The only thing scarier than seeing Diego Sanchez’s face after his brutal defeat by BJ Penn at UFC 107 – it was stopped in the fifth round – is looking at the stats. According to FightMetric, Penn scored 150 strikes while Sanchez only landed eight over the entire bout. The obvious question this raises is what such a comprehensive victory means for Penn: he’s now completely dismantled the last three challengers for his lightweight belt, and it’s unlikely that fights with contenders Gray Maynard or Frankie Edgar would go any differently.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has suggested that Penn could drop to featherweight and take on Jose Aldo, the champ in the UFC’s sister organisation the WEC, but it’s probably more likely that Penn wants to bulk back up and try for a third crack at welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. UFC president Dana White has said that Penn would ‘have to fight a couple top contenders’ at welterweight first, which is good news for those who want to see the dominant Penn up against the heavy-hitting likes of Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck or Thiago Alves.
Meanwhile in the heavyweight division, there’s a chance that Frank Mir could get another crack at the title following a commanding performance against Cheick Kongo at UFC 107. With champ Brock Lesnar still sidelined thanks to an infection, top contender Shane Carwin has already said he’d be willing to fight Mir in a bout that could be for an interim belt.
In boxing, after taking a unanimous points victory over the US’s Kevin Johnson, Vitali Klitschko has said that he’s already reached a ‘preliminary agreement’ to defend his WBC heavyweight title against new WBA champ David Haye. Haye has to make a mandatory defence against American John Ruiz next, but he’s been angling for a fight with Klitschko for a while. Elsewhere Paulie Malignaggi had time to chat to the judges during his rematch with Juan Diaz, putting on a boxing clinic en route to his decision win. But for those who like their fighting less technical and more like a schoolyard scrap, there’s only one bout to watch this week – five-time World’s Strongest Man winner Mariusz Pudzianowski making his MMA debut.
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