3. Kenny Florian is BJ Penn’s right-hand man.

To even be considered as a true threat to Penn’s 155-pound title, a fighter needs to be able to defeat Florian. Kenny Florian has evolved into a well-rounded and dangerous fighter with strong Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu and razors in his elbows. He shows up to every fight ready to push the pace and he has the ability to keep up that pace for the duration of the fight.

Of the people who have fought BJ Penn for his title, Florian did the best. Conversely, he was also crushed. Florian never once had control of the fight or had Penn in any trouble. Florian is not a gatekeeper. He is a step above that title, in what I would call a belt guardian. If Penn did not hold the belt, I am certain that Florian would be wearing it around his waist. Sadly, Penn does hold the belt and that means bad news for Florian. At least he will always be welcome in BJ Penn’s guest house.

2. The UFC has ended its streak of poor cards.

UFC 105, UFC 106 and the TUF 10 Finale were disappointments. With weak main events and even weaker main card fights, I was not happy with what the UFC was producing. Some people cried that fighters were injured and they needed to look out for their own well-being. That is true, but it is the UFC’s job to put on entertaining fights on a constant basis. If the organization fails to deliver in that regard, then there is only one target to blame for that, and that is the UFC itself.

UFC 107 changed this. The main event pitting Penn against Sanchez was the primary drawing point. However, the other main card fights – excluding Fitch’s fight – were all very entertaining and generally did not have many lulls in the action.

Kenny Florian versus Clay Guida was a bloody, informal affair that had constant action. Alan Belcher’s fight with Wilson Gouveia and Kevin Burns’s battle with TJ Grant consisted of men just hurling death blows at each other until one connected. My condolences to Wilson and Burns. DaMarques Johnson versus Edgar Garcia had a furious pace with back-and-forth action until a quick triangle choke forced Garcia to submit.

Even better, the card featured some storyline entertainment. Debate raged over what physical shape Frank Mir would be in following his rodeo clown loss against Lesnar. Mir weighed in at 264.5 and, more surprisingly, looked to be in great shape. Questions were quickly raised over how his agility would hold up with the added muscle mass. Those questions were answered with Mir’s 72-second beatdown of Cheick Kongo.

1. BJ Penn runs the 155-pound division.

Penn has thoroughly dismantled each of his lightweight opponents, but he has not put them back together. Diego Sanchez was considered to be the toughest contender for Penn’s belt to date. After watching their fight on Saturday, the word contender seems to be gone from the UFC lightweight dictionary entirely.

Sanchez has quick hands, but was completely outstruck by Penn’s boxing. Sanchez has a solid wrestling base, but Penn was never taken down. Sanchez is known for his cardio and intensity, but by the end of the fight, he seemed to be out of both. On the other hand, Penn looked like he had just gone for a quick morning jog.

BJ Penn is not just one tier above the rest of the lightweight division; he should not even be put in the same column. And the scariest fact of all? Penn has looked better and better in each of his past three fights. If Penn keeps improving like he is now and continues to literally destroy his opponents, a third fight with GSP must be brought up in discussion.

Mike Miller will return with another Top 5 after UFC 108 on January 2nd.