Post by PdW2kX on Dec 24, 2008 15:01:43 GMT -5
Courtesy of MMA Mania
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“Is he tough enough to do it? Absolutely. Is he talented enough to go up there and do it? Absolutely. Does that mean he should do it? Absolutely not. He doesn’t have the frame to carry that kind of weight and it just makes no sense.”
– UFC President Dana White elaborates via ESPN.com on the topic of former welterweight and current lightweight champion BJ Penn moving up to one day fight middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. White has already revealed that he would allow reigning 170-pound titlist Georges St. Pierre to make the jump to create a superfight if he can topple the “Prodigy” for the second time on January 31. Penn — for now — does not appear to have that option. The fight between St. Pierre and Penn is the first time ever in the history of the promotion the champions from two different divisions will collide. St. Pierre’s welterweight strap will be on the line.
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I've said time and time again that no matter how great of a fighter you are, you can't bounce up and down between weight classes without your body somehow breaking. Fighting a one-off at a different weight class is very possible, and some great fighters have even totally reinvented themselves at a different weight class, but there's a long history of athletes packing far too much muscle or weight onto their frame and ending up with chronic back problems or something similar. People like Couture and Silva can go up or down a weight class and stay there if they'd like, but what Penn wants to do really is all about "bouncing" between weight classes.
As much as I don't enjoy BJ Penn the showman, I love BJ Penn the fighter. If he wins against GSP, him bouncing between two weight classes will be very hard, but some part of me thinks he'd be able to do it if he paced himself and really took care regarding the possible health problems involving bouncing between weight classes.
But even though Penn's fought at Light Heavy as a one-off, and even though I'd love to see Penn/Silva, this is one of the rare occasions where I actually 100% support Dana White and agree with his reasoning.
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“Is he tough enough to do it? Absolutely. Is he talented enough to go up there and do it? Absolutely. Does that mean he should do it? Absolutely not. He doesn’t have the frame to carry that kind of weight and it just makes no sense.”
– UFC President Dana White elaborates via ESPN.com on the topic of former welterweight and current lightweight champion BJ Penn moving up to one day fight middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. White has already revealed that he would allow reigning 170-pound titlist Georges St. Pierre to make the jump to create a superfight if he can topple the “Prodigy” for the second time on January 31. Penn — for now — does not appear to have that option. The fight between St. Pierre and Penn is the first time ever in the history of the promotion the champions from two different divisions will collide. St. Pierre’s welterweight strap will be on the line.
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I've said time and time again that no matter how great of a fighter you are, you can't bounce up and down between weight classes without your body somehow breaking. Fighting a one-off at a different weight class is very possible, and some great fighters have even totally reinvented themselves at a different weight class, but there's a long history of athletes packing far too much muscle or weight onto their frame and ending up with chronic back problems or something similar. People like Couture and Silva can go up or down a weight class and stay there if they'd like, but what Penn wants to do really is all about "bouncing" between weight classes.
As much as I don't enjoy BJ Penn the showman, I love BJ Penn the fighter. If he wins against GSP, him bouncing between two weight classes will be very hard, but some part of me thinks he'd be able to do it if he paced himself and really took care regarding the possible health problems involving bouncing between weight classes.
But even though Penn's fought at Light Heavy as a one-off, and even though I'd love to see Penn/Silva, this is one of the rare occasions where I actually 100% support Dana White and agree with his reasoning.
