Penn Defeats Sanchez – Video

By Daily News Editor

Published: December 13, 2009

Round 1

The word is that Sanchez is trying to outmuscle Penn and was already weighing around 168 pounds late Friday night. If that's the case then the cardio advantage that most assume he'd have may not exist. However, when you look at the Guida fight and the fact that this is his first five-rounder that was always a dubious assumption

It still seems so strange that Sanchez has never had a title fight. Of the two, Penn actually gets the bigger reaction from a crowd who seem happy simply to see the bigger stars. Penn and Mir really show that losing in a big match, even a one-sided one, doesn't hurt a fighter's superstar aura in the eyes of the fans. Sanchez has the height and reach advantage, and in reality has the weight advantage.

Big "B.J." chant as they start up. Penn lands a big right hand and Sanchez is down like a shot. Penn tries to finish the fight with a lurry of shots to the head and Sanchez is hanging on. Sanchez pulls guard and gets a few seconds to catch his breath. Sanchez shoots for a takedown but gets an uppercut for his trouble. Takedown blocked and Sanchez still doesn't look right. Sanchez throws a couple of kicks, easily blocked. Sanchez throws some punches but none of them land. Sanchez tries to put together another combination but Penn gets a hard shot in. Big, big round for the champion but probably not enough for a 10-8. Inside Fight: 10-9 to Penn.

Round 2

Sanchez tries to get some one-two boxing combinations going but it's too predictable, then goes for a takedown but its blocked by Penn. Penn has the centre of the octagon and Sanchez is struggling to force himself back into this match. A couple of takedown attempts from Sanchez that fail and Penn gets some punches in that. Sanchez tries to hit the jumping high kick but it misses. Penn isn't doing much this round but everything he is doing is fully showing his class. Sanchez ties Penn up against the cage. Difficult round to score as Sanchez was the busier fight but he was missing too much and not really having any impact. Inside Fight: 10-9 to Penn.

Round 3

Sanchez goes for a high kick but again its missed. Sanchez goes for the takedown and works it for a good couple of minutes but Penn never seemed in danger of being taken off his feet. Sanchez again goes for a kick but it misses. Sanchez goes for the single-leg takedown but Penn's takedown defence is just too good. Penn turns it up a bit, landed a good elbow on Sanchez and some solid punches. Penn has Sanchez tied up against the cage and lands some nice shots. Sanchez turns it over and tries for the takedown but its blocked. Round ends with Penn landing some nice punches. Closer round than the first two but for all his work Sanchez just isn't having an impact. Inside Fight: 10-9 to Penn.

Round 4

The two fighters feel each other out and Penn gets a hard one-two combination through. Sanchez has a couple of takedown attempts but he just cannot get anywhere near to taking Penn off his feet. And its not as if Penn is working hard to block Sanchez. Penn is happy to let the rounds pass him by, keeping Sanchez at a distance and keeping the points ticking over with his octagon control, takedown defence and boxing. However for all the gap in skill Sanchez has been the more aggressive fighter over the past two rounds so you never know. Inside Fight: 10-9 to Penn.

Round 5

Sanchez again tries to take down Penn but the best he can do is to pull Penn into his own guard. Penn is having known of that and is soon back to his feet. Penn picks up the pace as he tries to finish the fight, landing a high kick and following it up with some nice punches including some big uppercuts. A huge cut opens up on Sanchez and its over because of a blood stoppage at 2.27. That is a very good performance from Penn, who completely outclassed Sanchez throughout that fight.

B.J. Penn wins by fifth-round stoppage.