B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

The UFC has been setting up this fight since Sanchez moved down to lightweight. While some fans clamored that Gray Maynard, Frankie Edgar, and Tyson Griffin are more deserving of the shot because Sanchez only has 2 fights in the division there was never really a doubt that this was the plan all along. While the debate can be made about who's most deserving it's hard to doubt that Sanchez is worthy. Every bit as tough as he is eccentric, he's 21-2 in his career which began at middleweight and continued mostly at welterweight. He's beaten some big names along the way- most notably Kenny Florian and Karo Parisyan. His losses came at the hands of top welterweight fighters Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. His most recent bout, a 3 round war with Clay Guida is a sure-fire candidate for Fight of the Year. Prior to that fight he made his lightweight debut against Joe Stevenson and earned a unanimous decision. "Nightmare" has a strong background in wrestling but it's far from his only weapon. His best weapon and probably his best chance at taking the belt from Penn is his pace. His conditioning is among the best in the sport and while his striking might not be considered elite, it's dangerous enough to do some damage.

Penn is the top ranked lightweight in the world and a top 10 pound for pound fighter on most boards for a variety of reasons. "The Prodigy" is as tough a fighter as there is in every aspect of mixed martial arts. He was the first American competitor to win a world championship in black belt jiu-jitsu. His boxing has been called the best in all of mma by legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach. If you think that's over stating it a bit, fine. We'll still say that Penn's striking is very strong. The only area where he doesn't have a clear advantage over most opponents is in the wrestling department but he's able to combat that with tremendous takedown defense. In addition to his complete skillset, Penn also has intangibles that fighters can only be born with and not taught; amazing balance, freakish flexibility, and a warrior fighting spirit. On a card full of great fights, this is definitely a "Fight of the Night" favorite.

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