Dennis Siver earned a majority decision victory over an uninspired BJ Penn tonight at UFC Fight Night 112.
Round One:
Penn with a couple of off-balance punches. Siver faking with knees. he lands a hook.
Siver trying to clinch up and takaes a single leg, but as we used to see many years ago, Penn’s balance is perfect as he hops on one leg and then breaks free.
Siver with a push kick. Penn looking to press forward though. Penn opts to move into the clinch against the cage. Nothing happening from here though and Siver just roughly shoves him away.
Leg kick for Siver. Now a front kick upstairs just grazes Penn. He lands his patented spinning back kick to the body. A hook knocks out Penn’s gumshield, but he seems ok and quickly puts it back in.
Siver continuing to get the better of these early exchanges as Penn struggles to find his range with punches. Push kick for Siver. Now leg kick. He tries a wheel kick that just wings past Penn’s head.
Penn already looking a bit unsure of himself out there, but he does lands a couple of hooks in close. Siver lands a punch. Back to thte push kick for the German.
Leg kick and one to the body from Siver. He’s doing a good job of keeping Penn at bay. Penn does land a punch, but Siver shortly afterwards lands a grazing head kick.
Round Two:
Inbetween rounds Penn’s corner urges him to take Siver down. That seems like good advice as he was coming off second best in the striking exchanges.
left hook for Siver. Leg kicks from him too. A couple of body punches for Penn. Legs kicks for Siver. He misses with a few punches, but connects with the leg kick again.
Jab for Penn just misses. Siver constantly busy with kicks. Right hand from Penn glances Siver’s head. Straight right for Siver.
Penn lands a crips jab and then another. He needs more of that, but Siver’s kicks continue to cause him trouble in the range he wants to operate at.
Head kick attempt from Siver blocked. Not even a hint that Penn is thinking about his ground game yet.
Suddenly Penn lands a big uppercut and it staggers Siver backwards onto the mat! Big moment for Penn at last and he follows Siver to the mat.
Siver into side control. He’s staying patient with a little over a minute to go in the round. He lands a couple of knees, but he’s not going all out to put Siver in trouble. The round ends with Penn still on top, but having wasted a good opporunity there.
Penn looks to be breathing heavy inbetween rounds, which is perhaps why Penn didn’t go for broke on the ground.
Round Three:
Siver back to his kicking game, landing solidly to the leg several times. Jab lands for Penn, but then Siver returns the favor.
Another leg kick for Siver. Penn pumps out the jab. Siver misses with a head kick attempt. Jab for Siver. Now a leg kick. Wheel kick from Siver comes up short.
Solid leg kick for the German. Penn not offering too much thus far in the round. Siver with a spinning back kick to the body.
Another head kick misses for Siver. He lands a couple of punches at close range. A combo from Siver misses. He does land with a couple of jabs though.
Distinct lack of offensive output from Penn. Good leg kick for Siver. Now a head kick upstairs that seems to stop Penn in his tracks for a moment.
Another kick upstairs for Siver doesn’t connect hard. Jab for Penn. Leg kick for Siver and Penn’s inside leg is a dark red.
Siver with a hard punch and that stuns Penn. He’s struggling and is struggling to stand on his lead leg too. Siver unloads with a few strikes and Penn has to run away to get out of danger.
Side kick to the head from Siver in the final seconds of the round. He’s clearly won this round and should have done enough to win the fight too.
Decision:
Another disappointing performance from BJ Penn then, while Siver looked relatively fresh after his long layoff. There must be a Penn fan on the judging line-up though as one sees the fight as a draw. However, the two others rightly give the nod to Siver, so he earns a majority decision victory (28-28, 29-28, 29-27).
