Tonight at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn makes his long overdue Lightweight Title defense against number one contender Kenny Florian.

And in the Light Heavyweight Division, the superfight between reigning Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva and Former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin.

In the words of Big John, "LET'S GET IT ON!"

For the UFC Lightweight Championship of the World:

<TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=data_title><TD colSpan=7>BJ Penn Vs. Kenny Florian </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>BJ Penn</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>5' 9" (175 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>155 (70 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record:</TD><TD>13-5-1</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top width=185>
"The Prodigy"
</TD><TD width=95>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Kenny Florian </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>5' 10" (178 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>155 (70 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record: </TD><TD>13-3-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=185>
"KenFlo"
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
In the Light Heavyweight Division:

<TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=data_title><TD colSpan=7>Anderson Silva Vs. Forrest Griffin </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Anderson Silva</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>6' 2" (188 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>205 (93 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record:</TD><TD>24-4-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top width=185>
"The Spider"
</TD><TD width=95>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Forrest Griffin </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>6' 3" (191 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>205 (93 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record: </TD><TD>16-5-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=185>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In the Welterweight Division:

<TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=data_title><TD colSpan=7>Amir Sadollah Vs. Johny Hendricks </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Amir Sadollah</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>5' 11" (180 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>170 (77 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record:</TD><TD>2-0-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top width=185>

</TD><TD width=95>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Johny Hendricks </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>5' 9" (175 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>170 (77 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record: </TD><TD>5-0-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=185>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
In the Middleweight Division:

<TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=data_title><TD colSpan=7>Kendall Grove Vs. Ricardo Almeida </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Kendall Grove</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>6' 6" (198 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>185 (84 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record:</TD><TD>12-5-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top width=185>
"Da Spyder"
</TD><TD width=95>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Ricardo Almeida </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>6' 0" (183 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>185 (84 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record: </TD><TD>10-3-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=185>
"Big Dog"
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

In the Lightweight Division:

<TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=data_title><TD colSpan=7>Josh Neer Vs. Kurt Pellegrino </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Josh Neer</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>5' 11" (180 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>155 (70 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record:</TD><TD>25-7-1</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top width=185>
"The Dentist"
</TD><TD width=95>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=150><TABLE class=data_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=data_row><TD>Name:</TD><TD>Kurt Pellegrino </TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Height:</TD><TD>5' 8" (173 cm)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Weight:</TD><TD>155 (70 kg)</TD></TR><TR class=data_row><TD>Record: </TD><TD>19-4-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=185>
"Batman"
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

For details on the Preliminary Bouts, they can be found here:

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=Even...d&eid=2209

Potential Links to watch tonights fights:

http://channelsurfing.net/

http://www.justin.tv/directory/sports

<OBJECT height=344 width=425><PARAM NAME="movie" VALUE="http://www.youtube.com/v/BmiQ0dld8jE&hl=en&fs=1&"><PARAM NAME="allowFullScreen" VALUE="true"><PARAM NAME="allowscriptaccess" VALUE="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BmiQ0dld8jE&hl=en&fs=1&" mce_src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BmiQ0dld8jE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></OBJECT>

Enjoy the fights, as always gentlemen (and ladies)!

Feel free to post predictions/nonsense/UFC Ring Girls/etc....

FG is my fav fighter but I can't see him beating Silva. He will give him a hell of a fight tho and it will be fun to watch. Florian ftw

 

Originally Posted by ess286

Didn't Silva and FG just fight?

No.

 

Originally Posted by mig.com

This is penns 2nd title defense 1st was vs sherk

Technically true, but that could be viewed by many as more of a unification fight. (Yes, Sherk didn't have a belt, but was viewed by many as the champion until B.J. beat him) It was a weird situation as far as MMA is concerned. But touche, sir.

BJ = G.O.A.T.!!!! & Go Johny Hendricks who is my boy from Oklahoma State University, he wrestled and I played baseball there, goooooooooooooo Johny boy! JQ

<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

BJ wins by whatever way he feels like stopping it. He's a beast at 155.

I love Kenny, the guy just seems like such a hard worker. What kind of chances are you giving Forest? It would be so epic if he beat Silva, and good for Silva too imo, that guy needs a challenge.

Wheres Lesnar? :( :( :(

While B.J. is clearly the favorite in this fight for pretty obvious reasons, people are completely ignoring Kenny for reasons I can't really comprehend. Logically it makes no sense. People hear B.J. Penn and immediately assume that his skill level is the best everywhere, regardless of the other fighters accomplishments.

Take for example his boxing skills. While very good, it's not even close to Kennys Muay Thai striking (which he's also very, very good at boxing from working with Peter Welch). The only time people talked about his striking skills is after he used his jab effectively against Sean Sherk. That's it. That's his claim to boxing glory in MMA. (Not to mention he had a relatively huge reach advantage over Sherk who is T-Rex arms).

