In the sport of mixed martial arts, fight fans understandably want to see their beloved fighters and former champions attempt to achieve glory late in their careers or after an extended period of time away from the sport.
But as we’ve seen time and time again, the fight game, especially the UFC, is often unforgiving, and rarely does it offer fighters the storybook ending they had hoped for.
That was recently the case with 38-year-old BJ Penn, a former lightweight and welterweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer who returned to action for the first time since July 2014 in the main event of this past weekend’s (Jan. 15, 2017) UFC Fight Night 103 from Phoenix, Arizona.
Penn, who hasn’t won a fight since 2010, was matched up with surging 24-year-old prospect Yair Rodriguez, an explosive kicker with lightning speed. At this stage of Penn’s career, the fight was clearly a bad match-up for him, but that didn’t stop the excitement building inside of fans as the event approached.
“The Prodigy” had brought in the help of legendary trainers Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn to prepare for the bout. He had also reunited with longtime boxing coach Jason Parillo. Leading up to the fight, Penn seemed motivated, saying that he was returning because he could and that fighting was his life.
It was this aura surrounding the former two-division world champion that ignited hope into the minds and hearts of his faithful fan base. While it seemed like a daunting task for Penn to take out Rodriguez, deep down, fans of the Hawaiian were hoping that we would see a resurrection of Penn from his prime; a crisp and powerful boxer who possessed some of the best jiu-jitsu in the world.
He was a savage who licked the blood off of his gloves after dispatching an opponent with the type of finishing ability that embodied the sprit of a warrior, which Penn was and always will be.
But perhaps we should’ve known better. Did Penn, at this stage of his career, really have what it took to topple Rodriguez?
It turned out he didn’t, as the Hawaiian was rocked and battered throughout the first round of the fight before being finished early in the second. His toughness was on full display as usual, but in the end, that just wasn’t even close to enough in today’s fast-paced, cutthroat MMA world.
“The Prodigy’s” fighting future is currently unclear. In the aftermath of the bout, many had called for his retirement, but only he can decide when to hang up the gloves for good. If this is the end for Penn, however, the harsh realities of the fight game were once again on full display.
Looking to erase the memories of his recent losing skid, Penn was only met with the unforgiving nature of the sport he had once ruled. Rather then deliver Penn the storybook ending he was likely hoping for, the fight game smacked Penn in the face with the fact that time waits for no man.
This isn’t the first time this has been seen either, as many of the legends from Penn’s era were met with the same reality.
Revered former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell lost five of his last six bouts with his last three losses coming by way of stoppage before he retired in 2010. Former longtime welterweight champion Matt Hughes was also knocked out twice in a row before calling it quits in 2011.
Former 170-pound king Georges St. Pierre is one of the few fighters to leave the game on his own terms, and even he has been contemplating a return to action over the last year.
As far as Penn’s career goes, nothing can be taken away from him. His demolitions of Joe Stevenson and Diego Sanchez were brutal and iconic and his stoppages over Hughes, Sean Sherk, Jens Pulver, and Kenny Florian were legendary.
Penn’s accomplishments will always speak for themselves, and the memories he has left fight fans with will live on forever, but the storybook ending he was longing for seems nowhere to be found. His return to action in 2017 reminded fight fans of some brutal truths that we often like to dismiss in the presence of a heart-warming and nostalgic story.
Time catches up to all in MMA, however, and the fight game once again left its mark on another revered legend last weekend.
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