This may sound dumb, but...

[Kaptain KnicKy]

This is just a WEIRD and 'out there' thought I had.

Do you think BJ Penn lost on purpose? I mean, I don't know what kind of guy he is, but for some reason last night I couldn't help but think he lost his last fight to Edgar on purpose. I mean sure, he takes a shot at his 'best fighter' status he's worked hard to get, but really if he did it on purpose, he'll add another title to his name. This is, assuming, he CAN beat Frankie Edgar.

Don't get me wrong, Edgar fucking owned Penn in their last fight, but Penn didn't look 'all there'. He didn't seem to be in it completely. Then, after losing, Penn gets an immediate rematch (which I don't 100% agree on). I mean one loss to his name, but then another title to it. You think Penn is egotistical enough to think he can do this?

Again, just a weird thought.

 

[pumpt73]

No KK he didn't lose on purpose. Penn has always prided himself on being a champ. When he beat Hughes for the 170lb title, he was extremely proud, but left on bad terms. He made it his goal to recapture a championship. Fans may always speculate about this, but if you watched Edgar come up through the ranks in the UFC, the kid just kept getting better and better. His gas tank is unreal and he outboxed Penn, which is rare. The only thing I will ever say about a fighter is they have off nights from time to time, but I don't see these guys losing on purpose. No way they're giving up win bonus money. I just don't see it happening. Every fighter loses, it happens. Edgar was just better on that night then Penn was.

It was kinda like the Machida vs. Rua II fight. Lyoto just didn't look like himself when he was walking to the cage. I wouldn't chalk it up to anything else other than the guy probably had an off night.

 

[phantomgerald]

I think reports were that he was plauged with minor injuries during his training camp which was why he looked so off from the get go. As for Machida, I think he was afraid of Rua after Rua "won" their first fight.

 

[Kaptain KnicKy]

Yeh I wouldn't compare the Penn/Edgar fight with Machida/Rua 1 or 2. Machida was just made to look like human, as was Silva in his last fight, and Shogun won both fights (imo anyway).

Understandable injuries could've played a part in his performance.

 

[pumpt73]

See I don't like the injury excuse though. It's just a quirk I have since I've been watching MMA. I say this because it has to go both ways. What's to say Edgar didn't have injuries coming into the fight??? It just happens. Fighters have off nights. Let me explain a bit. I wrestled for 10 years. By the time I was in High School, I was pretty tough. I had a 40-15 record between my 7th and 8th grade years combined and fnished High School with a 137-21 record with 3 placings at state. I lost to guys I shouldn't have. Any number of reasons. You're not focused, you looke through the guy, you're not feeling good, etc. It's any number of things that can happen to just straight up bad luck. I had that happen in a tournament match. I headlocked a guy and would have had eiteher 4 or 5 points, but he held onto my waist and rolled through and I ended up on my back and got pinned. It happens.

So I wouldn't chalk it up to any one particular thing. Somewhere, sometime, some night, fighters lose. Nobody stays unbeaten through their entire career.