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.

Jon Fitch and BJ Penn headline UFC 127 in the UFC’s second foray in to Australia at the Acer Arena in Sydney, NSW.

Jon Fitch is looking to not just beat BJ Penn, but finish him. He says in the interview that he plans to keep the pressure up on Penn and focus on fighting his fight rather than reacting to BJ.

BJ Penn is looking to finish Fitch early. He says he thinks Fitch’s camp will advise him to survive the first round and then go after Penn in the second. He does not plan on dragging the fight out because why wait when you can do in the first round exactly the same thing you can do in the second.

The UFC lines at betED have Fitch as the favorite at -200 while Penn is +160.

If both fighters go at each other the way they say they will, this could be a really great fight particularly if it lasts a bit.

Jon Fitch already has a victory over Thiago Alves in 2006, but he needs a decisive victory over Alves when the two meet at UFC 117 to put him in line for a title shot.

Jon Fitch is even better at getting takedowns and working the ground and pound than when he got the victory over Alves. But Alves has some victories over quality opponents like Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes and he took George St Pierre a full five rounds before losing in the decision.

The oddsmakers seem to like Fitch, but only barely. A bet on Jon Fitch pays -125 while Alves pays -105.

Thiago Alves looks to reverse a TKO defeat from 2006 at the hands of Jon Fitch when the two meet at UFC 117 in Oakland, California on August 7.

Fitch had some success getting their first fight to the mat, but Thiago Alves is better prepared and is expecting to Fitch will open himself up to get rocked if he tries closing too aggressively.

Fitch is the UFC 117 lines favorite, but only barely as he pays -125 to Alves’ -105.