Report: Hughes-Penn III coming to UFC 123
by Matt Bishop on Sep 14, 2010 12:46 AM EDT
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MMAFighting.com is reporting that former welterweight champions Matt Hughes and BJ Penn will meet for a third time at UFC 123 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, presumably in the co-main event.
Former UFC champions Matt Hughes and BJ Penn have agreed to meet for the third time, according to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani, who learned of the matchup from sources close to the fight. The bout, which will take place at welterweight, will be at UFC 123 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Mich.
Hughes also posted at his official website that he and UFC president Dana White had discussed him fighting on the card, though he made no mention of an opponent.
CagePotato.com first reported the possibility of the bout Monday evening.
The two first squared off at UFC 46 in January 2004 for Hughes' welterweight title. In that fight, Penn shocked the world, coming up in weight and submitting Hughes in the first round with a rear-naked choke.
They met again at UFC 63 in September 2006. Through two rounds, it appeared Penn, who took the fight on short notice after Georges St-Pierre had to pull out due to injury, simply had Hughes' number, as he dominated the fight. But Hughes turned it around in the third frame, taking advantage of a tired Penn. Hughes put Penn in the crucifix position and pounded away on Penn's prone head until the fight was stopped.
UFC 123, although officially unannounced, is slated to be headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between former light-heavyweight champions Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida.
The rumored card:
Quinton Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida
Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn
George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon
Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch
Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz
Karo Parisyan vs. Dennis Hallman
Gabe Ruediger vs. Paul Kelly
Rory MacDonald vs. Matt Brown
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This is a real strong co-main...
Now the top two fights on this show feature former champions in that division. That’s good. Have a lot of solid up-and-comers for the rest of the show. Turning out a little better than I thought it would, but that’s only because they really pulled this one out of left field.
looks like dana's in town thursday to promote, any idea where?
odds are already out, i can’t beleive hughes is the favorite.
Previously DrewMoney$$$ "banned from sbnation" ...
by DetroitDrew1980 on Sep 15, 2010 2:03 AM EDT up reply actions
This is win-win situation for Hughes. If he wins, awesome. If he loses, ah well.
BJ on the other hand NEEDS to win this. Losing twice at lightweight and then going up a weight class and losing again would leave him nowhere. With a win, he could use the momentum to go an regain the lightweight crown.
Btw, I’m not a fan of fighters yo-yoing around weight classes. Especially after losing at a lighter weight class.
wanderlei ::: shogun ::: bj penn ::: fedor
by cauliflower_ears on Sep 14, 2010 5:52 AM EDT reply actions
I always wondered if the rubber match would happen
Penn’s slide and Hughes ability to stay somewhat relevant….and viola.
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But is this really a good move for BJ? Except for his last outing, it was believed that Hughes was on a farewell tour! Wouldn’t BJ want to pick off some young lightweights and repair his reputation?
Or is this just what champs do when they loose now… Randy, Rich… look for old rivalries to make old fans excited? Not that I dont want to see it!
Unashamedly biased for Team Superior here in Conover/HKY.
A paralel could be drawn to Rich actually; losing twice to the reigning champ and moving up a weight class for special attraction fights.
Too early to say where BJ is at and where he’s going in terms of relevance.
"I don't care, hit him with your groin!"
Exactly my thoughts
It’s a bad matchup for him, I think. If he wins it’ll be a win over a near-retirement 170, and if he loses, it’s a loss to a near-retirement 170 fighter. Not a ton of reward, but plenty of risk.
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Boo to this, I think it's a lose lose for Matt
If Matt loses, he just last to a LW coming off a two fight loss streak. If he wins he just beat a LW coming of two losses. Is BJ planning on making a title run at WW? Because Matt is.
Ride the Tiger!
by doonerthesooner on Sep 14, 2010 9:13 AM EDT reply actions
Yeah I agree. I think BJ Penn can take this fight but we’re talking about BJ Penn. As soon as he’s confronted with some adversity . . . WTF? BJ Penn will only have to worry about Hughes grappling and wrestling. I will laugh if Penn loses to Hughes again. BJ should know that he’s not going to be able to do anything against the bigger welterweights so I guess he’s viewing this as a fight.
I thought Hughes was taking the rest of the year off, I guess this is a fight that makes sense for him because he’s avoided a number of welterweights in the division. Why not the former lightweight champion?
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VEe is ANIMated!
by VeeisAnimated on Sep 14, 2010 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Man
If BJ can’t beat Hughes now…he should retire.
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Maybe he should. And maybe he will (considering the alleged riches of his family).
But the only career-shortening beating he’s been at the wrong end of was against GSP the second time. Plenty of special attraction bouts for him – or they could do the cynical thing and feed him to up-and-comers.
Even with a Hughes L that is.
"I don't care, hit him with your groin!"
I would much rather see him improve and just go crazy in the lightweight division. While I’m not really crazy about a 3rd match against Frankie Edgar . . . why quit now after all that bullsh*t talk.
Take a page from Kenny Florian’s book, try to re-invent yourself.
After reading his autobiography, I would tell him to scrap the “just fight” mentality and come up with a real game plan and possibly a real team and corner.
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VEe is ANIMated!
by VeeisAnimated on Sep 14, 2010 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Penn has looked very, very passive as of late and is pretty content to be a counter puncher. If he comes in with that game plan against Hughes, he’s going to end up on his back enough to lose a decision.
If Hughes beats Penn, I wouldn’t be suprised in the slightest if he retired in the cage afterwards. He made it pretty clear that he wanted to take the entire fall off for hunting season, and the timing of this fight means that he’s going to miss the bulk of season, with training and everything. This fight must mean a lot to him. I don’t think he’s too interested in another title run, and there’s not much left out there for him beyond Penn. If he beats Penn, it would be a perfect ending to his career.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt
I was thinking the same thing. If he loses, I think he takes a Dennis Hallman fight some time next year and then retires.
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by Anthony Pace on Sep 14, 2010 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
The Hallman vs Karo fight is on that same card. If Hughes loses to Penn, no shame there. He can fight the winner of Hallman vs Karo in the spring then ride off into the sunset.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt
Great possible card
Hughes fitness/body/skill is weathering the test of time far better than BJ. A much as it pains me to say, I can’t see Penn going the distance in this fight. Both legends thoough and I’ve got miles more respect for Hughes lately than I used to have even though he’s the best W W ever.
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