| Penn Finally Captures Lightweight Title |
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| Written by Dom Velando | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 20 January 2008 08:31 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Photo: UFC.COM The title that escaped B.J. Penn five and six years ago is finally his after a bloody battle in Newcastle, England, last night. His opponent, Joe "Daddy" Stevenson, a formidable fighter in his own right, could do very little as Penn unleashed his fury from every position, which tended to be from a dominant one. Stevenson fought the entire fight losing in the standup exchanges or from his back, eating jackhammer punches and a slicing elbow. Stevenson bled immediately after the strike, and a look of horror could be seen in Stevenson's eyes once he realized just how much blood was flowing from his forehead. Waiting for the second frame to begin, Stevenson was bouncing with urgency, but the tough Californian could not stop Penn's momentum, let alone his powerful right hand. Penn directed the fight to the floor once again, where he gave Stevenson only the options of being mounted or giving his back. Stevenson fitfully twisted and bucked until Penn finally latched on a rear naked choke, forcing the tap.
Penn is now the undisputed lightweight champion. His first challenger: Sean Sherk, who was stripped of the title after being suspended for a positive steroid test. The grudge match is tentatively set for May in Las Vegas. In a battle for survival, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum fought a fantastic rematch in the co-headliner. The last time the two Brazilians met was at Jungle fight 1, when Werdum took out "Napao" with punches. Werdum's last fight, a three-round sleeping pill aginst Andrei Arlovski, failed to match the hype behind "Cro Cop"'s training partner and put his job security in jeopardy. As for Gonzaga, he last challenged former heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, and was brutally smashed by the effectively retired champ. The two world class jiujitsu champions cancelled each other out on the ground, and so the score was settled with kicks, punches and knees. Gonzaga's brutal leg kicks sent Werdum crashing to the mat several times in the first round. In the second, Werdum's timing improved, allowing him to sneak in a knee that backed Gonzaga up against the cage. From there, Werdum broke his opponent down by landing knees rom the clinch and then backing up to throw punch combinations. Ultimately, Werdum trapped Gonzaga against the cage and finished the fight with punches. Werdum now finds himself much closer to a title shot. Official results:
Set as favorite
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Comments (8)
Rdub
said:
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... Sherk's a monster, but Penn is as they say "The Prodigy" if anyone can stop Sherk it will be Penn. I laughed when Sherk said his boxing was better. It was probably the only thing he could think of he may be better at, but unfortunately while Sherk's boxing maybe more technically sound, Penn has jack hammers for fist and will level Sherk dropping him to floor where he will be systematically destroyed.. |
Bergeron
said:
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... idk...but i think sherk is gonna get the victory...i think he's gonna G&P penn and outlast him cardio wise...i think sherk is gonna TKO or sub him in the late rounds. |
gswahhab
said:
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... there is no way sherk will win by G&P. he has tried to G&P his last three opponents and can't finish them. Penn is going to pick him apart on the feet. then he is going to slowly mount him, then take his back and RNC him just like joe daddy. sherk can take him down all day but he wont stay on top for long. |
Dom
said:
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... it seems that the bj penn who gasses and fades in the late rounds is the 170 lb, not the current 155 lb champ. |
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