#3
B.J. Penn
“The Prodigy”
Summary: Excellent submissions, strong standup
Fighter Info
Nickname: | The Prodigy |
From: | Kailua, HI USA |
Age: | 32 |
Height: | 5' 9" ( 175 cm ) |
Weight: | 170 lb ( 77 kg ) |
In 1997 Penn began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ralph Gracie, eventually earning his purple belt from Gracie.[8] At that point he moved to Nova União where he was eventually awarded his black belt in 2000 by Andre Pederneiras.[8] A few weeks later he became the first non-Brazilian to win the black-belt division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[9] While Penn's most well-known and prestigious achievement was placing first in the black belt division in the 2000 world championships, he had success at the Mundials in previous years. In 1999, at the age of 20, Penn finished 3rd in the brown belt division, losing only to Fernando Terere.
While most people need a decade or more to become a black belt, Penn had, with only three years of training, not only received a black belt but defeated people who had been training their entire lives on his way to winning the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.[10] Penn is thought to have earned the fastest black belt of all active Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.
His accomplishments in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship caught the attention of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which convinced him to switch to MMA.[11] Penn made his mixed martial arts debut with the company on May 24, 2001 with a win over Joey Gilbert at UFC 31.[11] He then demonstrated strong striking skills, knocking out lightweights Din Thomas and Caol Uno before suffering a decision loss in a championship fight against UFC Lightweight Champion, Jens Pulver.[10][12] In 2003, after Pulver left the UFC and relinquished his title, a tournament to crown a new champion flopped when Penn fought Uno to a draw in the finals at UFC 41, a failure which caused the UFC to later suspend its lightweight division.[10] Penn bounced back later in the year with a victory over Takanori Gomi, future Pride Fighting Championship Lightweight Champion, in Rumble on the Rock, an MMA organization promoted by Penn's brother.[10]
Penn received his first MMA championship in 2004 at UFC 46. Penn jumped up in weight classes to challenge the five-time defending UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes to fill a title contention slot in a division where Hughes had already defeated all the available opposition.[citation needed] Heavily favored to win,[citation needed] Hughes lost the fight four minutes into the first round by rear naked choke after giving up his back with only 23 seconds left in the round.
Shortly after defeating Hughes, Penn signed to fight for the Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group's (FEG) K-1 promotion citing a lack of challenging fights left for him in the UFC.[10] The UFC promptly stripped him of the welterweight title, claiming Penn breached his contract and that the signing constituted him refusing to defend his title. Penn filed a suit against the UFC and publicized his side of the conflict, claiming his UFC contract had already expired. Penn filed a motion to stop the UFC from awarding a new welterweight title, but that motion was denied.[13][14]
In his first fight for FEG, Penn fought again at welterweight (170 pounds) and defeated Duane Ludwig at the 2004 K-1 MMA Romanex show in under five minutes by arm triangle choke.[2] Following the Ludwig fight, Penn moved up in weight class to face the undefeated Rodrigo Gracie at middleweight (185 pounds).[15] Penn won by decision, extending his winning streak to four fights.[8]
On March 26, 2005, at the inaugural event of FEG's new MMA promotion Hero's, Penn faced light heavyweight Lyoto Machida, losing by unanimous decision at K-1 Hero's 1. The fight happened at an open weight class with Penn weighing in at 86.5 kilograms (191 lb) and Machida 102 kilograms (220 lb).[16] Later that year at K-1 World Grand Prix Hawaii, Penn returned to middleweight to face Renzo Gracie and won by unanimous decision.
In early 2006 at UFC 56, UFC president Dana White announced that Penn and the UFC had agreed to a settlement and Penn was to return as a top welterweight contender. Penn re-debuted on March 4 at UFC 58, losing to Georges St. Pierre by split decision in a fight that determined the number one welterweight contender.
Hughes and Penn before their rematch at UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn
After new top contender St. Pierre injured himself during training, the UFC announced that Penn would replace St. Pierre in an upcoming title fight, setting up a highly anticipated rematch with Hughes for UFC 63 on September 23, 2006. In the bout, Penn controlled the first two rounds, but sustained a rib injury during the scramble to take Hughes' back in round two. He was visibly different in the third round, appearing exhausted and missing punches he was landing earlier. Hughes was able to take Penn to the mat, and in side control crucifix position rained punches on Penn's head until referee "Big" John McCarthy stopped the fight at 3:53 of the third round, making this the first time that Penn had been stopped in a fight. In an interview found on Penn's personal website, Penn stated that by round three he could hardly breathe and had no "mobility in his core."[18] Despite the injury, Penn congratulated Hughes, calling him a great fighter and saying he deserved the victory.
