BJ Penn's knockout of Matt Hughes at UFC 123 was exactly the kind of win the former UFC lightweight champ needed. After suffering back to back losses against current lightweight kingpin Frankie Edgar, many sports betting pundits questioned if Penn's best days were behind him. Heading into his fight at UFC 123, he needed to make a statement.

Twenty one seconds later Matt Hughes was unconscious, and BJ Penn was off on his way for another excursion into the UFC's welterweight division. While much has been made of Penn's ability to hop between divisions, he does not have much of a resume at welterweight. A win over Fitch here would change that.

Aside from Georges St. Pierre, Fitch has beaten down every opponent put in front of him. Save the loss to GSP at UFC 87 in August of 2008, the man's last defeat was to Wilson Gouveia at a Jeff Osbourne Hook n' Shoot show in 2002. When one considers the calibre of competition Fitch has been facing, his resume is impressive indeed. A win over Penn at welterweight would give Fitch a strong case for another title shot.

Fitch is the smart bet here. Despite Penn's apparent dominance last time out, UFC fans will do well to remember Frankie Edgar's ability to stifle Penn with wrestling in their two fights last year. In any event, whoever wins this fight can make some big noise in the welterweight division. Despite BJ's toughness and overall game, Fitch will have a big size and strength advantage in this fight, and we've seen that before in Penn's losses to GSP.