BJ Penn

BJ Penn has been offered a shot at the UFC lightweight title (currently held by Sean Sherk). This would occur after Sherk defends his title against Hermes Franca at UFC 73 on July 7th.

I'll post full results for the Ultimate Fighter Finale, but for now...after the link.

As usual my random surfing has found some interesting info, interesting, but not surprising. It seems that if BJ Penn defeats Jens Pulver on June 23rd he will get to face the winner of Hermes Franca and Sean Sherk for the lightweight title. That's really not much of a surprise, but always nice to hear it from another source (I know all of you have already been thinking it).

Brian Geraghty vs Matt Wiman
Another decent fight, but in the end Matt Wiman is too strong for Geraghty.
Prediction : Matt Wiman

Allen Berube vs Leonard Garcia
I like seeing Leonard Garcia getting another chance in the UFC. His fight with Roger Huerta was an instant classic. I'm guessing that the fight will end with Berube gassing out and Garcia submitting him.
Prediction : Leonard Garcia

Rob Emerson vs Gray Maynard
Rob Emerson had two tough fights and I can see why the UFC has brought him back for the finale. Gray Maynard was just an animal though. If Emerson lets his hands go, I think he can KO Maynard, but overall I think that Maynard is the better fighter.
Prediction : Gray Maynard

Andy Wang vs Cole Miller
If I were just looking at talent, I might just pick Andy Wang in this fight. However during season 5, Andy just refused to take his fight to the ground (where he is best). If he keeps it standing, he will lose. If it goes to the ground, it's anyones fight.
Prediction : Cole Miller

Brandon Melendez vs Joe Lauzon
Once Brandon Melendez makes weight, he's a pretty good fighter. The problem is that he almost needs to kill himself making weight. Remember he needed Andy Wang's help to make weight during season 5. On the other hand, Joe Lauzon is naturally a bit smaller, but every bit as tough. I'm going with Joe Lauzon, one of my new favourite fighters.
Prediction : Joe Lauzon

Floyd Sword vs Thales Leites
Prediction : Thales Leites, just based on his name.

Roger Huerta vs Doug Evans
Huerta looked so good in his fight with Garcia that I just need to pick him to win this fight
Prediction : Roger Huerta

BJ Penn vs Jens Pulver
BJ Penn was the UFC champion at welterweight and holds wins over current UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, current Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi, Renzo Gracie and former UFC welterweight champioin Matt Hughes. He's a brilliant BJJ specialist, but also has heavy hands (just ask Caol Uno, the victim of one of the quickest KO's in UFC history).

On the other hand, Jens Pulver holds the trump card. Jens holds a victory over BJ Penn. Still, I think BJ will be too much for Jens Pulver on June 23rd.
Predicition : BJ Penn

Last night's Ultimate Fighter was one of the season's best episodes. There are/were 8 fighters left.

The fight results leading up to last night were

Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson
Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty
Corey Hill defeated Rob Emerson (Rob was put back in after Gabe Ruediger failed to make weight)
Cole Miller defeated Allen Berube
Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Simms
Manny Gambaryan defeated Noah Thomas
Gray Maynard defeated Wayne Weems
Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang

So, Diaz, Lauzon, Hill, Miller, Wiman, Gamaryan, Maynard and Melendez moved on to the next round.

To read on about last nights show click continue.

Just a quick update on a bunch of different things:

Upcoming UFC events
UFC 71 - Chuck Liddell vs Quinton Jackson May 26th
UFC Fight Night Live - Sam Stout vs Spencer Fisher June 12
UFC 72 - Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami June 16th
Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale Jens Pulver vs BJ Penn June 23rd
UFC 73 - Tito Ortiz vs Rashad Evans July 7

Looks like the next month and a half will be extremely exciting for the UFC fans out there. Also, lets not forget the debut's of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mauricio Shogun Rua. Also Forrest Griffin, Keith Jardine, Heath Herring, Anderson Silva, Nate Marquardt, Kenny Floirian, Chris Leben, Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca and a number of other big names are spread across these cards. Keep tuned here for predictions on all the big fights.

