I’ve tried to envision BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre many times, and every time I think about it I imagine a relentless GSP taking down BJ over and over, delivering bombs from the top, and wearing BJ down over time. However, if GSP simply can’t take Penn down, everything changes. If he can’t he’ll have to rely on kicks to keep Penn at a distance, and I’m not sure if that’ll be enough. However, it’s hard to believe a guy that can take down Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Jon Fitch, and (!) Rashad Evans at will won’t be able to take down BJ Penn. At the same time though, this GIF from Fightlinker is a nice reminder of why BJ is such a uniquely hard guy to take down:
BJ Penn was on the Jim Rome show today, and in the midst of delivering an awesome interview, he dropped the following revealing quote:
You know how the UFC is…the guy on top is usually gonna be getting those rounds. I can’t let too many rounds slip away before I find myself in a deep hole, and having to chase that knockout. If I end up on my back, I am going to go for move after move after move.
As this fight creeps closer, I really am starting to lean back towards BJ Penn. Not that I’m picking him, but I really think people are selling his tremendous skillset short going into this fight.
If I was setting out a game plan for GSP, I’d probably recommend using leg kicks to slow BJ down and diminish his punching power, as well as trying to clinch a lot and grind it out against the fence to wear BJ down. It should be interesting to see what the gameplan actually is.