Stepping up the Scales

Penn returns to Welterweight with 21 second KO over Hughes


B.J. Penn, former UFC Lightweight and welterweight champion, made a triumphant return to welterweight this last Saturday at UFC 123, scoring a knock out victory against former two-time champion Matt Hughes in just 21 seconds. 

After the fight, he began heading back to the locker room, but quickly came back to the octagon out of respect for his opponent, according to the post-fight press conference.

“I was trying to recreate the Caol Uno fight,” Penn said.  “But I can not be disrespectful of Matt. I gotta go back in there and give Matt the honors.”

Road back to welterweight

Penn (16-7-1) had been coming into his fight with two straight losses from UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.  According to the post-fight press conference, Penn was fired up as soon as he got the call that he would face Hughes.

“Me and Matt put on great fights and I am just happy it went that way,” Penn said.  “Matt Hughes is my idol and will always be my idol.”

Penn’s KO not only gave him his first victory in the welterweight division in the last four years, it also gave him the overall victory in his trilogy against Hughes.  He had won their first fight back in 2004, in which he was crowned the fourth UFC welterweight champ.  Hughes won their rematch back in 2006.


Former fighters who have had success gaining (or cutting) weight

Penn, is not the only MMA fighter to have success in two different weight classes. 

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture was the first fighter to win titles in two divisions, earning titles as a heavyweight and a light heavyweight.

Another UFC fighter who has gained success in changing weight divisions is Jake Shields.  Shields is a former Elite XC Welterweight champion, and a former Strikeforce Middleweight champion.

Strikeforce fighter Dan Henderson earned titles in Pride Fighting Championship’s welterweight and middleweight division.  Current Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem competed in Pride’s middleweight Grand Prix tournament, earning victories over Vitor Belfort and Igor Vochancyn.

Most recently Urijah Faber, a former WEC featherweight champion, has moved back down to bantamweight.  In his first fight back to bantamweight, he defeated Takeya Mizugaki by submission in the first round.

Future Matches for Penn in the welterweight division. 
Although it seems like Penn has been given a fresh start in his return to the welterweight division, he still has quite a ladder to climb if he wants  to regain the title. 

Possible opponents for Penn in the welterweight division include Shields, Carlos Condit a former WEC Welterweight champion, and Josh Koscheck, the current number one contender for the UFC welterweight title.

Another possible bout for Penn would be a rematch against former champion Matt Serra.  Penn previously defeated Serra in a lightweight bout back in 2002.

Perhaps the one match up Penn will be anticipating for is a rematch with current champion Georges St. Pierre. 

According to MMAweekly, Penn’s next opponent may be Jon Fitch at UFC 127.

My favorite MMA fights: Hughes vs. Serra

 

Matt Hughes vs. Matt “The Terror” Serra

Date of Fight: May 23 2009

Outcome: Hughes wins by unanimous decision

Although Hughes and Serra have similar accomplishments (both former UFC Welterweight champions and coaches on the Ultimate Fighter), these two fighters were opposites when it came to their personalities and backgrounds. 

Hughes is a country boy, born again Christian with a wrestling background.  Serra was born to an Italian American family from New York and earned a black belt in jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie.

Serra is a winner of the Ultimate Fighter Season 4 while Hughes has acquired twice as many wins as Serra has on his fight record. 

This rivalry between the two Matts began when Hughes was a coach on the Ultimate Fighter.  Serra grew irritated at Hughes’ criticism of the other fighters and bragging of his own accomplishments.  This rivalry came to another level when Hughes and Serra-who was the Welterweight champion at the time-were coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Season 6. 

Although Serra’s team won six of the eight fights in the first round of the competition, Team Hughes’ Mac Danzing and Tommy Speer would make it all the way to the finals.  Hughes and Serra were originally scheduled to face each other for Serra’s Welterweight title, but the champion suffered a shoulder injury, postponing the fight. 

Hughes would go on to face Georges St. Pierre for the Interim Welterweight title and lose.  St. Pierre would go on to defeat Serra (the man who defeated him) and become the Undisputed UFC Welterweight champion.

Hughes and Serra would eventually face each other at UFC 98.  The rivalry had reached a point to where the fighters did not touch gloves before the match started.

In the first round of the fight, Serra dominated early on with a head butt that dropped Hughes to the canvas.  Hughes would reverse the position near the end of the round.

Hughes would go on to control the next two rounds, taking Serra down within the first minute and keeping Serra on the mat.  Serra was able to gain some offense in the last minute of the third round. 

Going into the fight, the Hughes and Serra rivalry was heated, but after the fight, it seemed the fighters gained a new found respect for one another.

After his fight with Hughes, Serra would go on to run Frank Trigg out of the UFC after knocking him out in the first round at UFC 109.

As for Hughes, he has been making a reputation to defeating members of the Gracie gym.  He defeated Serra’s trainer Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 by TKO in the third round, then defeated his student Ricardo Almeida at UFC 117 by submission in the first round.