During his banishment from the UFC, BJ Penn was something of a ronin, taking fights where he could face interesting opponents no matter the weight class. Of all of these fights, none is more impressive than Penn, a legitimate lightweight, taking on Lyoto Machida, a legitimate light heavyweight. That’s a 50 pound differential.
What’s probably most impressive is how well Penn did against not just any larger opponent, but a top-tier 205-pounder. Machida took the unanimous decision and is still undefeated two years later.
The FightMetric report on the fight between Penn and Machida shows just how well Penn did. For starters, Penn got cracked by several huge shots in the clinch…and was completely unfazed. Though wild with his stand-up striking, he landed more HiPer Strikes than Machida.
Using the ten-point must system, FightMetric gives the fight to Penn 29-28. Overall, the effectiveness scores favor Machida 185-183, which is within FightMetric’s margin of error. That means Penn effectively got a draw against one of the top five light heavyweights in the world. And when you think about it, that’s pretty ridiculous.
This report also marks the debut of our new report format. What you’ll be seeing in the future is the ability to house complete stats for multiple fights in a single presentation. Currently, only our TPR Reports have the ability to display limited stats for several fights at once. Take a look, give it a test-run and if you have any comments, feel free to send them to us at [email protected].
Source:BJ Penn is Ridiculous