BJ Penn and Jon Fitch wrestle to a Majority Draw
Posted on February 26, 2011, 11:35 PM by Daniel CassidyIn the long awaited Main event of the evening, BJ Penn put in an impressive performance against title contender Jon Fitch as the match ended in a majority draw. Speaking after the fight, Penn himself felt he had lost the fight, but stated he would be happy to rematch Fitch.
The bout got off to a surprising start, with Penn shooting immediately, throwing Fitch off of his gameplan. Penn was able to take his opponent down on more than one occasion, securing a body triangle in the first round while looking for a Rear Naked Choke. Fitch was able to survive the attempt and get to the end of the round. The second round featured much the same, and saw Penn take Fitch's back in an almost identical round to the previous.
The third however, was clearly a "Jon Fitch Round", with Fitch securing a takedown early on, and dominating Penn for the duration of the round, landing heavy shots and elbows.
The judges score cards read: Judge 1: 29-28 to Fitch, Judge 2 & 3: 28-28.
Comments
I gave the first two rounds t o Bj, and the 3rd to Fitch 10-8. So I was surprised the judges agreed with me for once
Yeah agree on that one, round one and two were penn,
a draws a good decision
Fitch cant finish even a decision anymore haha
haha, now thats funny. i've yet to see this fight. was working. i hope to soon.
This will teach Fitch a lesson to learn how to finish fights & stop laying the whole fight. Very boring fighter. Feels like im watching a College Wrestling tournament. The Only thing missing is a Singlet
GSP does the same thing and gets no flack....i wonder why.
i personally dont know what the problem with all this finishing fights is about. asthe talent level in the future gets higher and higher its obviously going to be harder to finish. the reason why we se finishes now (less and less by the way) is theres mismatches between oppenents. in the future possibly there wont be any striker vs grappler fights, everyone will be elite well rounded animals!
the last round was no where near a 10-8 are you kidding me? peppering a bunch of little punches like that and not advancing out of the guard of your opponent does not deserve a 10-8. to get a 10-8 you have to come close to finishing the fight or completely dominate your opponent. if you cant even advance your position on the ground, then your not dominating your opponent.
Its true it was a draw, which is a worse outcome for Penn then Fitch. Penn's main way to avoid the wrestling of Fitch (which he didn't avoid in round 3) was too surprise him with his own grappling. Now that element of surprise is gone the next fight is going to be a hell of a lot harder for Baby Jay.
realyl i give the first to penn but very close the second was close too but fitch should of taken it . the only thing bj did was take his back once and get immediatley revesrsed add that to the earlier takedown plus gnp fitch 10-9 second round and the third was all fitch. i wouldnt go as far as to say this was a robbery but i think most people are not looking at this fight objectivley bj was only on the offense twice in this fight for a total of about 2 minutes both times he was reversed.
Its not all about damage, he completely dominated the round. Fitch landed 134 strikes in the last round while Penn landed 0, if that doesn't warrant a 10-8 round then I don't know what does.
He didnt advance out of guard because he didnt want to, When Fitch wasnt keeping his bodyweight on Penn he would get up. Thats why he pushed him into the cage and controlled the fight for an entire round landing punches and elbows. Octagon Conrol and aggression are two scoring criterias that jon had hands down. BJ was stuck and did absolutely nothing from the bottom. 10-8 easy imo
I wish Dana would just pay Fitch Not to fight.
UnderdogGreatness. you're a moron. i would like to see you survive 2 minutes in a cage with Fitch on his worst day after a hard workout. bet you couldn't do it. the truth is Jon will probably be fighting for 20 more years. the man takes as little damage as anyone, which should be just as important to a fighter as finishing an opponent. he has the second most impressive record in UFC history, second only to Anderson Silva. He's the only man to TKO Thiago Alves, and has out-grappled every fighter he's ever faced except GSP. it took over 20 ROUNDS for anyone in the UFC to even pass his guard. GSP and Grey Maynard almost have as many fights go to decision except GSP has lost more fights than Fitch, and Fitch had had 50% more fights than Maynard in UFC. I mean no disrespect to GSP or Maynard. i honestly coudn't believe you if you called yourself a true fan of the sport. Fitch had already stated that he is going to try harder to finish fights. if people aren't good enough to stuff the takedown, submit, sweep, or push off and stand up then they get hit in the face for 15 minutes, get handed a loss and go back to the drawing board. that's a giant part of this sport. so start respecting fighters who deserve respect or stop watching and pipe down.
both fighters were "ficthing" themselves back n forth, rofl
B.J. gassed once again, it was clearly his to loose coming in to the 3rd. Its a shame to B.J. had the perfect strategy, Jon Fitching Jon Fitch.
