Welterweights BJ Penn and Jon Fitch headline UFC 127 at the Acre Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Jon Fitch is the UFC 127 odds favorite at -200 while B.J. Penn is +160 with both of these fighters looking to make a case as the next challenger for the welterweight title.
B.J. Penn (12-6-1 UFC) is a UFC legend being one of only two fighters to hold titles in two different divisions. However, he only has two wins at welterweight both coming against Matt Hughes and hasn’t won two fights in a row since 2009.
Penn returns to welterweight competition after failing to find an answer for the current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in two tries.
Penn’s last fight was the dismantling of Hughes last November. It took Penn just 21 seconds to win the rubber match by KO.
Jon Fitch (13-1 UFC) has looked pretty impressive since his loss to Georges St. Pierre winning five straight fights looking like a future champion.
Fitch is a very dangerous wrestler so don’t be surprised to see him try to get this fight to the ground where Penn’s striking advantage isn’t so pronounced.
The winner of this fight will likely be first in line for Georges St. Pierre, but the consensus is that GSP will fight Anderson Silva in a catch weight super fight if he gets by Jake Shields, so don’t be surprised to see the winner in the octagon again before sharing it with GSP.
The biggest problem with Fitch is that he is a boring fighter. His last eight fights have gone the distance and B.J. Penn has struggled with his conditioning. If he continues to struggle, this should go to Fitch who knows how to stay out of trouble and do just enough to win.
