UFC 107: Does Diego Sanchez Stand A Chance Against BJ Penn?
by Kelvin Hunt on Dec 8, 2009 11:00 AM EST
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PrintYall know how we do as we check in with the folks over at UFC.com to see who they have as the favorite. It appears that BJ Penn is the big favorite in his UFC 107 title defense against Diego Sanchez. Do you think Sanchez has a shot, or will the BJ Penn legend continue to grow with another title defense? Make sure you check back later in the week as we'll break down this fight like we do all the UFC ppv main events.
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BJ Penn |
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Diego Sanchez |
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Comments
He most definitely has a chance. Penn is a heavy favorite in my book though, considering his hands, his elite level BJJ and takedown defense leaves Sanchez with very few outs other than to keep a relentless pace and slow BJ down a little — BJ seemed to manage fine against Florian but Florian is nothing like the Nightmare.
I see BJ winning a decision by dominating the early rounds but maybe dropping round 4 or 5.
Bloody hell.
Diego is easily the toughest test for BJ in the LW division but BJ is still the clear favorite.
Comparing their skills is not as clear cut as people would have you believe.
BJ has the slight edge in striking but both guys can absorb an inhuman amount of damage. People tend to over rate BJ’s striking, he has heavy hands and a good jab but his kicks and footwork are poor at best. Diego’s striking is stiff and simplistic in its mechanics, he relies heavily on his chin to smash through exchanges. Diego has to come up with something to nullify BJ’s jab. In the end I don’t see either guy stopping the other via strikes.
Grappling is also very close with BJ having a slight edge. BJ’s credientials are well known and he will not get subbed by anyone in the UFC, including Diego. Diego on the other hand has grappled with better BJJ players than BJ is and held his own. Diego went 10+ minutes with Marcelo Garcia without getting subbed while guys like Shinya Aoki and Shaolin Ribeiro got choked out in about a minute and a half each. BJ is not on Garcia’s level so Diego should be able to handle whatever BJ can dish out on the mat.
Conditioning is one advantage that Diego has in spades. The longer this fight goes, the more it favors Diego. The question is: Can BJ build a big enough lead early to prevent Diego from grinding out a decision win in the latter rounds?
In the end I see BJ winning a razor thin decision. However, if Diego can keep it close early he has a better than average chance of coming out on top of the judges score cards.
Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but you still can't
help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs...
yea
I’ll be touching on this more later this week…very solid pts here.
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"Do you think Sanchez has a shot, or will the BJ Penn legend continue to grow with another title defense?"
Both.
I don’t see Diego winning but he will do well and be part of another exciting fight.
i like diego ALOT, and def think he has a chance, but when it comes to bj at 155, i’ll have to see it to believe that he can be beat at that weight. i don’t think conditioning will hurt bj as much as diego’s willpower could. if diego can hang in there till the latter rounds and diego is still pushing the pace, he could break bj mentally.. we’ve seen what can happen to bj when fighters don’t fold(1rst fight with jens and 2nd fight with gsp) and give him a war. bj doesn’t really want a back and forth war, he wants things to go like they have been at lw, but if they don’t and diego can hurt him a few times, bj can deflate.
still it’s very hard to pick against bj at 155, he’s that damn good.
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