By now, any fan of any sort of fighting knows the biggest fight in the history of mixed martial arts is coming up Saturday. For the first time in the history of the UFC, it will pit two of its champions against each other.
And not just any two champions, but two fighters considered to be top-5 pound-for-pound fighters. Lightweight Champion BJ "The Prodigy" Penn will move up weight classes to face Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre in a rematch from 2006.
This will be the first part in a four-part series that will conclude Saturday before UFC 94. Here is a list of things to expect: 1. BJ Penn feature 2. GSP feature 3. The first meeting 4. Predicitions
The rise of a "Prodigy"
BJ Penn was born in Kailua, Hawaii on December 13, 1978. He grew up in a family where his father and three brothers, along with himself, sported the name Jay Dee Penn. To help differentiate between one another, BJ adopted the name "Baby Jay" since he was the youngest and has gone by BJ ever since.
As far as his fighting career goes, it started when he was 17. After training under Ralph Gracie and Andre Pederneiras for five years, Penn earned the nickname "Prodigy." 2000 was his breakout year, becoming the first non-Brazilian to win the World Ju-Jitsu Championship in the black belt division. He was 22 years old.
The world championship brought immediate hype to Penn, and before he even made his UFC debut, he was considered one of the best lightweight fighters in the world. Penn exploded onto the scene in May 2001, knocking out Joey Gilbert. The same Joey Glibert who boasts a 16-1 professional boxing record and competed on The Contender. Yeah, that's an impressive debut.
The win already had fans talking about an eventual showdown with lightweight king Jens Pulver. Penn had two more explosive wins that year against top fighters Din Thomas and Caol Uno. His violent finishes earned him a shot at Jens Pulver, one of the most anticipated UFC fights since the organization switched ownership to Zuffa.
The result of the fight with Pulver would lead fans to tag Penn with a stigma he carries to this day.
After a five round war with Pulver, Penn lost a majority decision and was clearly the more tired of the two. From that fight on, fans questioned Penn's stamina, and people still point to Penn's stamina as his only true weakness.
Penn would go on to fight three more times in the UFC, defeating Paul Creighton, Matt Serra and fighting to a draw with Caol Uno. Penn left the UFC after the fight with Uno because the organization suspended the division. Even with all of his tremendous performances, I would say his greatest moment is when he called out Satan, and then later called him a coward for not ever showing up.
From "Prodigy" to "Present"
Penn started his post-UFC career with questions swirling all around him. People did not know if he would be able to fight in marquee matches outside of the UFC and establish himself as one of the best lightweights in the world. Penn answered that question in his first fight out.
The "Prodigy" beat the man considered to be the No. 1 lightweight in the world, Takanori Gomi, via rear naked choke. While that was an impressive performance, the world just got a preview of what Penn had in store next.
With no lightweight division in the UFC, Penn decided to move up to the welterweight division and challenge the man considered to be the best fighter in the world, Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes. Most people, including me, thought Penn had a snowball's chance in hell against the much stronger Hughes. Four minutes into the fight, Hughes was tapping from a rear naked choke and Penn was having the welterweight title strapped around his waist.
Unfortunately, he never defended the title because he could not agree on a new contract. All Penn did after that was go to Japan and beat Duane Ludwig and then moved up again in weight class and beat Rodrigo Gracie as a middleweight.
Penn bit off a little more than he could chew when he challenged light heavyweight Lyoto Machida, who is 50 pounds more than Penn's natural fighting weight. Penn lost a unanimous decision.
That impressive streak of fights changed Penn from a prodigy of his sport to the master of his sport.
Becoming a champion
For as dominant as Penn was throughout his young career, he only won the one title and never defended it. UFC brought back its lightweight division and Penn came back with it, though he opted to stay in the welterweight division, which proved to be a mistake.
Penn suffered back-to-back losses against two of the best fighters in the UFC, Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. His loss to St. Pierre was debatable, but his loss to Hughes once again showed Penn lacked stamina in championship contests.
Penn dropped back down to his home in the lightweight division and immediately avenged his loss to Pulver. The performance was one of Penn's most inspiring, reassuring fans he was still the man to beat. Penn went on to have brutal and beautiful wins over top ranked fighters Joe Stevenson and Sean Sherk , becoming lightweight champion along the way.
Penn has never looked better. His boxing is some of the best in all of MMA and he is still one of the best submission artists in the game. His legacy could be made Saturday night.
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