GSP’s Money is on Florian

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre knows both B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian well. Having bested Penn twice, few know Penn’s game inside-and-out like GSP.

After training with “Ken-Flo” in Montreal, St. Pierre declared that he’s predicting a Florian win against the Hawaiian at UFC 101 in Philadelphia.

“I’ve trained with [Florian] two times and he looked really sharp. I put my money on him against B.J. Penn,” St. Pierre told MMAWeekly.

Florian has been sharp as of late, rattling off six consecutive victories since being outpointed by Sean Sherk in October of 2006; but I personally wonder if GSP’s offering an honest evaluation of the lightweight title match, or if he has an axe to grind following the fallout of “Grease Gate” at UFC 94.

It’s an interesting matchup that has many nuisances that are sure to be debated as the event approaches. I, for one, believe that Florian’s vastly-improved footwork could frustrate Penn if he’s forced to chase his opponent down for an extended length of time.

We all know Penn’s cardio is suspect at best; but when the MMA bout becomes a dogfight contested in close quarters, the edge in boxing, wrestling and submissions leans heavily towards “The Prodigy.”