It's prediction time, folks.
What BJ Penn (15-6-1) brings to the table: Penn is one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners to ever grace an MMA stage. His flexibility in the guard is just absurd; from the moment he hits the ground with an opponent, they're simply in mortal danger. Beyond that, he possesses solid wrestling and takedown defense. His takedowns are not a relative strength, but they are solid.
On his feet, many underestimate Penn's overall boxing capabilities. His hands are fast, he's technically sound, and he hits very hard. Just ask Sean Sherk and Kenny Florian.
These days, even Penn's cardio is something to be reckoned with. Forget the fact that he looked tired late in his last fight; that had little to do with conditioning and more to do with the way his adversary battled. Speaking of his adversary.
What Frank Edgar (12-1) brings to the table: Edgar is an outstanding wrestler, meaning that his takedowns, takedown defense, and ground control skills are excellent. Beyond that, he is also a very technically sound boxer with excellent speed, which, to be honest, was Penn's undoing at UFC 112. He'll come to fight in shape, has heart, and also demonstrates a lot of toughness. The fact that he's never been stopped in a professional MMA fight says something- and that jaw of his proved very worthy on a couple of occasions in his last bout against Penn.
In terms of weaknesses, Edgar hasn't shown much in terms of submissions and is a relatively small lightweight fighter.
BJ Penn vs. Frank Edgar UFC 118 Prediction: Penn is the bigger fighter, but that likely won't translate to him being able to take a high level wrestler like Edgar down. Penn has very good boxing skills, but no better than his opponent's. Though "The Prodigy" hits harder, Edgar's jaw should keep him in the game when those rare occasions occur, and his speed should allow him to gain a lot of points on the judge's scorecards.
In the end, this will probably be a stand up battle because that's where Edgar likely will want the fight to stay. After watching their last fight, you have to ask yourself, why would anything change?
Expect a very close affair where Edgar sticks, moves, and fights through some big shots again.
Frank Edgar defeats BJ Penn by a close decision.
