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Steppin Up
by Bachir Ayoub, Ironlife.com writer
If you’re still shocked at the stoppage of Matt Hughes’ championship streak, you are not alone. In a card that wasn’t as anticipated as many of the others that the UFC has dished out lately, the BJ Penn exhibit was enough to make people forget about the doctor’s stoppage in the main event and feel good about their purchase. To think that the fighter who would stop the unbelievable streak of Matt Hughes would be a man from a lower weight class and who couldn’t win the title in his own division. BJ accomplished two things that night, he won the welterweight title and he made every so called MMA “expert” (yours truly included) look like they lack the expertise people entrust them with.
There had been rumblings on the internet that Penn had tapped out Randy Couture and KO’d Matt Lindland while training for this fight. There have been many stories that have materialized on the internet that are about as believable a high school diploma with Wes Sims name on it, but the one about BJ Penn’s training  seemed very believable when the fight had ended. BJ seemed like he was on his game right from the opening bell and was not going to lie down and let Matt role over him. Not to take any thing away from Matt Hughes and his reign as champion, but BJ looked like he was walking out the champ.
When Matt Hughes first won his title I was one of the people that was on the side of Carlos Newton. When Matt Hughes was main eventing, I was one of the fans that was rolling his eyes at the prospect of a boring fight. Matt Hughes made me a fan by reinventing himself with every outing and every opponent he defeated. With each fight he gained more confidence, and with that confidence he transformed himself into a creative exciting fighter. BJ has always been an exciting fighter that has only looked lackluster once in his career, and that was against Hughes’ team mate Jens Pulver. BJ did not disappoint his fans with his performance, and stopped the unstoppable.
BJ may have overcome the odds by moving up in weight and defeating the champ, but it was who he stopped that made it so impressive. Matt Hughes has been the most dominant champ in MMA in the past few years. People may say that Vanderlie Silva has been more dominant, but Matt Hughes has had to face the best on a constant basis and beat them soundly. Putting top contenders to shame was how Hughes was making name for himself as champion. BJ Penn did what Hughes classified as “embarrassing”, Penn beat him and it only took him one round. BJ took Hughes to school and he did it with his bread and butter. He used his smaller build to his advantage and Hughes’ own strength against him. BJ stepped up on January 31st in more ways than one, he stepped up in weight, he stepped up to Matt Hughes and he stepped into the top five of the welterweight division.
* Article by Bachir Ayoub, Ironlife.com writer
* Back to Issue #6 Frontpage
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