UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch

[Troy]

UFC 126
Official Fight Card​

Main Card
Welterweight bout: B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera
Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver
Welterweight bout: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole
Middleweight bout: Kyle Noke vs. Chris Camozzi ​

Preliminary card
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs. Spencer Fisher
Light Heavyweight bout: James Te-Huna vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Middleweight bout: Nick Ring vs. Riki Fukuda
Lightweight bout: Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Kurt Warburton
Light Heavyweight bout: Anthony Perosh vs. Tom Blackledge
Heavyweight bout: Mark Hunt vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Featherweight bout: Zhang Tie Quan vs. Jason Reinhardt​

UFC returns to Australia after a hugely successful event last year. Unfortunately I don't have tickets as they sold out within a minute or two. Maybe next year I will be able to get tickets.​

Good card for the show and what makes it even better is that there are two Australians on the main card and both are now UFC regulars. Sotiropoulos, if he wins this fight, would have to be in line for a title shot as he is on a seven fight winning streak in the UFC. I haven't seen much of Siver but I have a lot of confidence that Soto can win here. Kyle Noke is the other Australian on the main card and hopefully with home crowd support he can get over the line against one of his other TUF 11 competitors.​

Penn vs Fitch is a good mainevent and it should be a good battle for both fighters. Penn fighting again at Welterweight trying to rejuvinate his career in this division again. Fitch has a surprisingly good record and will be a good win for Penn if he can defeat him.​

What do you think of the card?​

 

[Deezy]

Fitch is going to Fitch BJ Penn, that ego driven douchebag. I will enjoy watching Fitch lay on top of BJ and hit him with hammerfists for 15 minutes. People say Fitch is boring, I call it effective. He is the best WW not named GSP and if he was in any other company he would be a champion.

I don't know why Bisping is co-maineventing a PPV in Australia again, I heard that Aussies are obesessed with the British but I thought that was just hearsay. Jorge is a step down so Bisping should beat him, be only beats cans and folds with top tier guys.

 

[Troy]

I also hope that Fitch wins. Penn's ego is massive and it would be good seeing him knocked down a peg again. Edgar did it twice and hopefully Fitch can do it in Australia.

Bisping was booed big time last time he was here and I don't know why they have bothered bringing him out again. I guess he was the only other available "big name" to put on the card. Bisping should win but he is so inconsistent you never know what Bisping will turn up on the day. Would be good if he could find his KO power again for this PPV.

 

[The New F'n Show]

I love watching Fitch fight, I don't know if it is because of my coaching background (I coached three years of college football) or what but I love strategy and Fitch is the best when it comes to taking his opponent out of his game. He may not be the prettiest fighter or even the best (still go GSP here) but he is wonderful at game planning and he knows what works for him and sticks with it.

 

[Dod Draper]

Fitch is a cash machine for this fight. I'm dumping cash on him and feeding my gambling addiction. Fitch always pays.

Of course, if BJ lands a miracle punch and KOs Fitch (highly unlikely), I could be made to look stupid, but whatever. BJ's gonna be on his back for 3 rounds for 2 reasons; A) he's fighting Fitch, B) he probably thinks he can stuff the takedowns without training too hard, and will blame it on vaseline when he loses.

 

[Troy]

One change to the main card with Condit having to withdraw from his fight due to a knee injury. Brian Ebersole takes his place to make his UFC debut. I can't see Chris Lytle having any trouble winning that fight.

So pumped for this PPV. I have made sure I have nothing to do next sunday so I can buy the PPV and watch it. Should be a great show.

I will also put some money on Fitch and on Sotiropolous as well if I can get some good odds.

 

[Deezy]

In my perfect world Chris Lytle will be a number one contender. I hope GSP beats Shields and moves up to Middleweight and that will open the doors for so many Welterweights.

 

[Dademo]

Dana White confirmed that the winner of Fitch/Penn is the number one contender. But unless Shields/GSP is a close decision which GSP loses, we won't see neither of them face GSP again.

I wanted Lytle/Condit to go down so the winner fights the Fitch/Penn winner but oh well.

 

[Deezy]

I don't see why Penn should even be considered in the mix at 170, he's coming off a 1-2 fight stretch. Sure he knocked out K1 Hughes but not like Fitch is going in with the same gameplan. Fitch is going to Fitch, and I'll be smiling ear to ear as I watch this go 3 rounds.

 

[Dod Draper]

Is this PPV on at the normal time?

 

[Dod Draper]

Coming in to the UFC 127 headlining bout between B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch, the deciding factor on the bout would probably be Penn's chances of keeping it standing long enough. Can Penn defend the takedown, or will this turn into a trademark Jon Fitch bout? Those predicting that the AKA product will be able to implement his game and grind out a decision, are hinging on the fact that he will be having a huge size advantage come fight time. That may not be the case though, as Kenny Florian says his new diet has robbed him of that size advantage.

Florian talked about it with Luke Thomas on MMA Nation:

"I know you mentioned him walking around at 200lbs, that is definitely the case. However, I just was with him at the last UFC in Vegas [UFC 126] he's actually walking around at 176lbs," Florian stated. "He's a vegan now. He's 100 percent vegan. He's changed his whole lifestlye. And the first thing I said to him 'Man, you're looking pretty darn skinny' and he said, 'yeah, I'm a vegan now and I'm 176lbs right now'. That is actually I hear maybe even a concern with people in his own camp."

...

"Listen, I think B.J. Penn always has a chance. The guy's extremely dangerous on his feet. He's going to be a little bit tougher to take down than Jon Fitch thinks. I would give even more of a chance to Jon Fitch if it was a five-rounder. At three rounds, I give a little bit more of a chance to B.J [Penn] because I think a three-round B.J. [Penn] is different than a five-round B.J. [Penn]. A three-round B.J. [Penn] will go for it right from the outset. He'll be very aggressive. He'll kind of just let it loose for every single round. As soon as that bell starts. I noticed a five-round B.J. [Penn], he really paces himself, he's really unsure of the pace he needs to go at."

I'm not buying this at all. Fitch still has a weight advantage because BJ walks round at, what, 165?

Sensationalist comments.

 

[Troy]

Yeah Fitch would still have the weight advantage since Penn would be hard pressed to even weigh in at the 170 weight limit.

The PPV is still at the normal time, it happens in Australia on a Sunday afternoon so that it is the regular time elsewhere in the world.

I am buying this PPV on sunday, definitely worth it considering the amount of Australians on the card plus the opportunity to watch Fitch destroy Penn.

 

[-Doz-]

Going to see this with Chet and Jiso on Sunday, should be great. Hopefully Chet stays awake this time...


If Soti gets any sort of reaction like he did last time it should be awesome.

 

[Dademo]

Is this PPV on at the normal time?

Yeah, its in the afternoon in Australia so it'll be normal time whenever you watch MMA PPV's.

 

[Troy]

Going to see this with Chet and Jiso on Sunday, should be great. Hopefully Chet stays awake this time...


If Soti gets any sort of reaction like he did last time it should be awesome.

I am jealous that you are actually going to see it live. How did you manage to get tickets when it sold out so fast?