| 13 December 2009
The truly great ones have a habit of reminding us of their greatness when it seems we have forgotten about them. B.J. Penn has long been criticized for coasting on his immense talent and not working hard enough. After getting beaten by Georges St. Pierre a second time earlier this year, Penn stopped being rated alongside GSP, Fedor Emelianenko, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva at the top of the pound-for-pound lists. Until now, that is.
If there was any doubt that B.J. Penn was "back" after his defeat of Kenny Florian in August, all concerns have been addressed after his annihilation of Diego Sanchez last night at UFC 107. And an annihilation it was. Penn put on one of the most dominant performance these eyes have seen in a long time, completely controlling the 22 minutes and 37 seconds of action and leaving Sanchez's face a bloody pulp. And Sanchez is far from a slouch - he is one of the best 155 pounders in the world. Yet Penn made him look like an amateur. The fight stats from the match are stunning - Penn landed 150 strikes to Sanchez's eight. Yes, you read that right - Diego Sanchez landed only eight strikes in almost 23 minutes in the cage. The grappling stats tell the same story - Sanchez tried to wrestle the champ down to the canvas 27 times, and each time he was thwarted. Maybe annihilation isn't a strong enough word for it.
Now that we have established that the new and improved, finely conditioned B.J. Penn is the best lightweight fighter in the world - and deserving of being mentioned among the Fedors and GSPs of the world on the pound-for-pound lists - where does he go from here? What does the UFC lightweight ranks have to offer The Prodigy in terms of challengers? That is the problem Penn and the UFC find themselves in right now - no lightweight in the world can come close to beating him right now. The second best lightweight is probably Florian, and Penn already dominated him earlier this year. Gray Maynard is being groomed for a title run, but at this point he is far too inexperienced to have a chance. Maybe if Shinya Aoki or Eddie Alvarez came over from Japan they could give Penn a challenge, but it would be doubtful that they would win. As long as B.J. Penn remains motivated and focused, we're doomed to a succession of one-sided lightweight championship matches.
Maybe the UFC should steal a page from the world of pro wrestling and institute Handicap Matches. Florian & Maynard vs. Penn, anyone?!
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