I think that the lightweight division is in serious trouble...BJ is obviously the title holder then after him you have a bunch of guys whom simply put, aren't on his level & on top of that, can't finish fights. Who do you foresee that has a legitimate shot at beating BJ?
K-Flo? We'll see come August but I don't it...
Diego? Although 15 of his 20 wins have been finishes, 6 of his last 9 have been decisions; he also took Joe Daddy to a decision whom BJ dismantled...
Clay Guida? I don't think he has a chance against BJ, 5 of his last 7 have been decisions & one of those that wasn't he lost.
Frankie Edgar? Had a tough enough time with Sherk & 7 of his last 8 - decisions.
Gray Maynard? Besides not being on BJ's level & being his buddy, his last 4 fights have gone the distance.
Tyson Griffin? Hasn't finished a fight in nearly 3 years & couldn't beat Sherk.
Nate Diaz? Although he's a finisher, he couldn't beat Guida, I think he'll be great but needs more time
The problem that I see is that the top lightweight fighters: Shinya Aoki, Eddie Alvarez, JZ, Kawajiri, Mach Sakurai, Gomi, Hansen etc. don't fight for the UFC.
I'll be the first to admit that I have a man crush on BJ Penn but I'm afraid if the UFC doesn't do something then he'll become even more bored than he already is...hence him wanting to fight outside of his natural weight class...
What do you see as a solution to the UFC's current problem?
I say they need to sign some top compition quick &/or sign Nick Diaz and get him down to 155...
"The problem that I see is that the top lightweight fighters: Shinya Aoki, Eddie Alvarez, JZ, Kawajiri, Mach Sakurai, Gomi, Hansen etc. don't fight for the UFC."
I wish you had put this at the top of your post to let everyone know you're an idiot.
"Frankie Edgar? Had a tough enough time with Sher"
He completely dominated Sherk and wasn't even breathing hard by the end. Did you see the fight?
Lawlz!
^^^How so? Anyone of those guys could come to the UFC & be the #1 contender...do you beg to differ? Who in the UFC other than BJ could beat anyone of these guys?
Obiewon - ^^^How so? Anyone of those guys could come to the UFC & be the #1 contender...do you beg to differ? Who in the UFC other than BJ could beat anyone of these guys?Directed to THP
orcus - "Frankie Edgar? Had a tough enough time with Sher"I'll give you that, sorry I was on a roll...but he couldn't finish him...BJ destroyed the Muscle Shark...
He completely dominated Sherk and wasn't even breathing hard by the end. Did you see the fight?
I don't want to fight BJ, but I am doing my part at ending fights for the LW division. I have a lot of help too from guys like Nate Diaz (finished in all 4 of his wins), Kenny Florian (finished 8 of his last 9 wins... 1 of which being me), Hermes Franca (8 of his last 9 wins were finishes), Cole Miller (3 of his last 4 wins have been finishes) and Kurt Pellegrino (4 of his last 5 wins have been finishes).
BJ is leading the pack, but there are a lot of fighters out there ending fights to balance off the decisions. Sometimes you just get two evenly matched fighters and you need some help from the judges.
Joe;
First off, big fan, secondly the reason you aren't on that list is 1) Your loss to K-Flo & 2) Your relationship with BJ...
You probably know the answer to this more so than 98% of us here...is there anyone in the UFC that is on BJ's level &/or has a legitimate shot at beating him? (Consistently beating him, I realize anything can happen in a fight, but I'm talking about anyone in the UFC's LW division that is on par with BJ Penn)
Obiewon - Joe;
First off, big fan, secondly the reason you aren't on that list is 1) Your loss to K-Flo & 2) Your relationship with BJ...
You probably know the answer to this more so than 98% of us here...is there anyone in the UFC that is on BJ's level &/or has a legitimate shot at beating him? (Consistently beating him, I realize anything can happen in a fight, but I'm talking about anyone in the UFC's LW division that is on par with BJ Penn)
I wasn't butt hurt I wasn't on the list... I would have argued against myself being on the list for those two reasons you gave had I been.
i don't see anyone consistently beating a motivated BJ Penn. Nothing would make me look better than Kenny going out and beating BJ, but I still don't see it happening. Losing a fight to guy that became champ 3 fights later makes me look a whole lot better. Kenny has to have a MacGyver like gameplan if he wants to beat BJ though. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but its gonna be a whole lot of running away and pot shotting for Kenny to even have a chance. Kenny is smart though and disciplined, so who knows.
The UFC LW division is totally UNDERRATED! Most of the non-zuffa roster fighters are big fish in a small pond. The fact that some rankings have Aoki ranked at #1 is pathetic.
