B.J. Penn‘s dominating victory over what many fans considered to be the only legitimate challenge left in the weight class in Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez was one of the most impressive performances we’ve seen from Penn during his current reign as champion. Not only did his conditioning last against a high energy opponent like Diego Sanchez, but his vaunted striking game completely broke the mentally strong Sanchez as the fight progressed. Diego’s telegraphed one-two combinations as he moved forward were his undoing in the striking department, and his takedown attempts were futile against the flexible and well-balanced B.J. Penn. If other fighters in the division had some sort of idea as to how to attack Penn in possible future bouts, Penn sent a scary message to anyone hoping to attain a shot at his belt.
One of the significant questions coming out of Penn’s victory over Sanchez is who will actually challenge Penn in the future. The UFC’s lightweight division doesn’t offer too many challenges on paper at this point, especially after watching Penn completely dominate Sanchez. A lot of fans are throwing Frankie Edgar‘s name into the mix as he’s been one of the more successful lightweight fighters, but Gray Maynard was able to defeat him. Both men are the only two fighters remaining in the USAT/SBN lightweight rankings’ top ten with Edgar sitting at #5 and Maynard at #6. If the UFC actually pits either fighter against Penn in the future, he’ll be one step closer to completely crushing every opponent in the UFC that resides in the top ten among lightweights in the world.
The next move would be for the UFC to begin looking outside of its walls to find a challenge for Penn. They’ve been able to inject some talent into the welterweight division, but can the same be done at 155? It’s highly doubtful. Shinya Aoki is currently the only real fight for Penn, and while he’s jockeying for a new contract in Japan with the potential to come stateside — there is a very real possibility that Aoki is “talking the talk” in order to gain a bigger contract from DREAM.
Most fans believe Aoki wouldn’t give B.J. Penn a challenge, and a lot of fans continue to push the point that Aoki would have problems with the top five lightweights in the UFC. I wouldn’t disagree with that assessment as Aoki has deficiencies in his striking game, and B.J. Penn hasn’t been taken down at lightweight since his bout with Takanori Gomi nearly six years ago. Interestingly enough, Gomi will also be a name that will be thrown into the talk, but he’s dropped off substantially in performance over the course of his last few fights. At this point, I don’t think Gomi could last more than two rounds with Penn.
Gomi would purely be an acquisition to capitalize off his past victories and fame, but it probably won’t come to fruition as Gomi is likely asking for huge money for that past fame. He’s nowhere near the fighter he once was, and Aoki would probably ask for big money as well. It’s questionable whether the UFC would be willing to pay that out for a couple of fights that would see either top five UFC lightweights or Penn dominate.
What’s left on the table? Penn has mentioned the fact that he will probably make a splash into the welterweight division again in the future. He may hold off and take on someone like Maynard, Edgar, or Florian for a second time, but after those victories — the UFC will be in somewhat a tight spot in trying to find him challenging bouts. Will he simply sit on the shelf while the division works itself out? I don’t think he will. There would have to be some significant acquisitions along with one of the acquisitions pulling off some incredible wins to gain a shot at Penn. I think fans would be waiting around for quite a long time if the UFC plans to do that.
Do fans want to see a GSP vs. Penn III? I’m sure Penn will be excited for the rematch, but I wonder if it’s truly a compelling fight for fans since the second bout was a dominant performance for GSP. Would a catchweight be a better idea for that fight? Or should the UFC create match-ups at 170 like that of what Silva is doing in the light heavyweight division? That idea is a little more interesting, and the UFC might be able to eliminate some of the top guys from AKA in the mix for the title by justifying a Penn victory over a guy like Fitch or Swick.
The second possibility is the move up in weight of some of the WEC’s elite fighters such as Mike Brown, Jose Aldo, or Urijah Faber. The WEC’s lightweight class isn’t too impressive, but Aldo’s skill-set at 145 is very compelling. Great jiu-jitsu, impressive takedown defense, and wicked fast, powerful striking. That’s a fight a lot of people would want to see.
A challenge will be tough for Penn to find at 155. I imagine he’ll move up in weight for a few fights and there might be a possibility the UFC promotes GSP vs. Penn III in the future, but I don’t see any other possibilities for Penn within the next year or two.