MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Never lacking in self confidence, Diego Sanchez was hoping for a passing of the guard coming into his title shot with UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn. The chants of “YES!” were there, as were the mean mugs, but all of the scary faces in the world could not save Sanchez from the brutal, lopsided beating that he received from Penn.
Penn used his superior boxing skills and hand speed to consistently punish the very game Sanchez throughout the five championship rounds of the bout. When Penn wasn’t landing big shots and counter left hooks, he was easily defending “Nightmare’s” best attempts of getting the fight to the ground.
It appeared early on, that the fight might not even make it out of the first round. As Sanchez looked to get his range, Penn stepped in and dropped Sanchez with a right hand. Penn was looking for the finish, unleashing a barrage of punches as the referee watched closely.
The very game Sanchez survived the round, but was unable to solve the movement and speed of Penn. The next three rounds where much the same with Diego leaping in to close the distance, but missing more then he connected as Penn side stepped and scored with counter punches.
Every time that Sanchez managed to get a hold of Penn against the cage, B.J. easily avoided the repeated single leg attempts, and punished Sanchez each time the fighters disengaged.
Finally in the fifth and final round of the main event of “UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez” from the FedEx forum in Memphis, Tenn., Penn unleashed a final flurry of strikes in an attempt to put away Sanchez.
The attack started with a thunderous head kick, slicing open a huge gash on the head of Sanchez and followed up by six uppercuts before the action was halted to check on the cut.
After officials wiped the blood away and saw the four inch gash over Sanchez’s left eye, the action was halted, and B.J. Penn (15-5-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC) was announced the winner, remaining not only the UFC Lightweight Champion, but perhaps the best ever at 155.
Joe Rogan commented that Penn’s performance tonight was probably his best ever in defending his title.
“I was keeping my mouth shut, but, I always wanted to fight Diego Sanchez.”
said Penn. “I knew for years he wanted to fight me.”
Sanchez, bloodied and battered in his post fight interview with Joe Rogan, vowed to come back strong.
“B.J. is a great champion, he came in as the best B.J. that ever stepped in the ring.” said Sanchez, “I did my best. He came out on top, but I’ll be back.”
In the night’s co-main event, Frank Mir backed up all of the trash talk, dispatching of Cheick Kongo in the first two minutes of the bout.
Mir ducked in and landed a solid overhand left that connected directly on the chin of Kongo, dropping him to the mat like freshly folded laundry. After a scramble, Kongo, attempting to get back to his feet, left his neck exposed and Mir immediately locked up a standing guillotine attempt.
Within seconds Mir dropped to his back, tightened up his grip, and looked for the finish. Kongo went out like a warrior, literally, taking a quick power nap on the canvas in the Octagon.
The win gets Mir one step closer to his obsessive desire to get another shot at Brock Lesnar.
Florian impressive in win over Guida, Struve and Finch victorious
Kenny Florian and Clay Guida engaged in a battle that most people anticipated being “Fight of the Night”. Florian lived up to his side of the bargain, overcoming a tentative start, and finishing the very tough Guida.
Florian started slowly, but eventually found his range as Guida struggled to counter Florian’s effective boxing. Guida failed to work his impressive smothering take down offense that is always a big part of the game, and eventually got caught with a huge right hand that dropped him to the mat.
Florian wasted no time with his opportunity to finish the fight, taking Guida’s back and locking in the fight ending rear naked choke, forcing Guida to tap out.
Florian improves to (12-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC), and continues to climb his way back into contention at 155 pounds.
In other action from the main card, Jon Finch continued his win streak with a tough decision victory over Mike Pierce, and Stefan Struve grinded his way to a razor thin decision victory over Paul Buentello. Stay tuned to ProMMA.info for all of the latest news and stories on “UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez.”