Rewind to 2008, when B.J. Penn was on top of the lightweight world.
B.J. Penn is fighting Dennis Siver in the opening main card bout of UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs. Lee in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. That’s honestly a really sad sentence to type. Penn hasn’t won a fight since 2010, and Siver hasn’t finished a fight since literally a week before Penn’s last win.
Let’s remember B.J. Penn in happier times, back when he ruled the roost at lightweight. He was The Progidy The Progigy The Prodidy The Prodigy. Penn took on Sean Sherk in the UFC 84 main event on Memorial Day Weekend in 2008, and electrified the crowd with a sensational flying knee, followed by several lightning-quick punches as round 3 drew to a close. Penn was quicker to rightly declare the fight over than Mario Yamasaki (so no surprise there, really). It’s the UFC’s KO of the Week, and you can watch it at the top of the page.
Here’s Brent Brookhouse’s play-by-play of the entire 3rd round.
Round 3 – This is where Sherk needs to step it up…lets see if he can do it. More of the same for the first thirty seconds. Left hook lands for Sherk. Penn shoots for a takedown. Then lands a few crisp strikes. Less action over the next minute. Low kick lands hard for BJ. Sherk needs to change things up…like now. Sherk is shaking out his right hand…we may have a broken hand situation. Thirty seconds left in the round and this is a good time to try out a takedown. Penn with a huge knee that drops Sherk and several punches and Sherk was almost out but he is saved by the bell. …actually no he isn’t. It looks like they are stopping the fight. I’m not sure what happened, but it is all over. BJ Penn remains the UFC Lightweight Champion. BJ Penn wins by TKO Round 3.
UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs. Lee airs live on Fox Sports 1 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on Sunday, June 25th from the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Penn vs. Siver will be contested at featherweight.