After watching this fight it's pretty obvious Gsp would walk through either one of them again
Thought Fitch had that one, oh well it was an entertaining bout for me.
Agreed, I'd love to see Shields vs. Penn if he looses to GSP. I don't really want to see a instant rematch in this case. That does leave FItch hanging but he needs to go for the finish if he wants to get more respect. Fitch just doesn't take enough chances IMO.
Fitch just proved us once again that he is nothing but a wrestler...
With no special talents
In this case it wasn't Fitch's fault it was a grapple fest B.J. turned it in to one (good strategy btw). Would have liked to see Fitch poster up more and land more devastating strikes when he had B.J. pinned in the 3rd. He promised to go for the finish and what did he do land baby punches to try and steal the fight. At least B.J. was going for the Rear Naked.
he went for a choke late in r3. His problem is he waits until the last minutes to try for the finish.
None whatsoever...
so is wrestlinh its self a special talent? his record speaks for itself i say!
Cardio, but nothing in his arsenal that stands out
If he can avoid a loss to BJ Penn without talent or any outstanding skills, I would be scared of a Fitch with talent.
except his record. i really dont understand why he has so many haters i get why he in no ones favorite. but come on he is a beast and that was a entertaining fight when was the last time you saw bj look that beat up
the last time bj looked that beat up. perhaps his last fight against edgar?
if you think fitch vs penn was entertaining you have been severely deprived mma! that was at best an average fight, being generous. i dont mind draws, edgar vs maynard was one of the best fights ive ever seen.
fitch has so many haters becuase he does very little to finish a fight. he presses them up against the cage and if he takes them down he doesnt land big damaging shots.
fitch is a nice guy and a very hard worker and i have great respect for him as a person, but as a fighter he bores me and if he was cut i wouldnt care at all. this is a fan sport and noone wants to see him fight so unless he starts taking chances and finishing fights, dana isnt gonna give him the title shot he wants.
You just described GSP sure, Fitch with talent = GSP.
This was a sarcastic comment btw.
for sure*
That was good card for me...
I had BJ the clear winner in 1, a toss up for round 2, although Fitch finished stronger, and then a 10-8 round in the 3rd for Fitch, if judges actually gave out 2 point rounds...which they don't.
The compustrike backs up what BJ knew. He lost.
I agree completely.
BJ clearly won the first 2 rounds and of course lost the 3rd. If BJ didn't gass out he probably would of gotten off the ground or not taken down. BJ's biggest weakness is his cardio. He is truyl a prodigy and has natural talent for fighting, he just needs to work on his cardio, it's sad to see someone's talent wasted.
My first instinct was Fitch won the fight but I feel that I looked at it like that only because he dominated the last round and that was my initial reaction. Thinking back on it I think it does deserve a draw.
The draw was the right call, you really can't pick a winner in that fight. I'm glad to see more draws being awarded (when appropriate). Especially a fight with title implications. The UFC could really use Nick Diaz if GSP moves to MW.
Nick Diaz would get Flatten in the UFC. The best Welterweights are there.
Nick Diaz would get into top 10 better never get the belt and probably wouldn't get a title shot
I can only see 2 fighters beating Diaz. It's Fitch and GSP. And i think he'll give them a good fight. Diaz has is pretty much the better fighter minus wrestling and leg kicks. He's got boxing, a great chin, great jits and great cardio.
this is why the judging criteria should be like pride where you judge a fight as a whole. under this current system i think bj won the first two rounds therefore he pretty much had it in the bag even though fitch did more damage. if they judges it as a whole fitch probably would have won.
Wow you call yourselves Mixed Martial Art fans? Ha. Please, if you truly hate what Jon Fitch does to every opponent he encounters then go watch Boxing or K-1. Maybe MMA is not for you.
Am I a fan of it? No, but I respect the hell out of it. Fitch turns any fight into his fight and he battered BJ Penn tonight.
I gave BJ the first round but I gave the last two to Fitch. It could have been easily been a 30-27 fight (for Fitch) simply because Jon reversed the position not once but twice and ended the round on top. Please tell me, when has anyone ever done that to Penn? And Fitch has no talent? Right... *sarcasm*
so many people here hate a fight that is not A. a stand up war or B. a first round KO or sub. i agree was impressed by fitch he should of won the second was close but bj was takendown reversed and controlled for all but one minute of the round plus fitch landed the better shots.