Also, post a comment on who you'd like to see Shogun face first in the UFC. I think he should warm up with Stephan Bonner.

Stop reading now if you don't want to know who won!

Last night was the last Ultimate fighter 5 epispode for the first round. The show featured two good fights. First of all, let me explain that a good fight and a competative fight are not necessarily the same thing. Some of the best fights I've seen (my opinion) only lasted a minute or so. I categorize a good fight as one that I enjoyed watching. Great fights have all the ingredient of a good fight and a competative fight.

Somehow, for some reason Andy Wang made it into the shows spotlight again. This was a direct result of Dana White telling BJ Penn that he needs to get control of his team. BJ responds by kicking off Andy Wang for never listening to him. When Dana hears about this he goes into some spiel about possibly needing Wang if another fighter gets hurt...aren't there another 14 guys in the house? Why would you put Wang in another fight when you know that he'll just stand and brawl instead of trying to win? Regardless, Dana puts Wang on team Pulver and team Pulver has an Andy Wang lovefest...rediculous TV!

Luckily, the fights were much better...see my opening paragraph. They were "good" fights, not competative fights.

The first fight was Wayne Weems vs Gray Maynard. From everything we've seen about Weems up until this episode, Weems should be over matched in this bout. It turns out that he was, but he showed a big heart in not tapping. The fight itself started on the feet (as UFC fights tend to do), then went to the ground and ended up with Weems face down, covering up as well as he could while Maynard hit him to the head and body at will...for 2 minutes. Eventually the ref woke up and stopped the fight.

The second fight featured Matt Wiman vs Marlon Sims. I've been wanting to see Marlon Sims fight since much earlier in the show. Sims claims to have had 300 street fights, taken on multiple opponents at once, blah blah blah...sounds a little like Tank Abbott. I was interested to see if any of it was true.

The fight starts off with both fighters throwing a big right hand at the same time. Both shots land, but Matt Wiman's had more of an effect on Sims. Sims was stunned long enough for Wiman to take him to the ground, soften him up a little and choke him out. To Sims credit, he was gracious in defeat. I wouldn't be surprised to see both of these guys fighting in the UFC again regardless of who wins the contract.

So, the regular season is over. Team Pulver won 5 matches, team Penn won 3. Not as lop-sided as it looked like it was going to be. Oh yeah, there was a part of the show where BJ Penn said something about smashing Jens Pulver into retirement. I'll tell you one thing, the series finale is going to be a good show. There are probably 5 or 6 fighters on this season that I want to see fight again.

Press Release from UFC.com

UFC® Returns to The Pearl at The Palms for The Ultimate Fighter® 5 Finale

Las Vegas, Nev. – April 24, 2007 – When former UFC® Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver defeated the seemingly invincible BJ Penn in 2002, he shocked the world and proved that when it comes to the Octagon™, nothing is impossible. Since then, Penn has plotted his revenge and waited seemingly in vain for the opportunity to avenge his first and most bitter defeat. But on Saturday, June 23rd, these two 155-pound pioneers - who matched wits for six weeks as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter® Season 5 - square off in a rematch five years in the making and finally get the chance to settle their score with their fists when they battle in the main event on The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization and Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter 5 Season finale live from The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

more at UFC.com

Ultimate Fighter Season 5 Results for Episode 4

Are you ready for the Ultimate Fighter 5 recap? For those who don't know, Ultimate Fighter is a show on Spike TV involving UFC figthers all working toward a UFC contract. Season 5 has lightweights, with coaches Jens Pulver and BJ Penn. Pulver and Penn will fight at the end of season 5 (finale is scheduled for June 23rd).

Warning, if you read on, you will find out who won the fight. If you need your Ultimate Fighter Results fix, continue reading.

The title says it all, just a gentle reminder to watch TUF 5 tonight!