MMA Worldwide

Penn Mangles Sanchez in five; Mir subs Kongo

Posted by Marcos Villegas on the 14 December 2009 | View Comments

Memphis, Tenn. - Maybe it was a way to psyche himself out, but those watching at home wondered why Diego Sanchez was yelling “yes” to himself during his walkout to UFC 107. Videos of him cart wheeling circulated the web the week leading up to his fight with lightweight champion BJ Penn, in which he was quoting the same thing. Penn should have gone up to him and said “No.” No, you will not take my title, no you will not take me down and no you can not hurt me. When it came time for the two to meet inside the Octagon, it was a dominant and brutal one-sided victory for BJ Penn. Penn had all the answers for Sanchez’s lunging jab-lead rights and his takedown attempts which amounted to Sanchez getting the worse beating of his career. The fight came dangerously close to being over in the first minute of the round as Penn hit his opponent with a flush hook that sent Sanchez to the floor. Penn teeded off what had to of been ten unanswered shots to the head of Sanchez who barely made it through by monkey rolling into guard. Sanchez would attempt to take BJ Penn down round after round but wound up taking big time shots in the process.

 

Though the Penn hook was the biggest shot of the fight, Sanchez would accumulate damage round after round that made those watching question who could stop Penn in this weight class. Penn took advantage of solid boxing fundamentals and foot work to pot shot Sanchez at will in the first four rounds. Every time Sanchez attempted to throw in a right, Penn would simply step back and land brutal counter rights. In what was a futile effort, Sanchez attempted to work single and double leg takedowns all throughout the fight. Penn displayed his legendary balance and never once was taken down. He landed short punches and elbows to the face and body of Sanchez and his once questionable stamina had no flaws on this given night. By the fourth, it seemed Sanchez was just attempting to survive and the damage was accumulating. A straight right busted the lip of the lightweight contender as Penn worked to put his opponent away. You have to give Sanchez credit for being able to survive as long as he did, but the damage was eventually too much. At 2:37 of the 5^th round Penn ended a flurry with a right kick to the head of Sanchez. A huge gash immediately opened up and referee Herb Dean immediately went in to check the cut. Doctors ringside declared that Sanchez could not continue as BJ Penn made a successful third title defense TKO’ing Diego Sanchez.

 

Gracious in defeat Sanchez said that Penn was a “great champion.” For Penn, questions surround as to who will give him any sort of competition at 155lbs as a move to 170lbs is looking more likely.

 

Mir makes short work of Congo

 

It seems Frank Mir always has something to say. In his previous fights he has bad mouthed his opponents to a degree of a school yard showdown. Cheick Kongo was no different, as before the fight Mir clowned him on his one dimensional game and lacking jiu-jitsu abilities. Mir said he would take it to the ground for the win and he did just that. No one would have imagined that the heavyweight showdown would be over in one minute and twelve seconds. Mir landed a huge overhand left forty seconds into the first that sent Kongo flying down to the mat. The Frenchman attempted to recover by grabbing hold of Mir’s leg but opened himself up to a Guillotine. At this point it was a no brainer what would happen next. Mir put Kongo to sleep at 72 seconds of round one to come out victorious and put his Loss to UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar behind him. With Mir though, the topic of Brock Lesnar always seems to come up and after the fight Mir stated that he wants a rubber match, wishing the heavyweight champion recover soon so that he could “hurt him.” Mir picked up his 13^th career win as Kongo drops two in a row.

 

Fitch goes the distance in usual fashion/ Ken Flo chokes out Guida

 

Jon Fitch, in usual Jon Fitch fashion got the unanimous decision over wrestling stand out Mike Pierce in a dominant performance by the former welterweight contender. In a bout where wrestling skill was near equal, the man with the crisper boxing and better head movement came out on top. Fitch worked in a good rear naked choke attempt in the first, locking in body hooks after he successfully took down his opponent. Pierce fought on for the majority of the round and was finally able to shuck off Fitch and landed a bomb of a right hand that cut Fitch. Pierce wouldn’t have that much success until the final minute of the third round. He landed a well timed right that wobbled Fitch and followed up but could not put his opponent away. When it was all said and done, Fitch came out with the three round decision.

 

Kenny Florian began the long road back to contendorship status as he pulled out the submission win over the awkward and unorthodox Clay Guida. Florian commented after his bout that he had been “sharpening his boxing,” and it proved true. After a cautious first round, that saw Guida pushing forward and changing levels, Florian landed a hard elbow to the dome of his opponent that opened a nasty and profusely bleeding cut. The fight was allowed to continue as the bloodied Guida continued to press forward but never really landed anything of importance. Florian finally let his hands loose in round two as he landed shots to the exposed cut of Guida and landed a crisp and short right that would lead to the end of the fight. Guida buckled after Florian landed and took the fighters back and immediately worked in a rear naked choke to tap his opponent out. After the fight Florian apologized for his performance with Penn a few months back and promised to improve for another shot at the Lightweight title.

 

 

In the undercard:

Stefan Struve def. Paul Buentello via Spilt Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Alan Belcher def. Wilson Gouveia via TKO in R1 (3:03)

Matt Wiman def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Johny Hendricks def. Ricardo Funch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)

Rousimar Palhares def. Lucio Linhares via heel hook in R2 (3:21)

DaMarques Johnson def. Edgar Garcia via triangle choke in R1 (4:03)

T.J. Grant def. Kevin Burns via TKO in R1 (4:57)