155 lbs: B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar
Odds: (-800 Penn / +500 Edgar )
The co-main event features the first of two title fights on the card, with Lightweight champion B.J. Penn defending his belt against dynamic challenger Frankie Edgar. Edgar is a tough competitor with a very well-rounded skillset, but B.J Penn makes everyone he fights at 155 pounds look ridiculous, so it’s interesting to see if Edgar will fare any better than the others who attempted to take Penn’s belt.
Frankie “The Answer” Edgar is a very well rounded fighter with solid boxing, a good chin, and decent jiu-jitsu, but his best attribute is definitely his dominant wrestling. A great takedown artist with awesome top control, Edgar is very good at grinding down his opponents and stifling their offense completely. The only loss of his career came to Gray Maynard, who he couldn’t keep from out-wrestling him. He proved against Sean Sherk, though, that he has what it takes to compete with the top fighters in the division.
B.J. Penn is easily one of the most dominant champions in the sport. He has the best jiu-jitsu in the division, arguably the best striking in the division, and incredibly good takedown defense. His boxing is really accurate and powerful and he has excellent hand speed as well. He has lost a few fights at Welterweight, against former champions, but has fought as high as Heavyweight, where he lost a close decision to current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.
Frankie Edgar is good, but he’s not good enough to do anything to B.J. Penn. The only hole Penn ever had in his game was a lack of cardio, but now that he has fixed that, he is pretty much unbeatable at 155 pounds. Edgar will press for takedowns and succeed only in pushing Penn into the cage, will eat shots for a few rounds, and ultimately get dropped and choked out in the same fashion as Kenny Florian.
Fight Prediction: BJ “The Prodigy” Penn via Third Round rear naked choke.
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