ROUNDTABLE (pt. 2 of 2): Thoughts on the booking of B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch following Penn's UFC 123 KO of Matt Hughes - Perez, Bacior, Williams and Penick

What is your reaction to the B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch booking after Penn's UFC 123 knockout of Matt Hughes?

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

For the first time in a long time, a Jon Fitch fight is exciting.� His fight against B.J. Penn is a perennial headliner for sure.� If Fitch can beat Penn, there is no question that he is ready to fight for the welterweight title again.� In a weird way, the same goes for Penn.� If Georges St. Pierre still has the belt, I highly doubt Dana White would like to see Penn get another shot (what would be a third one) against GSP, but if either wins, it looks like its going to happen, whether he likes it or not. ��

MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I really like this matchup. I want B.J. Penn to prove he can hang with a top welterweight and see just how he stacks up compared to GSP. I am also a fan of Fitch (yes there is such a thing), and want to see him finally earn his title shot.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

B.J. Penn's knock out of Matt Hughes was impressive enough that I'm okay with Jon Fitch as his next foe.� I favor Fitch to win�in the same manner as�he always does, and I don't think either of them has a good chance versus Georges St. Pierre (assuming GSP beats Josh Koscheck and stays at welterweight).

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The more I think about this fight, the more I love the matchup. I think part of the problem with some of Fitch's recent fights is the fact that he's been a terrible stylistic matchup for his opponents, and they've not been able to offer anything of a defense against his takedowns and wrestling game. B.J. Penn's takedown defense is, I believe, good enough to make this a much more interesting fight involving Fitch, and I think this will be the toughest fight Fitch has had since his loss to GSP. If Fitch can get a win over Penn, there's no way he can be denied another shot at the Welterweight Championship. At the same time, if Penn picks up a win over Fitch, the UFC doesn't need to worry about putting Fitch into another title shot anytime soon. It's a win-win for the UFC, and it's a highly competitive, highly interesting fight in the welterweight division.

[B.J. Penn art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

RELATED: Part one of this roundtable with responses from Hansen, Lee, Hyden, Hobaugh and Amadi: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_7638.shtml

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