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[xrjxarsonx]

Originally Posted by goodtimes

Did you miss BJ's last 2 fights at LW? He didn't vacate the belt you know...

I think dominant champs bring in more attention for the sport, as most casual sports fans like to root for a guy they know (or think they know) will win. There's a reason why GSP sells so many PPV's. But for people who like to see competitive fights, this kind of stuff is great. However, I think Edgar and Maynard are pretty far above the rest of the LW division right now. I like Pettis and think he has a lot of potential, but he is not ready for these guys.

He didnt vacate the belt ,but whoever holds the title will still be in his shadow i think. No matter who it is, people will always says hes good but BJ would beat him. Especially if BJ has success at welterweight.

Its a weird situation were BJ lost the title far and square but people still view him as the uncrowned champion. I think its because the some of people in contention (sanchez, florian) have lost to him so its kind of like they are the best but only cause BJ isnt there anymore.

If for example, a year from now florian ends up with the title, you cant help but think he only has it cause BJ moved on.

[Xtremo]

It did seem as if BJ was the anderson silva/gsp of the LW division and he was for a while, but we saw Edgar defeat him twice...Before hand, BJ halted Florians, Sanchez and even Stevensons possible title victorys, but now without BJ, we think if they get the chance to fight once again for the belt, they have a better chance in winning the belt now..

But that is if BJ STAYS at WW...I do remember reading that he was gonna continue fighting at LW, but then he was offered the Hughes fight at WW, so IMO, he probably will return to LW especially if he loses his next WW fight against Fitch...If BJ beats Fitch, we might be looking at a BJ welterweight title shot because Fitch has been in title contention for a long time now, isn't he on a 5 fight win streak? (Yes)

Back to the main topic, for the LW fighters who go on to hold the LW belt, a lot of people will go on and say "Oh well, the only reason he is champ is because BJ left", and it kind of makes sense, but no, it just seems like it does.. people think that now because BJ was a monster at LW and it showed, but lets say Frankie Edgar goes on and defends the belt two more times, we certainly won't be mentioning much about BJ then...

[joeyP]

Originally Posted by The Return Of......

its happend in lhw for the past couple of years now

rampge beat chuck
lost to forrest (in second defense)
who lost to rashad (in first defense)
who lost to lyoto (in first defense)
who lost shogun (in rematch of first defense)

we have seen this before just not in lw

I totally agree, but be honest, nobody thought the LHW belt would shuffle as it did. I know I didn't foresee it. I said that it's been awhile since we thought the belt would shuffle around, so I don't think I was off base.

For me, it's just nice to kind of have a division rest, let the best rise to the top, and have it all sort out. I guess for me, the 155 division right now is the first one to start having the newer generation coming to the top.

I would say that 205 is similar, but there are still many stars from the first big generation of stars at the top (Shogun, Rampage, Rashad)

[snakebite]

The only people who should be happy hes not in the 155 division is the fighters in that division because they dont have to fight him. Say what you want but bj is a beast.

[jody]

I see a few remarks about how if Florian were ever champ with BJ at WW how it'd be like"Oh but he's only champ because BJ isn't around."That's based on the assumption that Florian would ALWAYS lose the rematch,which in turn would be based on the assumption that no one ever evolves and gets better,or for that matter gets burned out.In other words,there's never a guarantee you'd beat the same guy twice,even if you smoked his ass real good the first time out.

Now at WW...I for one would be just fine with GSP/Penn3(for reasons already mentioned)assuming Penn works his way through the rankings and legitimately earns the shot.

[YukonJordan]

I still don't really think Edgar beat Penn the first time so I don't have a problem with Penn going back to LW. On the other hand I've always been really curious to see what kind of a WW BJ Penn really is.

[dan the man 67]

It's a tough situation where there is a Champ in place that Penn just can't seem to get past. It's sort of like Rich Franklin not being able to get past Silva. I can see Franklin still being Champ is Silva were not around. I guess it's just too bad for them........they either have to figure out a way to get past those guys, or hope they lose the belt or leave the division. Otherwise, they have to consider changing weight classes. It has to be pretty demoralizing for a fighter to realize that they just can't beat everyone.

[Frasedog]

I'd rather see him split time and compete in both divisions.

[Masscore]

When it comes to Penn I honestly think he loses to Fitch and then retires. I do not see him being champion ever again at either LW or WW and you know what its not that big of a deal. The guy had an amazing run and will go down as one of the greatest champions in UFC history.

I think the division is slightly more interesting now that Penn is gone. But I would not mind seeing him fight at LW against the likes of Guida.

[BBG]

Originally Posted by joeyP

What do you guys think?

Yes it is better off with him at 170lbs. The matchups are endless with the merge and honestly alot more exciting.