TUF 5 Finale: Rise of the little guy

So this is what B.J. Penn looks like when he's in shape.

I love this guy, despite his history of letdowns. He's just got these crazy legs and scary-good ground skills that make you wonder why he's got 4 losses on his record, including a decision to Jens Pulver in UFC 35.

This time, he dominated Pulver from start to finish. So much that I wondered if he was trying to extend the fight just to punish Pulver a little.

The match up of the coaches from The Ultimate Fighter 5, was a reminder of just how freaking good Penn can be. And after seeing Penn at 155, I've got to wonder what he's thinking about going back up to the welterweight division.

Of course, the money is in the higher weight division where he could get some marquee purses with possible rematches against Matt Hughes and Georges St.-Pierre.

Penn (12-4-1) looked good at 155. He just needs to lay off the roast pork and poi. But at 28, it's past time for Penn to decide whether he wants to be a "prodigy" for the rest of his life or finally turn it on and become something more.

TUF 5 Finale between Manny Gamburyan and Nate Diaz offered a great contrast, with the lanky Diaz holding a 6-inch reach and 5-inch height advantage over the fireplug Gamburyan.

Unfortunately, Gamburyan tapped out with a dislocated shoulder in the 2nd round, giving Diaz the TUF 5 title. You can't take away anything from Diaz, these kinds of injuries are the nature of the sport.

But dude, where's your car? He sounds like he's been hitting the chronic between rounds.

You've also got to feel for Gamburyan, though and wonder if he'll be able to work his way back from this injury.

Personally, I doubt he has much of a future. Once a shoulder dislocates, it gets easier and easier for it to happen again. And while shoulder surgery might help a football or basketball player get back to an elite level, it's unlikely to stand up to the pressures of grappling and jujitsu.

In the first televised fight of the night, Roger Huerta (20-1-1) got served up some Alaskan flounder.

Doug Evans, making his UFC debut, wasn't a total fish, despite the UFC's hope to build Huerta into a future star in the lightweight division. He frustrated Huerta in the first round with his wrestling skills, which made you wonder why Huerta kept trying to work a takedown when he should have been standing the fight up.

But in the second round, after the fight went to the ground, Huerta was able to get behind Evans, where he started pounding away at the former collegiate wrestler. And with Evans doing nothing but covering himself up, the ref stopped the fight at the 3:30 mark in the second round.

It's a frustrating to see a fight end this way, especially when you get the feeling that Evans could have made things interesting if he could have taken it to the third.

Surreal moment of the night belonged to Gray Maynard and Rob Emerson, which ended in a "no contest" decision. Maynard, who had control of the fight in the second round, picked Emerson up and slammed him to the canvas. Emerson, whose ribs were already hurt, tapped out but there's some debate whether Maynard had knocked himself unconscious. Get out. I haven't seen anything like that since Rocky II.