Penn was a coach for The Ultimate Fighter 5, which aired on April 5, 2007. Penn lead a team of eight lightweight fighters, and fought a rematch against Jens Pulver at the conclusion of the series on June 23, 2007. He won with a rear naked choke in the second round after controlling Pulver from the mount and then taking Pulver's back.[ Although he held the choke for a moment after Pulver tapped out, the two then embraced,[22] with both later saying they no longer held any ill will against each other.[20]
On July 7, 2007, during the post-fight press conference of UFC 73, UFC president Dana White announced that Penn would stay at lightweight to fight current UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk. However, Sean Sherk subsequently was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission, and the status of the possible title fight was left in limbo as he pursued his appeals.[23] With Sherk's title status still in limbo after months of hearings, the UFC scheduled Penn to fight Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 on January 19, 2008 for an interim lightweight title.[24] The subsequent final decision by the California State Athletic Commission, which did not overturn Sherk's suspension, led to the title being stripped from Sherk and the Penn-Stevenson fight being upgraded to a full title bout, with the winner facing Sherk in their first defense.
Penn knocked Stevenson down seconds into the first round with a right uppercut, then took Stevenson down, delivering a well placed elbow from the top position that inflicted a serious cut near Stevenson's hairline. In the second round, Stevenson fought more aggressively but was still unable to threaten Penn. Penn worked to back mount and defeated him by rear naked choke at 4:02 of the second round to win the Lightweight Championship. He celebrated the win by licking Joe Stevenson's blood off of his gloves. The win for Penn was awarded Beatdown of the Year by Sherdog for 2008. With this win, Penn became the second man (after Randy Couture) to win UFC titles in two different weight classes.
On May 24, 2008 at UFC 84 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Penn fought former champion Sean Sherk in his first title defense bout. Sherk attempted to take Penn down only once (in the first round), instead the fighters traded punches and leg kicks for the remainder of the fight. Penn landed jabs several times, utilizing his reach advantage over Sherk. In the closing seconds of the third round, Penn threw a punch and a hook that backed Sherk into the cage. Sherk then ducked under another punch - possibly to shoot for a takedown - when he was hit in the head by a flush flying left knee from Penn. Sherk went down and Penn continued with strikes, but the round ended before the referee stopped the fight. However, Sherk was unable to continue and Penn was declared the victor by TKO (strikes). After the fight, in response a question by Joe Rogan about his future, Penn asked the crowd if they wanted to see him fight Georges St. Pierre and was answered with a loud ovation. Later, Penn told Fighters Club TV that he would face the winner of UFC 87 Welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Jon Fitch, which St-Pierre ended up winning by unanimous decision. St-Pierre's victory led to the scheduling of BJ's next fight as a Welterweight Championship fight.
Penn challenged Georges St-Pierre for St-Pierre's welterweight title on January 31, 2009, the night before the Super Bowl. The date led UFC 94 to be billed as the "UFC Super Bowl Weekend," and it was anticipated to be the biggest UFC pay-per-view event ever. Before the fight with St-Pierre, Penn made a controversial comment that he was going to try and kill St-Pierre in the ring,[31] but he later explained that he was speaking figuratively.
The first round of the fight was somewhat even, with Penn exercising elusive head movement, fast hands and good take-down defense, thwarting all of St-Pierre's take-down attempts while both exchanged punches. In the ensuing three rounds, however, Penn turned out a lackluster performance. St-Pierre scored his first take-down of the night midway through the second round, and by the end of the round Penn was visibly tired. At the start of round three, St-Pierre landed a "superman punch" that bloodied Penn's nose and shortly took Penn down again. From that point on, St-Pierre took Penn down almost at will, repeatedly passed Penn's renowned guard, and persistently punished the Hawaiian with a ground-and-pound attack.[33] Penn later admitted that he could not recall anything that happened during the 3rd and 4th rounds because "I was probably borderline knocked out or something."[34] At the end of the fourth round, after more of St-Pierre's ground-and-pound onslaught, Penn's brother requested that the referee stop the fight. After the fight, Penn failed to attend the post-fight press conference due to having stayed in the hospital. Subsequently in an interview he revealed that had he won, he would have retired "on top", while holding the lightweight and the welterweight belts.
A controversy arose during the fight as St-Pierre's corner-men were spotted rubbing St-Pierre's back immediately after applying Vaseline to his face. Members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) came into the octagon and wiped St-Pierre's torso down, though no significant amounts of Vaseline were discovered. After the fight, on ESPN's MMA show, St-Pierre claimed that the rubbing was part of a routine to line up his energy for improved breathing, and he apologized for any Vaseline that may have been transferred to his body. Penn, however, sent a formal request to the NSAC, asking them to investigate. Despite all of the complaints by the Penn camp, the NSAC took no action.
In response to the incident, the rules of the UFC were modified so that only the official "cut men" would be allowed to have or apply Vaseline to the fighters. The procedures governing the transition from the fighters walk-in to the cage and while in the cage were also changed. Previously, fighters would walk up next to the cage, see the cut man who would apply Vaseline, be checked by the referee, and then have an opportunity to speak with or hug their coaches or cornermen before entering the cage. To prevent an opportunity for the fighters to have Vaseline applied illicitly, fighters now must first part from any company, have Vaseline applied by the cut man, be checked by the referee, and then go directly to the cage. Finally, no cornermen will be allowed to have Vaseline in the cage between rounds. In this way, the fighter's contact with Vaseline is fully controlled by the cut men and referee, who work independently for the UFC.
