We thought Diego Sanchez would provide BJ Penn with his toughest test to date as UFC lightweight champion, and he was in some weird way. Sanchez made it all the way to the final round against the best lightweight on earth, which is farther than anyone else since Penn has been champion. However, it was a one sided beatdown and now we are left to ponder if there's anyone left to challenge Penn as a lightweight. I've already stated that I don't think there's anyone that can beat BJ Penn at 155, and that includes international fighters currently not in the UFC.
So let's take a look at who Penn should fight next and why. Just so you know, it's not another lightweight.
BJ Penn has already gone on record that he wants to move back up to the 170 pound division. It's inevitable that he'll ask for a third fight with George St. Pierre. The second fight was a blockbuster PPV wise, but a one sided beatdown courtesy of "Rush". However, this was prior to BJ Penn experiencing "The Marinovich Effect". We've seen BJ Penn put on two dominating performances since that fight at UFC 94. He's answered the questions about the only hole in his game, which was his cardio. Technically, Penn hasn't cleaned out the UFC lightweight division, but there are no interesting fights there now. Also, the guys that are left have no shot at beating him.Penn should fight Jon Fitch next and here's why:
-Jon Fitch says he wants to fight the toughest fights possible
-If Penn beats Fitch, he's earned the right to a third GSP fight since Fitch is ranked as the #2 welterweight by most people.
-They just fought on the same card...so it would be easy to match them up in the future
-Fans are not exciting to see Fitch fight guys like Mike Pierce(granted he was supposed to fight Alves), but having Fitch fight Penn would give him a little more exposure.
-Fitch got destroyed by GSP, so he's not even close to getting another title shot in the future.
-Fitch has the closest style to GSP as a top welterweight and he's pretty big...which would be a good measuring stick for Penn as he moved back to 170 in hopes of fighting GSP.
-If Penn lost at Fitch, well you could just play the he was fighting out of his natural weight class card again.
In terms of other fights like Aldo, Aoki, etc. Those fights are not going to happen....especially the Aldo fight. If anything he should move up to 155 instead of saying Penn should drop to 145. In my personal opinion, Aoki would get destroyed in the first round. I think Penn's ultimate goal is to fight GSP for a third time. The quickest route to GSP is beating Jon Fitch in my opinion. Sound off in the comments section....
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