Penn and Sanchez: A Comparative Analysis

Posted on | August 15, 2009 | No Comments

By: Holli Yargo

It seems his win over the former The Ultimate Fighter welterweight runner-up, Kenny Florian, has refocused B.J. Penn. He’ll need that, too, as his next challenger will be Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez.

Penn and Sanchez are both notable for their eccentric behavior in and out of the octagon. “The Prodigy” grossed out the world of MMA when he licked the blood of Joe Stevenson off his gloves after beating “Daddy” to a gnarly pulp at UFC 80 before securing the win with a rear naked choke. Sanchez caught the attention of MMA fans even before he defeated Florian for the title of The Ultimate Fighter by his strange yoga, eating, and bathing practices.

A former King of the Cage welterweight champion, Sanchez came into the UFC with an unblemished professional record which extended into the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion until UFC 69, in Houston, TX, where an undiagnosed staph infection may have contributed to the New Mexico native delivering a sluggish performance against the decision winner, Josh Koscheck. It was devastating for the über-focused born-again Christian, especially as his loss was followed up by another to Jon Fitch.

After only a five month break, however, Sanchez returned to his winning ways with defeats over top contenders such as Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida. His current professional record puts him at 23 wins and only two losses.

In contrast, Penn’s record only sits at 14 wins with five losses. On the surface, it appears Sanchez is more than overdue for a title shot until you look at the caliber of their respective matches.

Inside the UFC, alone, Penn has put away the likes of former welterweight champion Matt Hughes, former lightweight champion Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, and most recently, Kenny Florian. Outside the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Hawaiian scored wins over Takanori Gomi, Matt Serra, and both Rodrigo and Renzo Gracie. He’s held the welterweight belt and currently holds the lightweight championship in the UFC.

A key difference between the two seems to be consistency. Penn has been accused in the past of losing heart and getting lazy. After being frustrated by a second loss to Georges St-Pierre, Penn even began launching defaming accusations against the welterweight champion for cheating.

Sanchez, on the other hand, has consistently trained hard for every fight, often sequestering himself from friends and family and any other outside distraction. Never has the quirky middleweight turned welterweight turned lightweight been accused of not having enough heart or not training hard enough.

Only two months out from his win over Guida, baby-faced, soft-spoken Sanchez has been given the nod to challenge B.J. Penn for the lightweight title. With accomplished wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Muay Thai skills, the former Greg Jackson protégé appears to be the only true threat to B.J.’s belt.

Since his losses to Koscheck and Fitch, Sanchez has worked with Joey Gilbert and Lupe Aquino to improve his stand up, adding a TKO victory over Luigi Fiorvanti to his stats. His game has also gotten smarter, evidenced by his decision win over Clay Guida. He dominated “The Carpenter” on the feet for the whole first round and effectively took narrow leads over the final two.

With the title challenge looming on the horizon, Diego Sanchez will have to be more concentrated than ever. An over-cautious approach to Penn will not work. Penn is reinvigorated, having changed his previously lazy training habits. Sanchez will need to focus his chi and honestly believe the title belongs to him if he ever hopes to take it.

More technical standing than Penn, he also has very respectable ground thanks to former coach, Jackson, current experts Xande and Saulo Ribeiro and wrestling coach Bob Anderson. Nevertheless, the former UPS employee must know that the current champion is cunning and freakishly limber with more than decent hands.

Of all the challengers who could have faced B.J. Penn for the title, following the dismantling of Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez looks the most promising for a change in belt ownership to happen. His mission will not be an easy one but if anyone can “kill that master,” as Florian attempted, it might just be Sanchez.