UFC President Dana White said that the incident had no effect on the outcome of the fight although he wished the incident had not happened. In his first post-fight interview Penn spoke of his belief that if St-Pierre were found to have been "greased" he would lose all respect for him, while admitting that "[I] definitely got my butt kicked." Penn claims that before the match he warned the NSAC that St-Pierre might use grease intentionally. St-Pierre responded to the allegations by offering to fight a rematch against Penn. Penn went on record as accepting the offer for a re-match. Following his informal acceptance of a proposed second rematch, Penn filed a formal complaint with Nevada State Athletic Commission seeking to prevent St-Pierre from fighting by suspending St-Pierre's fighter's license. In addition, Penn requested the suspension of St-Pierre's cornermen, Greg Jackson and Phil Nurse, a fine of $250,000, and overturning the result of the fight to a no-contest. The NSAC has since then instituted new rules that will not allow foreign substances in the cage, coined "The BJ Penn Rule" by some of the NSAC officials.
Penn began negotiations to fight Kenny Florian in the summer of 2009.[34] The Florian-Penn title fight was scheduled for UFC 99, but BJ Penn requested more time off after his fight with GSP. He defended his title against Florian on August 8, 2009 at UFC 101. Penn looked noticeably in better physical shape than his previous outings at 155 lbs and negated any sort of takedown offense from Florian the entire match despite his opponent's persistence in grappling and engaging the clinch.
On his feet, Penn avoided virtually any damage, constantly stuffing or evading any attempts of a left high kick, punches, or elbows from Florian when the two departed from the clinch. In a measured performance, Penn preferred to pace himself in his standup, occasionally showing explosive bursts of striking up until the fourth round, where he executed a powerful takedown and quickly assumed the half guard position, punishing the contender with elbows until gaining the full mount, where punches followed to continue the ground and pound assault from the BJJ specialist.
A scramble ensued, where Florian gave up his back twice but was unable to escape Penn's mount, the second time Penn took his opponent's back, he looked to trap Florian's arm with one of his legs (a trademark and a testament to his flexibility, he used this technique to finish former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver in their second meeting), but was unable to do so, instead striking the liver of Florian with his heel, which eventually led Penn to secure a rear naked choke at 3:45 of the fourth round to defend his lightweight championship title.
Penn fought Diego Sanchez for the UFC Lightweight Championship on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107. Penn negated virtually any offense from the contender, exercising good footwork and elusive head movement whilst remaining flawless in his takedown defense on 27 attempts from Sanchez. He stalked his opponent for large periods of the match and stunned Sanchez early, dropping him; following up with multiple clean shots, which Sanchez showed good durability in weathering.
Penn, showing good conditioning for the duration of the bout, continued to stuff all takedowns, punches and left high kicks from Sanchez and dominated with aggressive bursts of striking throughout. He hurt Sanchez several times, until finally rocking him with a flurry in the final round, swarming to finish the combo with a right high kick. The kick opened up a huge cut on Sanchez's forehead above his left eye, causing the fight to be halted on doctor's advice at 2:47 of the fifth round with a TKO. The performance marked the third occasion Penn had successfully finished a fight in defending his UFC Lightweight Championship.
Later during the post-fight press conference UFC President Dana White told the media he was proud of Penn's willingness to take MMA more seriously in his training when earlier he felt Penn had coasted through the UFC solely on natural talent.
Penn's next defense was on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112 against Frankie Edgar. Despite being an overwhelming favorite coming into the fight, Penn lost the closely contested bout by unanimous decision. After the fight, Penn congratulated Edgar on winning the belt and claimed that he had not felt quite right in the octagon. A report arose from his camp, saying, "He was battling a sinus infection and was on anti-biotics."
Penn fought Edgar in a rematch at UFC 118. During the bout he was taken down three times during the first two rounds - and though Penn took Edgar down twice in the final two rounds - Edgar was able to negate his ground offense and control the fight with good movement and striking combinations. All three judges scored the fight 50-45 for Edgar.
Penn fought welterweight Matt Hughes at UFC 123 in a rubber match after their previous two fights at UFC 46 and UFC 63. Penn defeated Hughes in 21 seconds of the first round by knockout after flooring Hughes with a right hand and following that punch with additional strikes on the mat. Penn earned knockout of the night honors for his performance.
Following the UFC 123 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said that Penn would fight top welterweight contender Jon Fitch at UFC 127 in Australia in his next fight. Penn trained with Matt Hughes and Floyd Mayweather, Sr. in preparation for the fight. The fight ended in a draw. He stated that he would gladly have a rematch in the foreseeable future.
A rematch with Fitch was expected to take place on July 2, 2011 at UFC 132, but in late March Fitch pulled out of the bout with an injury. Penn has also pulled out of UFC 132.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.J._Penn
