I know the circumstances are different but...

I know they're two different sports and two different people but I can't help but be nervous for BJ Penn on Saturday against Rory MacDonald that he's going to end up doing a Ricky Hatton!? Hatton lost his 'comeback' fight and immediately announced his official retirement, again. Will BJ Penn face the same fate? Are we going to see a much younger, ambitious and talented MacDonald deliver another defeat to Penn like he suffered against Nick Diaz earlier in February? Penn was outboxed and physically beaten by Diaz. All credit to Penn he kept going despite the punishment he was taking but at the end of the day it takes more than spirit to win a fight. MacDonald has been heralded as a future welterweight champion at some point and an impressive win over Penn could really see him launched into title contention, despite the fact that Penn is coming out of 'retirement'. BJ Penn is still a huge name in MMA.

On the other hand, has Penn got the fire back that he was lacking toward the end of his first run in the UFC? Would the embarrassment of losing to MacDonald or the pressure to beat a man in the ascension of his career help Penn to give him the motivation he needs to make sure his game is as sharp as it can be? Is MacDonald the perfect comeback fight for him?

have never liked Penn i hope Rory smashes him into retirement for good

The sport and its competitors have evolved, and lets be honest BJ never seemed fully motivated and came across as arrogant so would love for rory to destroy him

Not every fighter can be a super human like randy couture sometimes when its time its just best to step down, like chuck, rick hatton and now tito
we are coming to a period where we see our fav fighters start to reach the decent of there careers Rampage, Franklin and Hughes i thought he was epic but seeing him come back and try to impose his now outdated style i just feel sorry for him and wish he had stayed gone.

Penn is to tubby to compete at 170. Lack of dedications an got wht he deserved.

One thing I have noticed is the poor condition of a lot of MMA fighters when compared to their boxing counterparts... Penn gassed after 3 minutes, Carwin after 2 in a title fight. Is cardio work something they neglect?

I don't know if Penn was tubby so much as completely over matched. The cutting of weight for bouts needs to be looked at because Rory MacDonald looked closer to 185lbs than 170lbs. I know its always been the case in combat sports but its getting a bit ridiculous.

Penn looked like a boy facing a man, the size difference was ridiculous. Thought Rory's showboating in the third round was a little disrespectful, especially since he could have finished Penn but didn't. Not sure why he chose to take his finger off the trigger, Penn would have gone - TKO easily, Rory nearly had him beat in the 2nd, Herb Dean almost jumped in.

only just seen this now, but yeah i didnt give bj a chance going into the fight. we all know that li8ghtweight was where he should have been fighting but he didnt have the deication to cut down anymore. the gsp fight showed how he would just get man handled by bigger men

i had rory to stop him in the second, needless to say i was dissapointed the ref didnt jump in

Herb was a nanosecond away from making the call but I think he made the right decision.

talkingpoint wrote:Herb was a nanosecond away from making the call but I think he made the right decision.

obviously i was biased, but i thought he should have jumped in just to save bj getting more of a beating, as i couldnt see anyway how he was coming back into it. third round wasnt as much of a beating though, but wouldnt like to see too many fighters taking the punishment he did. curse of having a great chin is that you take more punishment in the long run

id say hes more in danger of becoming a Tito Ortiz or Saku.....legend of his time who keeps getting trotted out for big pay days and embaressed by all comers.

well BJ really doesn't have many options left for him - too small for welterweight, too old skool for the new generation of fighters to cause them problems and his conditioning just isn't up to par to go the distance, especially not the championship rounds. I think BJ should retire and let it be - he can get into coaching or punditry or something if he really wants. There are more things left to do in the MMA world but just not inside the Octagon anymore.