The global obsession with social media clearly extends to MMA fighters. Several media sources have confirmed that a welterweight fight between number-six ranked B.J. Penn and number-seven ranked Carlos Condit is in the works after the pair discussed the bout on Twitter.
The contest is expected to be part of UFC 137, which takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The fall card already appears stacked since Georges St. Pierre will defend his welterweight title against former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz. Former SRC featherweight champion Hatsu Hioki will also make his promotional debut against George Roop.
Penn originally tried to make a fight happen with Jon Fitch, but according to the fighter “Joe Silva said, ‘The fans don’t want it, and I’m not interested.”
After dropping back-to-back fights and his lightweight title to Frankie Edgar, Penn returned to the welterweight division. In his first fight back, he scored a quick knockout of nemesis Matt Hughes. At UFC 127, he drew with perenial contender Jon Fitch. Over the course of his distinguished career, the two-division champion has defeated Hughes, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, Renzo Gracie, Jens Pulver and Takanori Gomi.
From 2007-2008 Condit lorded over the WEC welterweight division. He won the belt with a submission victory over John Alessio and then defended it three times. After transitioning to the UFC, he dropped his debut against Martin Kampmann via split decision. Since then, “The Natural Born Killer” has won four-straight fights including a highlight-reel knockout of Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
LOL@ Jon Fitch being butt hurt about this on twitter…he did it to himself by saying he would only fight Penn or GSP…well…neither are happening…beat someone decisively and you can talk like that.
I just look past the Fitch stuff now.
I think Fitch won the Penn fight pretty convincingly when they fought, but Dana saw differently (or took the opportunity to “see” it different) so Fitch is probably screwed now. He’s clearly the second best WW in the world, but has a style that’s unappealing to fans.
He’s getting screwed, but it’s not anything new.
Yeah it is sort of a shame that the second-most accomplished welterweight in history is basically disrespected by the masses because he fights with a strategy.
Matt Hughes is #2 best WW ever…nothing wrong with fighting with a strategy when you are trying to actively finish a fight…Fitch rarely does that IMO…he hardly ever does damage to his opponents.
So…he just went to a draw with a 155’er in Penn…so he’ll only fight that 155’er again or the current champ in GSP who absolutely destroyed him the first time? lol…I’m sorry but he was pretty dumb for saying that…and on top of that…saying he was willing to sit out a year just for those to fights(when only one was a possibility)…I mean let’s be real…he screwed himself here.
He said he’d only take those two fights because he got screwed in a draw against Penn, and he is far and away above everyone else in the WW division (besides GSP).
The “155er” as you call Penn only has losses to GSP, Machida, and Hughes above 155 lbs. Not too shabby for a 155er.
Put their records together, Fitch’s resume destroys Hughes. Hughes dominated during the dark era of MMA, and still has 2 losses to Penn and Hallman. Fitch hasn’t lost to anybody not named GSP in 9 years.
BJ should stay at lightweight. He got owned by Edgar twice, and he thinks he’ll move up and take out welterweights? Come on, he’s too small, too out of shape, and too undisciplined. He hit Hughes with a lucky punch in that fight- a hit like that is not indicative of skill, just lucky timing and circumstance. Sure Bj has great boxing, but come on- anybody could knock anybody else out like that with a lucky punch.
Being a lightweight forces him to work on his cardio (which he clearly doesn’t do properly cause he always gets winded and complains that the other guy is on PED’s or something…guess what Baby Jay, you’re just lazy)
Being at welterweight is going to give him a false sense of security thinking that he can afford to have more rolls of fat.
I see the cabbage patch doll gassing by the end of Round 1, Round 2 he’s hurting badly, Round 3 Condit stops him cold…and BJ produces some excuse like he had a chest cold or something.
I think its a good exciting matchup.www.canadianboxingtalk.com
Mark: So he’s got great boxing (probably top 3 in MMA), but hit Matt Huhges with a lucky punch (on a combination he through multiple times in the short fight). Hmmm… Nope, not at all.
BJ Gasses, it’s nothing new. He gassed against Edgar twice (which is not an excuse for his loss, just the fact that he clearly got tired there as he does at WW). He will never have good cardio, and that’s just the way it is.
I’ll watch BJ fight at anyweight, and so will most people. This is a great fight, there’s not much of a valid debate against that.