Why didn't BJ take him down?

In the last day, all the focus has been on judging and how many rounds Edgar did or didn't win, while the real question we should be asking if we want to know really why this happened is "why did BJ even let this fight be close in the first place?".

BJ could have taken this to the ground any time he wanted to, he could have pushed Edgar against the cage and manhandled him, and he certainly could have had his way with Edgar on the canvas once it got there. Why was his knee taped up? It seemed obvious BJ had some sort of injury that prevented him from grappling and shooting in on Edgar. He seemed to get gimpy late in the fight, while Edgar only threw a few leg kicks.

Was BJ injured, or was it bad game planning?

I think it's to do with pride. BJ thought to himself, I'll eventually catch Frankie and drop him.

He probably thought he wasn't in real danger of losing a decision, but he is still a smart fighter. If he was healthy and fought this fight, this loss has as much to do with his own mental mistakes as it does bad judging or Edgar's skill.

I think Bj wanted to stand first 3 rounds and go the ground Championship rounds, 4th round I think BJ gassed and he didnt want to risk GETTING CAUGHT shooting.

BJ had Diego Sanchez in retreat mode the first 30 seconds of the fight, Frankie wasnt in trouble like that at all and if anybody looked gun shy and worried about running into an exchange in the fight, it was BJ.

Edgar was the one jumping in and out last night, BJ was the one waiting and countering IMO

Birdofthad wrote:

I think Bj wanted to stand first 3 rounds and go the ground Championship rounds, 4th round I think BJ gassed and he didnt want to risk GETTING CAUGHT shooting.

BJ had Diego Sanchez in retreat mode the first 30 seconds of the fight, Frankie wasnt in trouble like that at all and if anybody looked gun shy and worried about running into an exchange in the fight, it was BJ.

Edgar was the one jumping in and out last night, BJ was the one waiting and countering IMO

Correct, except frankie jumped in and attempted to pitter patter BJ and BJ Penn actually landed.

Because much like the majority of the world, he thought he was winning the fight with what he was doing. Little did he know Butch Cassidy, Bonnie and Clyde were the cageside judges..

This is word for word what I posted in another thread, but...

BJ took the decision quietly, congratulated Frankie, and humbly walked away from what it seemed. I'm not trying to say BJ isn't capable of accepting a very close, controversial decision with class but everything about him seemed.."off", including his post fight reaction.

cause bj never takes fights to the ground except for end game situations.