BJ Penn is one of my favorite fighters to watch. Whenever he’s fighting on a card you can guarantee that I’ll be watching. That “Just Scrap” mentality is a perfect definition of the prodigy. He’s willing to throw down with anyone, anywhere, and anytime.
He’s also blessed with tremendous natural talent and physical ability. He was able to earn his black belt in Jiu-Jitsu after only three years of training and was the first non-Brazilian to ever win the black-belt division at the prestigious Mundial tournament. Along with being a natural at Jiu-Jitsu, he also has incredible flexibility and dexterity, lightning fast hand speed and a granite chin.
However, human nature tells us that it can be natural to slack off at times when you are blessed with the amount of talent that Penn possesses. He is frequently criticized for taking fights lightly or not putting in the necessary time and effort to prepare himself for a fight. He even mentioned himself that he used to try and see how little he could train and still win fights at the same time.
Although he may have the perfect mentality to fight, these characteristics can be a recipe for disaster. Fans of the Prodigy defend him to the end and always say that an in-shape BJ can hang with anyone and that if BJ was in shape he would have won the fights that he lost. When great champions are mentioned, his name is one of the first that comes to people’s minds.
However, is that recognition and reputation as one of the greatest champions deserved?
Penn, along with Randy Couture, is one of only two men in UFC history to win championships in two different weight classes. While this is an incredible feat, a closer look at his record in title fights leaves something to be desired. Penn is 5-5-1 in championship fights and is 0-1-1 in what can be deemed No. 1 contender fights.
Penn lost to Jens Pulver in his first shot at UFC gold and then battled to a draw with Caol Uno in his second attempt. After a win over Takanori Gomi at Rumble on the Rock he returned to the UFC and was granted an immediate match with welterweight champion Matt Hughes where he won the welterweight championship.
Those were the days of the UFC where title shots were handed out rather arbitrarily and when there weren’t a lot of contenders that one had to go through.
After a contract dispute that saw Penn leave the UFC, he returned to face Georges St-Pierre at UFC 58 where he lost a close split-decision. Despite the loss he was still granted a rematch with Hughes when St-Pierre suffered an injury. Penn lost the rematch with Hughes and subsequently returned to the lightweight division, where he was finally able to win the lightweight belt on his third try with a submission victory over Joe Stevenson.
He then defeated Sean Sherk in his first defense of the lightweight belt, lost a rematch to St-Pierre at welterweight, returned to defend the lightweight belt twice against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez before dropping two in a row to Frankie Edgar. Penn then returned to welterweight to knock out Matt Hughes in 23 seconds and in a No. 1 contender fight, fought Jon Fitch to a draw.
There is no doubt that Penn is a truly gifted athlete and the fact that he won titles in two different weight classes is a tremendous accomplishment. However, it took him three attempts to win the lightweight belt, he never defended his welterweight title and only possesses a .500 winning percentage in title fights.
On top of that, he never really had to earn some of the title shots he’s been given and hasn’t emerged victorious in either of the No. 1 contender fights he’s fought in. Granted, there have been some controversial fights, such as the first St-Pierre fight and the first Edgar fight, but it’s extremely difficult to look at that 5-5-1 record and declare that he is one of the greatest champions in the sport’s history.
It looks even less impressive when one takes into account what other fighters had to do before they were granted title shots. Georges St-Pierre had to go through Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk and Penn before he was given a second shot at the belt and Chuck Liddell had to wait years before he was given a shot at the interim title against Randy Couture.
While I don’t for one second dispute Penn’s talent and what he’s capable of, it does seem as though his record in championship fights is less than stellar and there are certainly fighters that should be mentioned before him when the discussion of all-time greatest champions is brought up.
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