I agree. I thought the sport was past this stage... I guess not. The nerve of some 'fans' as well to make the remark of 'Fitch with talent = GSP'. Jon controlled at least 65% of the fight and surprisingly out-struck BJ Penn.
Dana White did everything he possibly could to make Fitch wait for another title shot because of his 'unmarketable' style. I mean the guy has 13 wins in the UFC and only one loss. And people still find a way to rip on Fitch.
This kind of reminds me of the Matt Lindland fiasco a couple years back.
lol its all about entertainment... the majority of the fans want to see a fight finished, come on now...
John Fitch - couldn't find "finish" if it was tattooed it on the back of Tito Ortiz's wife's ass.
...hang it up BJ.
I thought bj won that fight 29-28 because fitch did not do enough damage
in the 3 round to make it 10-8 and penn won the first 2 rounds
BJ clearly lost that fight. How many more chances will White give this kid? Neither of these guys are close to having GSP type ability. The buildup for this fight was a joke neither of these guys are contenders. Its time for new blood and new creative matchups, we the fans deserve to get our monies worth occasionally. I fully understand this is a business, but throw us a bone, give us something to get excited about. The only people who give a crap about BJ are at bj.com, and half of those dont give a crap either. Its time to spend the money and sign some new talent to the ufc or some of us are gonna stop spending that 50 bucks.
I actually didn't think that the final round was a 10-8 round, but I thought the draw came because the second round was 10-10. The first round was close, but I gave it to BJ for having more time in a dominant position and no real damage dealt by either fighter. The third round was all Fitch. But the second round? Me and my friends looked at each other and said, "Who the hell won that round?" I think a draw was the right call.
And the bigger thing to consider is what the implications of this fight are. Fitch and Penn were fighting for #1 Contender spot and got a draw. This means if (when) Shields loses to GSP and Georges decides to vacate his belt to move up to Middleweight, the fight that makes the most sense to fight for the vacant belt is a Penn v. Fitch rematch. Fighting for the belt means five rounds. Judging by this fight, Penn cannot beat Fitch in a five round fight, barring an early KO. Next Welterweight champion = Jon Fitch. I suppose the good news is that with five rounds to work in all of his fights he'll finish a lot more.
10-point-must doesn't have 10-10's
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f2/ufc-127s-official-judges-score-cards-1564445/
Yes it does. One of the judges for 127 gave Siver vs. Sotiropolous a 10-10 in the second. It's just very rare.
This is the type of fight that jus tells GSP everything. There is no more comp for him at this weight class. BOTH of them would never come close to his level of skill.... This fight was boring. NOT PPV but free SPIKE Material... :0
This is the type of fight that jus tells GSP everything. There is no more comp for him at this weight class. BOTH of them would never come close to his level of skill.... This fight was boring. NOT PPV but free SPIKE Material... :0
Oh, and about the main event- I give the fight to Penn, by a hair, but to Penn nonetheless. We agree on R1, going to Penn, so let's jump into R2. Penn starts by pulling an Arlovski and comes in flying with a knee, misses, gets taken down. No luck for Fitch, as BJ gets up, but Fitch presses on. For a minute or so, it LOOKS like Fitch is controlling the fight in the clinch with BJ against the cage, but he is not taking BJ down and, actually, it's BJ who is landing shots with his back against the fence. BJ cuts Fitch and makes him bleed, which in the judge's eyes is always significant. By the time the clock hits minute 2:00, BJ reversed positions, acquired control, landed a couple (ate a couple too) and escaped Fitch's clinch.
That's 3 minutes that, hands down, but never by a great margin, have to go to BJ. The last 2 minutes start with BJ taking Fitch down, again outwrestling the wrestler, acquiring Fitch's back and fishing for the rear naked. It's not until minute 1:14 that Fitch is able to twist inside BJ's legs and ends up inside BJ's guard.From this point onward, almost a full minute is under Fitch's control; lots of landed face shots, elbows, working the body; but just for points, none of the shots Fitch took were ever going to knock BJ out. The wrestler can't yet dominate the smaller opponent, and with less than 10 seconds to go, BJ is back on his feet and gets to exchange with Fitch before the bell.
R3 goes, undoubtedly, to Fitch. No need to argue about it. But unless the judges scored it 10-7; which is an argument worth having perhaps (but will end up being a matter of judge's subjective opinion, unless we settle on WHAT is to be "extremely dominant" in a fight with punch counts, seconds on the mount and other things that will never happen) but it got scored this way now, and it will get scored maybe a dozen ways differently later.