I think right now that Kenny is the #1 contender & the man deserving of a title shot but like you said I think it's going to take a hell of a gameplan & damn near perfect execution of said gameplan for him to have a chance...if anyone can stick to the plan & not get frustrated by BJ I think it's K-Flo due to the attributes you mentioned: his intelligence & his discipline...however, after Kenny I just don't see anyone in the UFC right now that has a real shot at beating BJ...
I think that there are a ton of great match ups in the division but I'm just afraid of BJ getting bored & pressing for superfights out of his weight class (which I love watching but if he has a belt then he has a responsibility)...& like you said; if Kenny does pull off the upset then Mr. Lauzon's stock gets a well-deserved boosting...
Speaking of which; what is next for you? For the past couple of years it seems that you've been fighting almost every 5 mos.; I was actually surprised that you aren't on the TUF Finale card or the 100 card...
this man speaks the truth
Legless - The UFC LW division is totally UNDERRATED! Most of the non-zuffa roster fighters are big fish in a small pond. The fact that some rankings have Aoki ranked at #1 is pathetic.
I agree with the part about Aoki but I still think that if JZ, Kawajiri, Mach, Hansen or Aoki came over to the UFC then they would be the #1 contender...
I also believe that the #1 UNDERRATED lightweight is Eddie Alvarez...his 2 losses were to Nick Thompson (2 years ago) & Shinya Aoki & he has 2 recent wins over Hansen & Kawajiri....I'd love to see Eddie in the UFC...
I think JZ, Kawajiri, and Alvarez would do fine, but take the pants away from Aoki and he becomes less of a threat (yes I know he beat Eddie). Sakurai is WW and I don't know that he could make 155 very easily.
Obiewon - Speaking of which; what is next for you? For the past couple of years it seems that you've been fighting almost every 5 mos.; I was actually surprised that you aren't on the TUF Finale card or the 100 card...
ACL surgery about 3 months ago has slowed me down a little bit. This will actually be the longest break from fighting I have had since I started fighting.
How is this for activity, just went back and looked at my record. These were my breaks between fights: 8 months, 2 months, 1 month, 4 months, 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 months, 2 months, 2 months, 1 month, 1 month, 2 months, 2 months, 4 months, 2 months, 3 months, 2 months, 2 months, 3 months, 3 fights in one night after 2 months, 5 months, 5 months, 1 week, 1 week, 4 months, 5 months, 5 months, 4 months, 5 months. RIDICULOUS looking back on it.
But yea... ACL Surgery. I just fought in Feb so its only been 4 months so far, but it will be another 4 to 6 before I can fight again. Definitely sucks... but its good to let everything else in my body heal at the same time.
I will be at 100... but sporting a sharpie (at the expo) instead of gloves.
UFC fucked up by not signing any of the consensus top 10 LWs for their newly created division when they had the chance. They created a division around a top 10 WW in Sherk and managed to get BJ back down but outside of them it was just unproven up and coming prospects. Some of these guys are now showing they are now top level but I dont understand why they didnt make more of an attempt to get any of the established top guys.
Kawajiri was actually wanting to fight in UFC and was just waiting for the call, its ashame they never made the call or tried to get any of the other Bushido LWs, the Bushido LW division was seen as the most stacked in MMA for awhile.
Obiewon - Speaking of which; what is next for you? For the past couple of years it seems that you've been fighting almost every 5 mos.; I was actually surprised that you aren't on the TUF Finale card or the 100 card...
Joe is recovering from an ACL injury (apparently recovering quicker than expected) And will be fighting Hermes Franca at UFC 104, he just doesn't know it yet ;-)
homegrowncone -Obiewon - Speaking of which; what is next for you? For the past couple of years it seems that you've been fighting almost every 5 mos.; I was actually surprised that you aren't on the TUF Finale card or the 100 card...
Joe is recovering from an ACL injury (apparently recovering quicker than expected) And will be fighting Hermes Franca at UFC 104, he just doesn't know it yet ;-)
MUCH faster than expected. But I have no interest in reinjuring myself, so I will take it easy and take the proper time. Don't need to prove to anyone how fast I heal... I know.
Legless - I think JZ, Kawajiri, and Alvarez would do fine, but take the pants away from Aoki and he becomes less of a threat (yes I know he beat Eddie). Sakurai is WW and I don't know that he could make 155 very easily.
This shit about Aoki not doing well without his pants is ridiculous, he did fine in SHOOTO without them and if he wanted he could just do what Kitaoka did at the last Pancrase if he felt he needed some extra grip to combat the use of vaseline in US MMA:
