Chủ Nhật, 5 tháng 9, 2010

ROUNDTABLE (pt. 2 of 2): What's next for B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian after their UFC 118 losses? Perez, Williams, Lee, Shelby and Penick

What's next for B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian after their UFC 118 losses?

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

To be fair, B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian should actually have a rematch. It makes sense for them both as they are still close to the top, always a fight away. Florian is in a much better position than Penn, only because Penn has lost his last two to Frankie Edgar. It's possible that they can seek other fights, either with Nate Diaz for Florian or maybe a rematch with Takanori Gomi for Penn.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Why not a fight with each other? At this point, there is no reason to believe either B.J. Penn or Kenny Florian could jump up and beat Georges St. Pierre, so continuing to campaign at 155 pounds seem like the smart bet for both men. I like Penn again in the rematch, but if "The Prodigy" hopes to regain his title and sustain a run with it, he needs to start training with an established, top-flight MMA team.

ERIC LEE, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Both fighters need to stay in the lightweight division. They're still top five lightweight guys and will probably remain there for the rest of their careers. I could also imagine that over the next few years the lightweight titles will be passed from Edgar to Maynard to Penn and possibly to KenFlo. I think they all have what it takes to be champion.

TOBEN SHELBY, MMATORCH AUDIO CO-HOST

The way B.J. Penn has looked in his last two fights I wouldn?t necessarily be surprised if he fell off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again. Assuming that doesn?t happen and he continues to fight in the UFC, maybe a rematch with Takanori Gomi or a bout with Evan Dunham.

After Kenny Florian recovers from the realization that had he beat Gray Maynard, he would have been the next Lightweight champion maybe he?ll come back and whip up on someone like Sean Sherk in a rematch. Or, he could fight Frankie Edgar after Edgar?s next title defense.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

With both fighters losing I'm not necessarily in favor of a rematch between the two of them. Had they both won, a rematch with the belt on the line would have meant something, but now it's time to see some fresh match-ups, or fights we haven't seen in a long time.

Falling in that latter category for Penn would be a second fight with Takanori Gomi. It could be an excellent fight, although despite Gomi's knockout of Tyson Griffin I don't think he has what it takes in 2010 to beat B.J.

The other fight I wouldn't mind to see either Penn or Florian take would be against George Sotiropolous. The Aussie has been on an absolute tear and deserves a step up in competition. A win over either Penn or Florian could propel him to the upper echelon of the division and set himself up for a possible title opportunity.

With Evan Dunham set to face Sean Sherk at the end of this month, both of those fighters could be viable opponents for either Penn or Florian as well. Especially if it's against Dunham. But the UFC certainly isn't hurting for options for either fighter, and hopefully we see them both back in action soon.

RELATED: Part one of this roundtable with responses from Marsh, Hyden, Hobaugh, Leet and Hansen: [CLICK TO READ FULL ROUNDTABLE]

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