UFC Lightweight Champion - "The Prodigy" BJ Penn

On the same night that Anderson Silva is scheduled to defend his title, lightweight UFC champion BJ Penn will also put his title on the line in Abu Dhabi against up and comer Frankie Edgar. BJ Penn is without question the most dominant lightweight champion the UFC has ever seen. Like Anderson Silva, Penn likes to move up a weight division in order to further challenge himself. In fact BJ Penn has fought the current welterweight champ George St. Pierre in a effort to hold two championship titles at once, but to no avail. With recent wins over top contenders Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian, Penn has solidified himself as a truly great champion. Additionally, his most recent wins can be attributed to his improved conditioning program which was questioned in the past. With that, we may end up seeing another rematch with George St. Pierre in the near future.

Frankie Edgar made his UFC debut in February of 2007 and has proven that he is fighter that is willing to go the distance. The majority of Edgar’s wins have come from unanimous decisions and he has only suffered one loss in the octagon at the hands of Gray Maynard by decision. Frankie has proven that he can stand with champions in that he has defeated former lightweight champ Sean Sherk, again by decision. Frankie Edgar’s strategy for the fight with BJ Penn will probably be to use his excellent conditioning to take Penn into the later rounds and either squeak out a decision or possibly knock Penn out. Anyway you look at it, Edgar is going to have his hands full trying to avoid the ground game and knock-out power of BJ Penn.

My prediction for the Penn vs. Edgar UFC lightweight championship fight is that BJ Penn will emerge victorious in the third round by submission.

UFC 112: Invincible promises to be a historical event full of fast paced action that fans love. The fight card rivals that of UFC 100, which also held two championship fights. Also, the location of Abu Dhabi is a first for the UFC and opens the door to further increase the popularity of the sport worldwide. Here’s hoping for some great fights in 2010.