“Hats off to Nick Diaz, he’s the man,” said Penn (16-8-2) in the Octagon, moments after losing a 29-28, 29-27 and 29-28 decision to Diaz, a loss that would seem to put an end to Penn’s quest for a third match with longtime rival St. Pierre. “It’s probably the last time you’ll ever see me in here. I want to perform at the top level. This is the end. You know what, I’ve got another daughter on the way, I don’t want to go home looking like this.”
Penn’s face was busted up, particularly his left eye, and he had to be hospitalized after the fight.
Penn, 32, has been considered right at the top of the list of the most complete and most talented fighters in the sport since even before his first fight in 2001. Some would say, judging by his record, that he underachieved considering his insider rep from day one, even with two world titles.
Saturday’s fight was unfortunately typical of many of Penn’s fights. Once called the best one-round fighter in the world, both meant as a credit to his all-around skill and a knock on his conditioning, Penn once again tired in the second round after a solid first round and was taken apart.
But if this really is his last fight, Penn went out in style. Exhausted, fighting an opponent who was connecting with pinpoint accuracy, he fought back and landed several hard shots in the third round, but he simply couldn’t match the volume of his opponent nor move fast enough to get out of the way of the blows. In the end, while he clearly lost the fight, he also was half of one of the year’s best bouts.
“In the 10 years that we’ve all seen B.J. Penn perform, we’ve never seen B.J. busted up like this,” White said after the fight. “Even when he was getting smashed by Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre, he doesn’t bleed and he doesn’t get busted up. Nick Diaz is the real deal. But what a warrior B.J. was to stand in front of him. I honestly didn’t think B.J. was going to answer the bell for the third round as exhausted as he was. And there were moments in the third round he was firing back.”- http://sports.yahoo.com
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