Another one is his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills. Clearly they're exceptional. Yes, he won the Mundials in 2000. But that is his one (and only) claim to BJJ fame. I find it a bit pathetic that when someone says they may find it advantageous to fight on the ground with B.J. they'll say, "Nope, B.J. will submit him or work him over easily." This is absurd! For a few reasons...

B.J. won the Mundials as a black belt in 2000 (which is impressive, no doubt), but that was almost a decade ago! And BJJ is an ever evolving martial art which is in large part why it's so effective. I can pretty much guarantee that the winner of the Mundials as early as 2003-2005 would pretty much work him over. Let alone the top BJJ practicioners of today.

Also, the Mundials are gi grappling and no strikes allowed. VERY different then what is used in MMA competition as no gi grappling utilized a very different kind of control then which is used with a gi. Also, strikes create openings that aren't usually there via straight Jiu Jitsu techniques.

Kenny Florian has been a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt for quite some time himself. He's also been doing well in grappling competitions outside of MMA. He has also worked for years to augment his skill set in MMA (Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, and BJJ).

Is B.J. the favorite? Yes. Is he going to make Kenny look like an amateur and doesn't deserve to be in the same octagon with him? Very unlikely. Kenny is on a 6 fight win streak (against top competition (Yes, top competition. Consider the timing of each fight.)) and has been, essentially, technically flawless in all 6 of those fights, finishing 5 of them.

This fight will be no pushover.

He's fighting not acting now. He can't do it every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night.

 

Originally Posted by docholliday25

Forest doesn't stand a chance, everybody is all hung up on his wins against shogun and rampage but forget that shogun was hurt going into that fight and wasn't able to train for like the last two weeks before it and rampage was going through his legal problems and seperation from his camp before their fight.

Shogun win was legitimate, but the leg injury was also legitimate. But a win is a win, for the most part.

Also, those problems you said Jackson was having happened after the fight against Griffin. So, just void out that whole section.

 

Originally Posted by docholliday25

Also he had a hard time with a washed up tito, he got easily beated and rocked by keith jardine of all people, and got knocked by rashad evans. (Come on KEITH JARDINE!!!) And you think he has a chance against the BEST striker in the game. Silva is going to make an example out of him and just slowly pick him apart to entertain everyone.

Tito is not washed up. And definately wasn't when he fought Forrest. Not even close.

Also, Jardine is a very legitimate 205'er. One of the top 10-15 in the world. And if he's so horrible, why couldn't Jackson put him away at 96? He would have won that fight if not for the last 10 seconds where Jackson got a knockdown.

And Jardine beat Forrest a LONG time ago. Unless you're naive enough to assume that the Forrest Griffin that fought Jardine way back when is going to be the same Forrest that is fighting tonight.

Very inaccurate breakdown of why you think Forrest is going to lose. (It's certainly probable, but the reasoning is far from the best)

the problems that jackson was having with his camp actually started before the fight and you are correct about the legal problems but what caused him to snap actually started before the fight also. And if tito isn't washed up give me his last legitmate win when they werent constantly lining ken shamrock up in front of him every year.(And i'm a huge tito fan but the truth is the truth) And jardine is so iffy with his fights its no way he is a good 205 er. Wheither rampage put him away or not he LOST.

I'm not hating on forest either, its just that everybody thinks he is going to push silva and that is not the case. This is going to be a striking massacre and if anybody thinks his best bet is to take him down thats out of the question too. Forest is a decent fighter but this fight was put together to showcase silva 100%

 

Originally Posted by SyphonSoul

Could someone who knows more than I explain how well Griffins strategy of low kicks to the legs will impact Silva? Is Silva just too good to let it be a concern at all?

Well, Silva is that good, but it will still be a concern. Most people don't know just how much those kicks really do hurt and inhibit your ability to throw strikes.

Forrest kicks like a mule. But he's not fighting the one dimensional striker in Rampage. He's fighting, quite possibly (aside from maybe Lyoto Machida) the best striker in all of MMA. He should still throw leg kicks, but what he will have to be careful of is his timing. He'll have to throw them and catch Anderson off guard. Which is VERY difficult. If you watch Anderson's last fights, you can see him check kicks almost as soon as they're thrown! He's exceptional at reading other fighters movements and what those movements imply.

Anderson has also had professional Muay Thai fights. Those guys are exceptionally well conditioned (immunizing the nervus system (in the legs/arms/hands (more specifically, the knuckles)) and calcifying the bones), and it will take more to do any real damage to him then your average fighter. But, over time, those kicks will damage anyone. Anderson included.

heard a rumor about Roy Jones showing up tonight bc of all the shit Silvas talked about boxing him

I would love to see Griffin pull it off. If anybody can, he can. But I doubt he will. BJ is a bish and Kenny will beat him up till BJ gives up again