12/12/2009 – Fedex Forum – Memphis Tennessee
“The Prodigy” BJ Penn will be defending his UFC lightweight Belt against the Ultimate Fighter® season 1 winner Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez in what is already a great card in UFC 107.
BJ Penn has actually been unbeaten in the UFC lightweight division for nearly 8 years (last loss to Jens Pulver in Jan 2002). He is coming off an impressive win against Kenny Florian, in which he submitted him with a rear naked choke in UFC 101.
Since winning The Ultimate Fighter® season 1, Diego Sanchez has moved from Middleweight, to Welterweight and now to the Lightweight Division. At 5’11″ he is relativity large for a lightweight fighter and with his relentless style he should prove to be a tough opponent for the champion BJ Penn.
I’ll be predicting that BJ Penn wins this fight via submission. I think that his boxing and ground game is better than Diego’s, however, if the fight lasts more than 3 rounds I can see BJ Penn fading and Sanchez picking up the pace, which could lead to a very tight decision that could go either way.
Also former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will fight the powerful Cheick Kongo. Frank Mir will be looking for another title shot, especially if an interim title comes into play due to Brock Lesnar’s illness. Cheick Kongo will need to beat Frank Mir and probably another top contender or 2 before being considered for a title shot, especially after losing to Cain Velasquez and with such a packed and talented heavyweight division in the UFC.
My prediction is for Cheick Kongo to win via TKO. I believe the only reason why he lost to Cain Velasquez was because Cain had such good wrestling, even after getting rocked. I don’t think Mir can stand with Kongo, and I dont believe Mir is likely to be able to take Kongo to the canvas. If Kongo keeps the fight standing and is weary of getting into Mir’s full guard, then Kongo should win this in my opinion.
Another fight that I’m really excited about is Kenny Florian vs Clay Guida. Clay Guida is always relentless and so exciting to watch, and Ken Flo has some brilliant Muay Thai and BJJ. Both Kenny and Clay are coming off losses to the main event’s fighters BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez respectively, and are looking to re-establish themselves in the lightweight division.
I think that Clay Guida’s style will play into Ken Flo’s favour which is why I am predicting than Kenny Florian will win this fight by submission. Kenny Florian’s short elbows and muay thai clinches will be dangerous if Clay gets in close quarters with him and on the ground Kenny has brilliant jui jitsu.
Fight Card:
Main Card
Lightweight Championship bout: BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez – Prediction BJ by Submission
Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo – Prediction Kongo by TKO
Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce – Prediction Fitch by Decision
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida – Prediction Florian by Submission
Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve – Prediction Struve by Submission
Preliminary Card
Middleweight bout: Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia – Prediction Gouveia
Lightweight bout: Matt Wiman vs. Shane Nelson – Prediction Wiman
Welterweight bout: Johny Hendricks vs. Ricardo Funch – Prediction Hendricks
Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Lucio Linhares – Prediction Palhares
Welterweight bout: DaMarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia – Prediction Johnson
Welterweight bout: Kevin Burns vs. TJ Grant – Prediction Burns
Looks like we have some different picks for this one my friend, I don’t see Kongo beating Mir. I would like to see Sanchez beat Penn down, as weird as the guy is I hope he comes out with the same killer instinct he did against Guida.
Hi John, yeah the predictions are very different. Almost different enough for a wager. lol. Shall we bet on a jaeger. You’d obviously have to come to London, and i’d have to come to Florida though….
There’s 2 ways I see the Kongo vs Mir fight going. If Mir isn’t playing mind games, and he actually does want to stand with Kongo, he’s going to get KO’d / TKO’d. The other outcome would the fight goes to the ground and Mir rips Kongo’s arm off!!
nice post. thanks.