The Prodigy Puts On A Show

The Prodigy himself, BJ Penn, had his 2nd convincing victory in a row at the 155 lb. division of the UFC earlier today. In the process, he has become the 2nd fighter ever (joining Randy Couture) to win titles in 2 different weight classes of the UFC after tapping out Joe Stevenson in the 2nd round with a rear naked choke.

Just like his in his last fight (which was against Jens Pulver), Baby Jay completely dominated his opponent, and at one point, while grounding and pounding, landed an elbow to Stevenson's head which opened a nasty cut. Stevenson was gushing so much blood, not only was his face covered in a crimson mask, Penn was covered in it too. It was reminiscent of the old Ric Flair crimson mask after he would blade.

BJ Penn has said for months now that he is serious about his training, that's his not content anymore with getting by purely on his talent (which he has massive amounts of, nobody can deny). But a focused and dedicated BJ Penn is scary, and he just showed more proof of it today. Pound for pound in the UFC (and even in the MMA world), I still have Anderson Silva as #1. But a focused BJ Penn is a serious contender for that crown as well; I have him jumping over Georges St. Pierre and is a firm #2.

Gotta love his post match interview too, which he discussed his next opponent, the former champ who was stripped of the title because of a positive steroid test: "Sean Sherk, you're dead."

A somewhat disappointing result in the undercard, as Gabriel Gonzaga lost by TKO to Fabricio Werdum. Gonzaga is a beast, and has so much tools, but he now has lost two in a row. Gonzaga was blown up towards the end of the 2nd round and he had nothing left in the tank to stop Werdum's assault. Everyone had him pegged as a future UFC heavyweight champ, but he is nothing close to that status right now. I don't know if it's more mental or more physical (as in, lack of conditioning), but he needs to get himself righted or else his enormous potential is going to waste.

But all in all, today's UFC card from Newcastle was great; lots of knockouts and action, highlighted by The Prodigy's win.

Next PPV is on 2/2, with Minotauro-Sylvia for the interim heavyweight title, and Brock Lesnar making his UFC debut vs. Frank Mir.