Sports

BJ Wins, Tito Loses at UFC 84

BJ Penn retained the UFC lightweight title while Tito Ortiz may have lost his final fight for UFC.

BJ Penn retained the UFC lightweight championship Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas by stopping Sean Sherk at the end of the third round. Penn (37-2-1) dropped Sherk (36-3-1) with a knee to the chin late in the third round and finished him with a series of blows to the head just as the horn sounded.

For a few moments it wasn’t clear if the fight was over. But referee Mario Yamasaki signaled the end of the bout. Sherk had held the UFC lightweight title, but was stripped for testing positive for steroids. He had never lost at 155 pounds until Saturday night.

The two fighters spent the entire first round on their feet exchanging quick strikes with Penn opening a small cut under Sherk’s right eye. It continued to be a boxing match in the second round with Sherk trying to press the action, but eating several jabs that began damaging his face. By the end of the second round, Sherk had cuts under both eyes.

The fight continued its pattern in the third round with Sherk trying to land more kicks. But in the closing seconds, a flurry of Penn punches sent Sherk bouncing off the octagon where Penn caught him with a knee to the chin. Sherk dropped to the canvas and Penn launched an assault pounding Sherk in the head until the horn blew.

“I wanted to establish a striking game before taking the fight to the ground,” Sherk said. “I thought I was doing well on the feet, so I decided to keep it on the feet.”

Penn said he might move up to welterweight to challenge Georges St-Pierre.

In another feature bout, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz lost a three-round unanimous decision to Lyoto Machida in what is expected to be Ortiz’s last fight for the UFC. All three judges scored it 30-27 for the unbeaten Machida (13-0).

Ortiz (16-6-1) wanted the fight on the ground but the elusive Machida kept escaping his grasp. A Machida kick opened a cut over Ortiz’s right eye in the second round, but the lack of action was starting to frustrate the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. “He’s running the whole time,” Ortiz complained in his corner.

Ortiz briefly got his hands on Machida early in the third round and delivered several good body shots before they separated. They came together again midway through the round, but neither gained control and were separated again. Suddenly, Machida hurt Ortiz with a kick to the midsection. Ortiz buckled to the canvas and Machida pounced for the finish. But Ortiz suddenly caught Machida in triangle around his head, but Machida escaped the submission hold sending the fight to the scorecards.

“He’s very elusive,” Oritz said. “It was hard to chase him down. When I had the submission on him, I thought I had him for a second. I went for the armbar when I probably should have stayed with the triangle.”

As for his fighting future, Ortiz said he might be leaving the UFC, but he’s not retiring. “I’m here for another three or four years,” he said. “Maybe not for the UFC, but I’ll still be fighting.”

In other pay-per-view bouts; Thiago Silva defeated Antonio Mendes on strikes in the first round; Goran Reljic defeated Wilson Gouveia on strikes at 3:15 of the second round; Shane Carwin knocked out Christian Wellisch 44 seconds into the first round; Wanderlei Silva ended a three-fight losing streak with a knockout 36 seconds into the first round over Keith Jardine; Rousimar Palhares won by armbar submission over Ivan Salaverry at 2:36 of the first round; and Rameau Sokoudjou won by TKO in the first round over Kazuhiro Nakamura.