 

Nameless

Member
ToxicAdam said:
Can someone tell me who the black guy was that killed LeBen a couple months ago? Has he fought since then?

Anderson Silva...His next fight is actually going to take place at UFC 64 when he gets a shot at Rich Franklin's middleweight championship..

edit..Boogie beat me to it.
 

dem

Member
i think Hughes will prolly win.. but im gonna root for the Prodigy.

bj_belt.jpg



If BJ wins there might be a bit of belt movement in the next year.
 

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
the trash talk after it was nice, too.


do you experts think Hughes could compete in Pride? or would he just get destroyed?
 

dem

Member
whytemyke said:
the trash talk after it was nice, too.


do you experts think Hughes could compete in Pride? or would he just get destroyed?

Pride doesnt have a division at 170

And no one is going to destroy Matt Hughes..




That was a GREAT main event.
 

Boogie

Member
DAMN!!!!!!!

MATT HUGHES IS THE MAN*

Wow, I called that pretty well. BJ was amazing in rounds 1 and 2, but then had nothing left. I've never seen Hughes pick apart someone on his feet before, but he was tearing BJ up in round 3.

Swick/Loiseau didn't live up to the hype though. :(

and sucks to see Pulver lose.

*until GSP gets to him.
 

Asbel

Member
I was hoping Swick would look good win or lose to be another top contender in the division but Loiseau was not aggressive like he used to be until the 3rd round. Can't really blame Loiseau for fighting like he did after that war with Rich but I hope he goes back to his old aggressive self with the crazy flying kicks and all. Granted Swick was probably overly cautious too, but he didn't prove to be a threat to Rich that last fight. And I have no idea what was with all those taunts. :lol

Wow at BJ Penn. I go from thinking how amazing that reversal in the second was to being amazed at how little he had left for the 3rd. BJ is an incredible natural athelete and dominated Matt in their first fight but I'd want BJ to get some major cardio if we're gonna see a rubber match. I don't think the short notice really hurt either since it's not like BJ had good cardio before. About GSP's comment on how he was unimpressed. I know GSP didn't mean any disrespect and Hughes did lose the first two rounds, but Hughes did stop BJ so the comment was pretty shocking.
 

Boogie

Member
well yeah, but Matt talks about how he's unimpressed with people all the time. Granted, he's the champ, but he disrespects guys from time to time, and since this is literally the first time a disrespectful thing has come out of GSP's mouth, I don't see any reason for getting all worked up over his comment.
 

Asbel

Member
Gifs from sherdog

jens-1.gif

Fake takedown screwed Jens.

rashad.gif

Rashad working hard to rid himself of the Pillowfist nickname.

Guillard.gif

Right on the diaphragm.

tyson.gif

Tyson took that knee like nothing.
 

SyNapSe

Member
that guillard punch was sick. The kid's a bit of a jerk sometimes, but he has an insane amount of muscle mass for a 155 pounder
 

dem

Member
They should put together Diego vs BJ... but i doubt they will cause they wanna give Diego a title shot.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
That was a decent night of fighting, I was kinda depressed by the Swick/Loiseau fight as I was expecting an all out war.

The BJ/Hughes match had my friend and I on our fee through most of the second round, tense as hell. BJ with some good cardio would be a real menace.
 

Shinobi

Member
Boogie said:
well yeah, but Matt talks about how he's unimpressed with people all the time. Granted, he's the champ, but he disrespects guys from time to time, and since this is literally the first time a disrespectful thing has come out of GSP's mouth, I don't see any reason for getting all worked up over his comment.

I don't think GSP talks any shit at all if Matt hadn't talked shit about BJ Penn. Yeah he didn't exactly have much in the way of endurance, but he was ten seconds away from making Hughes tap out at the end of round two. Matt was as much lucky as he was good if you ask me, so to talk like he had the whole fight under control when he couldn't do a goddamn thing to take Penn down to the mat was just obnoxious on his part. GSP simply talked the same sort of game, and Matt decided to get all pissy about it because his poor little feelings were hurt...heh, please.

It was a great main event though...pretty good card in general.
 

dem

Member
Turns out BJ got injured in the second round. Explains what happened in the 3rd round...

Interviewer:
Take us through the second round.

BJ:
I felt great going in, Matt started trying to take me down from my right leg, it's something I expected he might do. He got me down against the fence, but I was thinking about this position alot and I was ready. When he went for a big elbow, he missed and I capitalized and started going for his back. At this moment, when I was making the turn towards his back, I felt my ribs seperate on my right side. Although I didn't know the severity of the situation. I was thinking I have to finish him now because I knew something was wrong. Matt defended himself well and got through the round. When I got up to walk to my corner, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to talk about it with my corner. I wanted to be the champ. I wanted to keep fighting.

Interviewer:
What about round 3?

BJ:
I remember standing up out of the corner in pain. But I was thinking, "Earn your title this is what you have to do to get your belt back, fight through the pain". I knew the oppurtunity I had with getting this fight, especially after losing my last fight. I wasn't going to quit on the corner. I kept going because I honestly believed it was destiny. When me and Matt were boxing I felt like I couldn't breathe and had no mobility in my core. But I kept thinking something good is going to happen. When Matt started dominating the stand up I tried for a takedown. I had nothing and pulled to guard. I felt like I couldn't do anything on the ground. But I was still positive. Matt hit me in the ribs from half guard. The pain was so excruciating I had to use my far hand to block it. I would rather Matt pass my guard and punch my face the hit my ribs. When Matt was in his favorite position that he likes. I was still thinking I was going to win somehow. Big John gave me plenty of time. I practiced defending against that position with flexibility, but I had none with my core. Even when Big John stopped the fight, I was still so positive I thought I escaped. Congratulations to Matt, he is a great fighter. It's not his fault that that happened, he fought like the champion he is. He deserved the victory.

Interviewer:
So how are your ribs doing now?

BJ:
There just hurting, I couldn't sleep last night, I couldn't lay down, Every time I breathe it expands my ribcage and aggrevates my ribs.

rest of the interview is at bjpenn.com
 

Muddimar

Member
I knew something had to be wrong with BJ. Im sure he worked pretty hard to tap Huges out, but not hard enough to take away all of his endurance. That would also explain why he couldn't defend the stand up, and couldn't throw any punches in the 3rd round. Seperated ribs....doesn't sounds good at all.
 

dem

Member
Penn needs to get a few wins before he deserves a title shot...
he didnt even deserve this one.
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
Penn versus Hughes was awesome. I really think Penn can beat him. I would love to see part III. Whatever the case may be, I want to see Penn stay in the UFC.

St. Pierre talking shit to Hughes was crazy. I suspect St. Pierre was striking back at Matt for talking shit about BJ Penn. Who knows.
 

Asbel

Member
I'm glad that 3rd round wasn't a result of his cardio, but there's no need to do a rubber match right away. Penn vs Karo would be a damn exciting fight while the WW title is challenged by GSP, Diego and the TUF 4 winner.
 

Limedust

Member
When GSP came out and said, "I'm not impressed," I believe he had a ****-eating grin on his face, as did Matt. I took that to mean:

Matt: Dana told you to come out here and say that, didn't he?
GSP: Yeah, got to get some hype going for our match.
 
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