BJ Penn works on boxing with Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Word on the street has it that  our boy Baby Jay is refining his boxing skills with none other than Floyd Mayweather Sr.


BJ Penn is going to be a beast if his striking is going to improve any more than it already has.


However, is this what he really needs right now heading into a bout with Jon, the decision-grinding-no action-boring-play-it-safe-wrestler, Fitch? I believe BJ Penn's current striking skills are already WAY overmatched for Jon Fitch, but striking isn't going to even matter in this
 match because Jon Fitch will not, and I  repeat, WILL NOT STAND TO STRIKE WITH BJ!

He tried that shit once with GSP and I'm pretty sure his boring ass has learned to play it safe by taking guys down and holding them there like he did with Mike Pierce, Ben Saunders, and Thiago Alves.  I respect the importance of wrestling and the ground game as much as the next guy, but I also feel that being entertained and thrilled while watching a fight is important too.  If I never care to watch a fight more than once, it probably wasn't that great or memorable....which is exactly what Fitch's fights are to me, forgettable and boring.  If you're going to sell "Best of Jon Fitch Fights" on blu-ray at Target, I will go there, buy the entire collection, bring it home, piss all over it, and set it on fire.

ANYWAY, back to BJ Penn's training.

I believe BJ Penn already possesses the tools in the stand-up game to disconnect Fitch from his consciousness, but so did Ben Saunders and especially so did Thiago Alves.  It doesn't matter how crisp your BOXING gets, Jon Fitch will do to you what he does to every other goddamn guy: take you down and keep you down and win a shitload of points.  What BJ really needs to work on is improving his already solid takedown defense, his jiu-jitsu game from the bottom, and get ready to sprawl and brawl. If BJ can frustrate Fitch and lure him into inevitable stand-up, Fitch will eventually fold like a little bitch and get knocked the fuck out.

Fitch's strategy is the same as always, and I wouldn't bet on him trying to submit or TKO the Prodigy.  I would hate to see Fitch employ his decision-earning grinds on BJ and then get a crack at the welterweight belt for it, only to get his own ass handed to him by Georges. BJ needs to get this win, not only to prove that he belongs in the welterweight division's elite, that he has still got it in him to dominate the way he used to, but also most importantly, because Jon Fitch needs to his lame ass knocked out and BJ has a chance to hand it to him.  After watching Jon Fitch tapes (or tape, he does the same shit every tape anyway), BJ Penn has got to understand that being on the bottom will net you a loss unless he goes for some hip escapes or triangle submission. ANYTHING!