BJ Penn Destroyes Matt Hughes in 23 Seconds

Rampage Jackson won a very close boring split decision against Lyoto Machida. Jackson was the aggressor in the first two rounds even though he was beaten pretty decisively in the third round.

In the other main event, BJ Penn rocked Matt Hughes within 20 seconds and then pounced and finished Hughes for the TKO. It was a huge win for Penn who lost two straight to Frankie Edgar after Edgar ran for 10 rounds and won for running and landing a few Hershey's Kisses. This was a real fight and very different from those Edgar marathons. This fight ended with an exciting finisher. Penn proved once again that he is the most exciting finisher in MMA history. He can knock you out or submit you.

UFC 123 Battle of Old Warriors

BJ Penn and Matt Hughes rekindle their rivalry at welterweight. BJ moves up after Frankie Edgar ran away from him for two fights and somehow won both. Matt Hughes is looking better and having fun after winning his last three fights. His losses were against Thiago Alves and Georges St. Pierre so certainly not to second tier fighters. Both of these guys are still close to the top of their games. I expect Penn to win by split decision. I don't see Hughes finishing Penn and I see Penn winning the first and second rounds with Hughes coming close in the third but not quite enough to finish Penn. In the other fight Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson are both old warriors who are close to the top of their games. Lyoto got smoked by Shogun Rua while Rampage looked sloppy against Rashad Evans. Expect Rampage to be better and Lyoto to be solid. I suspect Rampage will win by TKO or KO. Lyoto is still recovering from a tough loss and this is a very difficult fight to get back on your horse with.

Manny Proves to be Truly Remarkable after Destroying Margarito

Bring on Floyd Mayweather! Manny Pacquiao just doesn't seem to let up - he was astounding against Margarito despite concerns that he didn't train hard enough. Max Kellerman said he thought Manny was a step off and got hit more often than he has before. I suppose, given his distractions, he had an excuse to be a step off but he still destroyed Margarito. Against someone like Mayweather I suspect there will be no distractions during training. If Mayweather is waiting for Manny to slow down or take too many shots to the head, I don't know if that is a good strategy. Manny is younger than Mayweather and he seems to be getting better and stronger at his natural weight of around 144 lbs. Assuming they fight at 147 lbs, I think Manny will have a decent edge in the fight. However, if I was Manny, I'd accept the drug testing but push for a catch weight of 145 lbs. I suspect Floyd who is smaller as well would be okay with that. If Floyd doesn't accept terms to fight Pacquaio, Manny should look to fight smaller, quicker more Floyd-like fighters like Timoth Bradley or Andre Berto (and do it at 144 or 145). Those fights could be huge once those fighters get another fight or two under their belts.