UFC 101-Declaration-Previews and Predictions Part 6

155 lbs-Lightweight Championship: BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian
This is a match up that fight fans have been salivating over for years. While this was already a match up of two of the most well rounded fighters in the UFC, it has become more interesting due to the trash talk that has been going back and forth between these two as well as the fact that Florian has been training with the last man to defeat Penn, in George St. Pierre.

BJ Penn is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. He has also held the UFC Welterweight Championship as well as being the first non-Brazilian to win the black belt division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Champion after only 3 years of training. He is known throughout MMA as being one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. Besides being a black belt in BJJ, he is also known for his phenomenal boxing and his superior takedown defense. He has a professional record of 13-5 with wins over Din Thomas, Din Thomas, Matt Serra, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hughes, Duane "Bang" Ludwig, Renzo Gracie, Rodrigo Gracie, Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson and Sean Sherk. He has losses to Jens Pulver, Matt Hughes, Lyoto Machida and Georges St Pierre(twice). 5 of his wins have come by KO and 5 by submission with 3 coming via decision. 2 of his losses have been by KO and he has never been submitted. He also has one draw to Caol Uno. In Penn's last fight, he was completely dismantled by GSP. He appealed the fight to no avail due to the fact that one of GSP's corner men greased him during the fight. He will be looking to rebound from his last defeat and return to the Lightweight division for the first time in 15 months.

Kenny Florian was the runner-up for the Middleweight Ultimate Fighter 1 Championship in which he was dominated by Diego Sanchez. He has a career record of 11-3. He is known for being the type of fighter who stops fights! 10 of his 11 victories have come via stoppage, 7 by submission and 3 by KO with only 1 going to a decision. In his 3 losses, he has been KO'd once and lost 2 decisions. He has wins over Kit Cope, Sam Stout, Din Thomas, Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta and Joe Stevenson. His losses have come to Drew Fickett, Diego Sanchez and Sean Sherk. He is currently on a 6 fight winning streak and will look to improve upon that by defeating Penn to capture the Lightweight Championship tonight at UFC 101. Florian is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai fighter who is incredibly well rounded and will no doubt be looking for the stoppage in this one. This will undeniably be his toughest fight and one he has wanted for quite some time.

Prediction: Penn is a master on the ground as well as on the feet. However, Florian does not appear to be far behind. Florian has made tremendous strides to improve each and every time he steps into the octagon. His progress in the sport is impressive and I'm sure this fight will show that once again. I believe this fight will come down to cardio and that has always been a concern of BJ Penn's. We have seen him gas several times in his UFC career. If Florian can withstand the early barrage from Penn and take this fight into the championship rounds he will come out on top. If not it will be a short night for Florian. However, I am once again going with the upset. I pick Kenny Florian by decision.

I know that this is the 2nd fight in a row in which I have picked the underdogs. These are both incredibly difficult fights to predict and I went with where I feel the greatest weaknesses are which in this case are Silva's lack of size and Penn's lack of cardio. I'm off to watch the fights. Here's hoping for an incredible night of fights!