UFC 94 Winners and Losers

The Losers

B.J. Penn

Losing to the most recent incarnation of St. Pierre is nothing to be ashamed of, particularly considering Penn was attempting to do so while spotting the welterweight behemoth 20 pounds. Losing, therefore, is not the albatross around Penn’s neck. The much bigger problem is that Penn must now contend with the fact that there was no messianic destiny written in the cards for him. The paradigm that he professed recently was that his talent was sufficient enough for him to beat almost anyone if his cardio was also sufficiently in place. But what Penn painfully learned Saturday was that his talent and cardio were mostly in place, and none of that mattered.

A more physically prepared, more capable MMA opponent thoroughly and methodically defeated him even against Penn’s fail-safe vaunted jiu-jitsu arsenal. This is the only setback in Penn’s career where he must accept the fact that “if only” no longer has play. Not this time. Penn lost, and the loss unequivocally proved he is not the best fighter competing today. More than any punch or elbow St. Pierre landed, that was the most crushing blow of the evening.

B.J. Penn apologists

No matter the social circle, any iconic figure is bound to attract the various levels of revulsion and obsequiousness that comes from fandom. In Penn's case, the strange commixture of braggadocio, real accomplishment and failed promise has created a class of Penn fans unable to view him under sober terms. Rather than acknowledging the duality of Penn's career -- that is, acknowledging what he's actually achieved while candidly recognizing his very real failures -- they prefer to resort to the most tortured logic imaginable in concocting pretext after pretext for why Penn has not delivered on what so many have (overreachingly) claimed is his destiny.

The newest canard being bandied about is that St. Pierre's corner rubbed Vaseline on his back and shoulders between rounds and that the Vaseline constitutes "cheating" on the part of St. Pierre’s team (notice that no one is saying it changed the outcome of the fight). The charge is true in that the corner clearly committed wrongdoing, but it's not the least bit clear how much Vaseline was used nor how much it impacted the fight. Most importantly, a champion like Penn deserves better than to have his shortcomings constantly re-examined because fundamentalists cannot accept what must be a very bruising reality.

Thiago Alves

One has to wonder what thoughts are circling Alves’ head at this moment. On the one hand, the enormous and capable welterweight is likely excited at the prospect of preparing for his first title shot. On the other hand, unless Alves is deluding himself, he must be filled with confusion about what he’ll do to win the title contest.

With the masterful oversight of Greg Jackson, the full talent of St. Pierre is now being brought to the fold. Alves might -- and this is debatable -- be considered the superior Thai boxer, but given what tools St. Pierre is able to effectively use in high-level professional MMA competition, does that small designation really matter?

And what can Alves reasonably be expected to improve upon in training camp between now and his title fight that will make any sort of difference in the outcome? It’s foolish to think a St. Pierre win is a foregone conclusion in the unpredictable maelstrom of a fight, but it’s equally foolish to believe that St. Pierre doesn’t have anything less than a massive advantage over Alves and any other contender at welterweight. The fight with Alves is still compelling, and he is a worthy challenger that St. Pierre must dispatch in order to claim full ownership over the division, but Alves has nothing St. Pierre hasn’t already seen or can’t find a solution for in the training room. Good luck, Thiago. You’re going to need it.

Middleweights

As if climbing the mountain that is Anderson Silva wasn’t daunting enough, it looks as though a new wrinkle may soon be added to the middleweight class: Georges St. Pierre. While St. Pierre’s defeat of Penn was that of the welterweight champion having the size advantage, there is little reason to think St. Pierre wouldn’t be able to succeed even in a division of men naturally larger than him.

St. Pierre’s physicality won’t take him to infinite levels of success, but there is a real transcendent ability there. His unprecedented level of brute, physical athleticism with technical acumen and proper guidance from trainers and managers alike make the move to middleweight all but certain should St. Pierre stop Alves and any other future welterweight challenger.

Luke Thomas is the Editor-in-Chief of the MMA blog BloodyElbow.com.