I’m biased, I admit it. I will always support BJ Penn. Nut-hugger, fanboy, whatever you want to call me, I’m it.
We’ve had our moments, don’t get me wrong. When I learnt Penn fought Lyoto Machida at Light Heavyweight I was proud, yet still a little confused.
When he lost to Georges St-Pierre the second time I wondered why on earth he let his mother speak to the Nevada State Athletic Commission into the greasing allegations.
When he fought Nick Diaz and was about to take his back in the first round, I screamed when he gave up arm and shoulder control.
But, through all this, my loyalty never wavered. To me, BJ Penn is one of the greatest fighters.
Penn was one of the very first few Mixed Martial Arts fighters true to the name. Penn’s Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ) is on based on a solid top game, good transitions and tight submissions.
His boxing is layered with good combinations, sound head movement and power in both hands. His scramble is excellent, takedown defence strong and his balance and flexibility could make a gymnast blush.
Penn was the first non-Brazilian to win in the black belt division at the BJJ Mundial back in 2000 (held in Brazil). Freddie Roach considers Penn’s boxing one of the best in MMA and Randy Couture once mentioned Penn’s strength in the clinch.
I’m stubborn. When people say lack of motivation, I say burnout. Not evolving his skill-set? How can he get better? Penn forced other fighters to evolve.
Back in the day, strikers who had a decent sprawl could see themselves through to victories. Wrestlers could throw a cursory jab, then shoot for a single leg takedown before some ground and pound.
But Penn made people question the one dimensional fighter model when they watched him fight. He made coaches question the viability of such game plans and made fighters consider their shelf-life in the sport.
BJ Penn’s fight record isn’t great, true, so I’ll pause and bite my lip. But every time Penn has struggled, he’s been fighting in the wrong weight class.
Machida at Light Heavyweight and GSP, Matt Hughes and Diaz at Welterweight. All excellent fighters and a loss is nothing to be ashamed of, just embarrassing Penn could be so stubborn to fight above his best weight class over and over again.
Penn’s only real losses at Lightweight were against Jens Pulver (who he’s destroyed since), and Frankie Edgar twice (where I personally think something was wrong with Penn’s mindset and/or body).
I figure Penn wants to test himself when he fights up. He doesn’t want to fight the easy fights, a mark of a true champion.
I’m realistic enough to say yes, Penn could be better, but not by very much. His cardio has failed him more than once and the spilt with Marv Marinovich was baffling. I truly believe he was the best pound for pound MMA fighter in the world when Marinovich was in his corner and it’s hard to imagine anybody countering that observation.
After viewing some lead up footage this last week, it looks like Penn has had a great camp. Penn is ready.
In the lead up to UFC’s FOX 5, I’m confident BJ Penn’s fight with Rory MacDonald will be in a true test and one where Penn will look for a convincing victory.
The roles are reversed now. Penn is the hunted, the one with more to lose. This is his last role of the dice at Welterweight, if not the UFC as a serious contender in any division, so he needs to prove he is still relevant.
And that is why he’ll win. BJ Penn is a legend and will want to prove this to the world on the weekend.
CBDoggz4lyfe
Guest
If records were what we went on then yes a case can be stated that BJ, Randy Couture, Jens Pulver, Dan Severn etc etc would then just be "good" fighters, but we should look at it and measure their legacy in the time that they were at there peak or there overall contribution to the sport of MMA. Without the Couture's, the BJs the Gracie, we wouldnt be having this discussion about the greatest in the sport of MMA. His record is nearly irelevant to the contribution he has made to MMA. Try winning 2 belts NOW and I dont believe it will be possible for a little while, or until Jones decides to move to HW and keep the LHW belt...The Spyder may have before but not now, IMO the champs that sit atop their respective divisions are the best of the best and every weight class bar MW (an observation!) is reaaaaaaal tough!
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
BJ isn't best of all time, he is among the greats of the sport but he isn't quite up there with Anderson Silva, simply due to too many losses. Similar to Coulture, they both won titles at two different divisions and put in some amazing memorable performances but in the end the cold hard facts show others are better.
Bones506
Roar Guru
I think it is very hard to go past Silva or GSP for the best pound for pound. The results speak for themselves. GSP (23 from 25) has lost to Serra and Hughes (A UFC Hall of Famer - there are only 9) and after losing to Serra he came back and has won 10 on the trot and beaten both Hughes and Serra. He also wants it every time he gets in the ring after losing to Serra. He trains like he is the challenger. BJ has often been guilty of not training hard enough or prepping himself properly. GSP is also still on 31 so he has plenty of good years left in him. Silva is 37 and is 33 from 37. BJ is 16 from 26. Still a very good record in UFC terms given the brutaility of it. GSP vs Silva will be the bog fight of 2013
Bones506
Roar Guru
BJ is an amazing fighter and athlete. I remember watching his training before a fight and how tecnical it was. They re-worked on his body from the feet up. They had him balancing on smaller rollers catching and throwing a ball. The training techniques used are really revolutionary.
CBDoggz4lyfe
Guest
I will always be a fan of BJ no doubt. He feels his legacy has been dwindled by his recent performances but that would be based on newer fans unaware of the foundations he has laid down prior to 2006 (UFC's breakout year IMO) To the old school fans he will always be the prodigy! and he is only "33".. however I hope in ALL hope that he is in better shape than he is saying at the moment..thats the key otherwise its like a legendary old footballer, the mind and the intuition is still there but the body doesnt do what it use to and against RM it may be a very brutal ending. BTW I dislike Rory Mac because I can. No disrespect to his skills which he has but just dont think he is all that
DJ
Guest
sorry, but BJ is goin to get ragdolled by Macdonald... a MUCH MUCH bigger man... I like BJ too,but we've heard all this before abouthim being in the best shape of his life etc etc...
Ronnie Liddle
Roar Rookie
cheers bro. yep agreed about Dan thoughts. Remember a couple years ago - GSP, Hughes and BJ all where all trying to fight each other at the same time? Someone got injured and the odd man stepped up straight away. that was awesome when that was going on. on a side note: i wonder about Chael and his UFC promotion? love or hate him fighting for the title next but what happens to Chael if he gets destroyed in LHW? move back to middle weight? good chance it will happen... he'll be a gatekeeper in two divisions.
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
Great article, BJ is one of my favourite fighters too. He never shies away from a challenge and he always fights aggressively, in short he is a model fighter. His run through the lightweight division was amazing,he didn't just beat his opponents, he totally destroyed them, none of his opponents have been the same fighters since and I think a lot comes back to how BJ disposed of them. I bet Dana wishes more of his champs were like BJ too, look at how Jon Jones shirked from Chael Sennen and how GSP is now quibbling about a super fight at middleweight or a catch weight in between. When BJ was asked to fight up he just got in with the job, believing his skills could carry him.