BJ Penn

Here I will post my predictions for the Main Card of UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II.

Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn

It seems like every time there is a UFC PPV, someone has to say "This is the biggest fight in UFC history."  I don't know that the fight between Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn can be called that, but it is certainly up there.  This will be the second time the two face off against each other in the UFC with the first fight being earned by St. Pierre via split decision.  A very controversial split decision.  Penn seemed to have control in the first round with the second and third both seemingly in the air.

It is generally agreed that both fighters are much better than the first time they fought.  St. Pierre is arguably the best wrestler in MMA and Penn has piled up three impressive wins in a row against top fighters.  Penn also seems to have fixed his little conditioning problem.  Penn is a better striker than St. Pierre but St. Pierre is much faster.  Look for Penn to be patient standing and find holes in GSP's busrts.  Penn has an amazing chin and has never been KO'd.  St. Pierre knows this coming in and will probably put BJ's conditioning to the test and try to drag this out to a five round contest.

I expect BJ Penn to finish Georges St. Pierre in the third round via stoppage.  That is my prediction for the GSP vs. BJ Penn fight.

Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva

Thiago Silva is coming off an injury that forced him out of his intitial matchup with Lyoto Machida that was scheduled for last October.  Lyoto is coming off a decision victory over Tito Ortiz.

I expect Thiagos conditioning and Lyotos elusiveness to be that major factor here.  While I would love to see Thiago do his patented neckslice to the camera after a knockout, I think he will gas against Lyoto.

I predict Lyoto Machida to defeat Thiago Silva via unanimous decision.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones

The fight between Stephan Bonnar and Jon Jones is tough to call with Bonnars recent time off from the UFC but I will go ahead and pick Bonnar to win either way.  Bonnar is very hungry to make his return to the UFC.

Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Karo Parisyan has been very dissapointing as of late and is far from the contender status he enjoyed a few years ago.  I think he should have taken that fight with Fitch when he had the chance.

I predict Dong Hyun Kim defeats Karo Parisyan via stoppage in the second round.

Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida

The always entertaining Clay Guida fights Nate Diaz in the first televised fight of the night at UFC 94.  Guida is always a hungry fighter but I think Nate Diaz will do everything he can to get this fight to the ground and submit Guida.

I predict Nate Diaz submits Clay Guida in the second round after Guida beats up on him for awhile.

GSP Vs Penn

Fights have been finalized for UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II.  The main event is a Super-Fight between current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and current UFC Lightweight Champion Bj Penn.  This is a Welterweight Championship fight, not a winner take all fight.  It is the first time the UFC will feature a fight between two UFC Champions.

In their first matchup, Georges St. Pierre won a razor thin split-decision against Bj Penn.  Penn battered and bruised St. Pierre early but GSP survived and fought a more technical fight to earn the victory.  Bj is coming off a win against Sean Sherk in which he destroyed the former Champion.  St. Pierre is coming off a similarly impressive win against Jon Fitch.

Interestingly, Jon Fitch will also fight on this same card against Akihiro Gono.  A few months ago this bout would have surely been on the main card, but since Fitch seems to have fallen out of the UFC's good graces it would appear he is being punished by being on the Preliminary card.

Here is the complete card of this UFC Event:

MAIN CARD

Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida

Besides the main event, there are a couple of great fights on this Main Card.  Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva is an excellent matchup of an elusive style fighter in Machida and a very agressive striker in Thiago Silva.  Thiago has been on a tear through the Light Heavyweight division winning four straight including wins against James Irvin and Houston Alexander.  Also, watch for the Nate Diaz and Clay Guida fight as it has the potential to be Fight of the Night.  Diaz is a durable Lightweight fighter with excellent submissions and Clay Guida is known for his ground wars.

Here is the Prelimary Card:

PRELIMINARY CARD

Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares
John Howard vs. Chris Wilson
Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer

The other combatants are expected to be Preliminary Card fighters, but Jon Fitch has proven his mettle in the UFC and Gono is certainly no slouch himself.  Hopefully the fight will be aired.

Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz will be showing up at an Affliction Press Conference this coming Wednesday.  Affliction made the announcement today.

A few months ago, Tito announced that he would be signing the biggest deal in MMA history with Affliction but that deal apparently turned sour.  Then Ortiz said he would be signing with EliteXC but ElitXC bit the bullet soon after.

Tito recently had back surgery, so even if this coneference is to announce his signing with Affliction, it would be unlikely that Ortiz would fight anytime soon.

Tito Ortiz is still a huge draw in MMA even though he's lost his last three fights, most recently to Lyoto Machida.  Ortiz has been a part of some of the biggest Pay-per-view events in mixed martial arts history and would be a boost to any mma event he participates in.