Could someone break down Penn's standup?

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How I Roll

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Hey guys, I re-watched the Penn/Stevenson fight last night and was impressed with B.J.'s stand up. But I'm the first person to admit I have a major lack of stand up training so I might be looking at the fight all wrong.

I guess what I'm asking is technically speaking how good is B.J.'s stand up really? As a jiu jitsu guy I know how good he is on the ground, but I was hoping you guys could clear up how good his boxing really is.
 
How I Roll said:
Hey guys, I re-watched the Penn/Stevenson fight last night and was impressed with B.J.'s stand up. But I'm the first person to admit I have a major lack of stand up training so I might be looking at the fight all wrong.

I guess what I'm asking is technically speaking how good is B.J.'s stand up really? As a jiu jitsu guy I know how good he is on the ground, but I was hoping you guys could clear up how good his boxing really is.
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Well he boxed before he started BJJ. And compared to anyone else in MMA I'd say he is very good. No one really slips as effectively and uses the jab as well as BJ apart from the Marcus Davis's of the world. His use of distance and his footwork are excellent. I think if he concentrated on boxing solely he'd do pretty well as a professional.
 
He has very good stand up

Some of the best at LW if not the best in general
 
I think he said somewhere he doesn't really throw kicks because they don't work well for his style.
 
JerseyTrash said:
I think he said somewhere he doesn't really throw kicks because they don't work well for his style.
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That's kind of what sparked this actually. It seems that most people in MMA revolve more around muay thai or some kind of kickboxing. Penn never seems to throw kicks, although I guess a knee was what put Sherk away. Anyway that made me wonder if he was more of a boxer, but since I am not very good at analyzing stand up I thought someone here could clear it up.
 
He uses basic boxing techniques very well. Uses his jab a lot and slips pretty well. If you watched his rematch with Pulver and his fight with Sherk, I think he used his footwork well enough to stay in range. He moves back just enough for his opponents to miss instead of jumping 5 feet back after a combination like a lot of MMA fighters do. In contrast to his juijitsu, there's nothing fancy about his striking; its all basic boxing techniques.
Penn also has natural advantages as well. He's a talented athlete and has a solid chin.
 
He doesn't throw kicks much, but his training at AKA is what built his standup skills. Solid trainers here, so he learned solid technical striking.
 
Read his book, "MMA: The Book of Knowledge", for more insight into his standup technique/strategy.
 
One thing when you watch BJ is he uses a good stance. His stance is not as wide or deep as a lot of guys. I think this is because has no fear of being taken down.

If you watch he uses his knees and hips to drive out his punch. He has good form because he is always very relaxed with his technique.
 
I think his stand-up is pretty phenomenal just for the fact that he stays in the pocket pretty much all the time. Anyone who's ever trained enough to do some proper sparring knows how ridiculously hard it is to slip and dodge punches, that fact that Penn does it in such a relaxed manner shows how advanced he is.
 
his standup is solid, and as others have said, he gauges distance very well and stays in the pocket when striking.

i think part of what makes his standup so good is that it's deceptive. he drives his punches home, and has very good basics. "advanced basics" is what he calls his style as a whole i think.

only thing i can nitpick (altho i'm somewhat of a novice myself) is that during the sherk fight, he circled to his left instead of his right, which played to sherk's power hand. as it stands, my trainers at the gym i go to tell me to always circle outside someone's jab hand so as to keep their power hand from connecting.

maybe bj wasn't concerned about sherk's supposed lack of punching power due to his granite chin. but he makes very good use of slipping, spacing and footwork with deceptive speed.
 
His power is also not that talked about

He has bricks in his hands. Bricks that Fedor shit out
 
this is the guy that forced GSP into taking him down and lnping on him.. and you know how people int he stand up forum love to deap throat gsp.
 
blanko said:
this is the guy that forced GSP into taking him down and lnping on him.. and you know how people int he stand up forum love to deap throat gsp.
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Overall gsp won the standup in that fight. he landed more strikes.
 
ssssmashing said:
One thing when you watch BJ is he uses a good stance. His stance is not as wide or deep as a lot of guys. I think this is because has no fear of being taken down.

If you watch he uses his knees and hips to drive out his punch. He has good form because he is always very relaxed with his technique.
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Actually BJ's stance can work against him if he faces a real heavy puncher. He tends to square up which leaves him open for a straight shot, on the other hand, he can afford to keep his stance because with it, he can counter effectively (unlike GSP who's constantly on his toes bouncing); he can also take a punch and return with a heavy punch. IMO, he's style works well for him. Nothing fundemental about it if you ask me, but if it works for the guy, hey why not. Like J-Lau said, he's a technical brawler.
 
Additionally, his timing and confident (besides Bang) to trade with anyone is an unmeasurable asset. Most people can look great with kicks and sound punches, but they don't commit like he does, with bad intentions maybe that's why he inflicts a lot of damage. It's 80% mental in there and BJ's is convinced he can hurt you with his punches that's why I think the only way GSP can win the rematch is if he control (which is nearly impossible, but he has a chance) the ground given the GSP's head will not be there during the stand up game.
 
I think part of the reason hes so effective in his strikes is that he has amazing flexibility which makes him very difficult to take down especially with a single leg. His guard is also a fucking mind field, homeboy takes your back off of his back. These skills and attributes allow him to commit to his strikes without the fear of being taken down.
 
MMAFan232 said:
Overall gsp won the standup in that fight. he landed more strikes.
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if you are in a point karate match. Fact is that BJ was assraping GSP and GSP had to resort to taking him down and holding on for dear life... And then went to the hospital.
 
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