UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 Picks & Predictions
Written January 30, 2009 by Jason Lowry
There is just one day remaining till the UFC once again gets going with another big time event, as UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 is set to get underway Saturday night live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena. There is no question who the fans are going to watch in this one, as the main event between George “Rush” St-Pierre and BJ “The Prodigy” Penn could very well be the fight of the year. These two fighters first fought back in 2006 for the No. 1 contender spot in the welterweight division, and St-Pierre wound up winning by split decision. With so many people ready to see the rematch between two current UFC Champions, we are going to preview the fight and give our prediction on who comes out on top, also we are going to give our picks on the other 4 big fights on the main card tomorrow night.
George St-Pierre (17-2-0) -170 Odds to Win Fight at BetUS.com
We are talking about one of the best fighters in the business right here, and it seems like this guy is only getting better, as he continues on a personal quest to become the best pound for pound fighter in UFC history. St-Pierre is the current UFC Welterweight Champion, and its the 2nd time he has held this title in his UFC career. St-Pierre is coming into this fight off 4 straight wins, but the last 3 have been about as impressive as they get, as he took out Matt Hughes for the 2nd time in his career, followed by a huge TKO win over Matt Serra, who first took the belt from St-Pierre back in 2007, and most recently the absolute domination of Jon Fitch, who was previously unbeaten in the octagon, and what many considered St-Pierres toughest challenge to date. The reason St-Pierre is so good, is this guy just doesn’t have very many holes in his game, as he not only a great striker and submissions artist, but many consider him the best wrestler in the business. One thing is for sure, and thats St-Pierre will be ready to go in this one, as he knows how big this fight is.
BJ Penn (13-4-1) +130 Odds to Win Fight at BetUS.com
Another guy that knows how big this fight is, is BJ Penn, as he has said this is the biggest fight in MMA history. After losing to St-Pierre and Matt Hughes in back to back fights back i 2006, Penn dropped down to the 155 pound weight class and wound up winning the UFC Lightweight title at UFC 80 with a rear naked chokehold submission of Joe Stevenson. Those new to the sport, might not know that Penn was once the UFC Welterweight Champion, as he pulled off a huge upset win over Matt Hughes way back at UFC 46. If Penn is able to win this fight over St-Pierre, he would become the first fighter in UFC history to hold belts at two current weight classes at the same time. Like St-Pierre Penn is a well-rounded fighter with a very sound game, but this guy is best using his boxing and jui-jitsu skills. In Penn’s 13 career wins he has 5 wins by choke out, and it was that move that got him the upset win over Hughes back in 2004. Penn also brings the heart and tenacity that few can duplicate, and its likely those skills will be what wins him this fight, if he is to do so.
Lowry’s Lean on the Fight: George St-Pierre
I think that St-Pierre is just to big and to strong for Penn in this one, and though I am not questioning the ability of Penn, I just don’t know if switching back and forth between weight classes is really going to pay dividends in this one, but I love him going up in weight class to fight St-Pierre, as everyone has wanted this fight for a long time. I look for St-Pierre to use his striking skills to win this fight, as I see a knockout win coming in round 3 of this one.
Rest of the Fights:
Lyoto Machida (-300) vs. Thiago Silva (+200)
Stephan Bonnar (-175) vs. Jon Jones (+135)
Karo Parisyan (-350) vs. Dong Hyun Him (+250)
Nate Diaz (-125) vs. Clay Guida (-105)
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 Preview & Odds
- UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida Predictions
- UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson Picks & Predictions
- UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens Odds & Predictions
- UFC 98 Preview: Evans v. Machida
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