Post UFC 94

What was supposed to be a battle as close as their first meeting turned out to be a one sided display of dominance by "Rush". The Canadian power house pushed the pace from the opening bell to the final round and showed himself to be an ever evolving and improving fighter, much to the dismay of every UFC welterweight watching. As impressive as his physical performance was the depth of strategy Georges showed in his post fight interview. The combination of Greg Jacksons blueprint and St. Pierre's technique and power made BJ Penn look like an outmatched contender, not a fellow champion who was supposed to give Georges his toughest fight since their first match a few years ago.

So where does this beat down leave the two champions? Well for one, it still leaves them both champions. BJ still holds his lightweight crown and Georges the undisputed welterweight king. It has cemented Georges as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world and opens the door a crack more to what would be the biggest fight in MMA's young history, St Pierre vs Silva. If Penn vs St Pierre was the mega fight of the century, biggest PPV in history, then St Pierre vs Silva is the Holy Grail, Armageddon, the definitive pound for pound fantasy fight. One would think that pre UFC 94 St Pierre would be an underdog to Silva, but after Saturday night one would have to think twice, or maybe three or four times before making such a statement.

As for BJ Penn, his only flaw has been focus. The fight with St Pierre brought him focus in trying to cement his legacy and claim to being the best fighter in mma. Hopefully this defeat will also bring him focus and a fire to concentrate on becoming the best lightweight of all time. With the UFC's interest in some of the lighter weight Japanese free agents, BJ will have all the motivation and concentration he needs. He showed back when he fought Gomi that he can take the best in the world at lightweight and there are many match ups out there to cement his legacy. Uno, Florian, Hansen, Alvarez or Aoki all make for amazing match ups should the UFC be able to grab some of those overseas match ups.

Another fighter who Saturday night answered critics and cemented his status as a premier fighter in his division was Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida who earned his nickname by devouring Thiago Silva in the first round. Thiago seemed to only be able to land a single right to the body and an elbow in the clinch as Machida would dart in, throw combinations and circle back out without absorbing any damage. Never moving straight back, Machidas footwork confounded the aggressive Brazilian as Silva punch after punch. The final few seconds of the round showed Machida throw Silva to his back and land two vicious punches that put his opponent out and earned him knockout of the night and a bump up in line for the light heavyweight belt. It's hard to say how any of the top light heavyweight fighters would approach such a unique fighter as Machida but that's for another time.