For as long as there has been a lightweight division BJ Penn has been regarded as the best in the world. But despite nearly 10 years of dominance there have always been questions as to whether Penn has truly fulfilled his potential in MMA.
At Saturday's UFC 118 Penn will answer his critics as he faces champion Frankie Edgar in Boston. Penn's lost his title to Edgar at UFC 112 in April and the defeat was a typcial Penn perfomance, according to his doubters — losing a big match that he should have won against an opponent that was widely regarded as inferior.
Luckily he has an immediate opportunity to put this latest misstep behind him, with the UFC giving him an instant rematch.
Prior to his UFC 112 loss, Penn had only two blemishes on his record at 155 pounds, a shock defeat to Jens Pulver in 2002 and a surprising draw against Caol Uno in 2003. While both were regarded as flukes against inferior opposition, the fact that they occurred in his first two shots at the lightweight title suggested a tendency to underperform in the biggest matches.
Any doubts about Penn’s ability to perform on the biggest stage, should have been disproven in 2004 when he defeated Matt Hughes to win the welterweight title, a victory all the more remarkable given the difference in size between the two. But Penn’s behavior has cast doubt on whether he had the concentration to put together the type of run that distinguish dominant champions such as Frank Shamrock from those who had fleeting success. Eventually vacating his newly won title without defending it, he would spend the next two years in exile fighting in interesting but largely meaningless fights.
His return to the UFC in 2006 would prove that he had no long-term future at welterweight with Penn losing to Georges St-Pierre and Hughes. It would be at lightweight where he would find success, first avenging his original defeat to Pulver and then finally becoming champion after defeating Joe Stevenson to win the vacant title. He would go on to successfully defend it against former champion Sean Sherk to prove his superiority at 155 pounds.
However once again he would allow himself to be distracted, mistakenly challenge St-Pierre for the welterweight title, with the Canadian becoming the first man to stop Penn after brutally mauling the significantly smaller Hawaiian in 2009.
In the aftermath of this defeat, Penn was criticized being so willingly diverted from defending his own world title. Worse his famous lack of enthusiasm for training became the fashionable explanation for his inferior conditioning and cardio. Some openly doubted Penn’s ability to comeback from such a devastating loss.
Penn set about proving the doubters wrong by rededicating himself to defending his lightweight championship. He would comfortably win his next two title defenses within the distance, outclassing Kenny Florian at UFC 101 and brutally mauling Diego Sanchez at UFC 107. Fans and commentators wondered whether anybody would be able to wrest the title away from Penn.
His next challenger Edgar was derided as being unworthy and installed as an 8-1 underdog. But in one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history, Edgar was able to use his superior speed and conditioning to outpoint and outwork the champion.
But that was then. A victory against Edgar at UFC 118 would confirm that his defeat at UFC 112 was just another lapse in concentration and that Penn is still the world’s greatest lightweight. Should he lose then Edgar would become the first lightweight to hold two victories over Penn and be widely regarded as the best lightweight fighter in the world
Defeat will probably lead many people to judge BJ Penn as somebody who did not make the most of his genius for fighting. Victory won’t disprove that but it’s the first crucial step toward Penn finally putting together the run of victories that sees him fulfill his potential to not just be a gifted fighter but to be one of the greatest champions of all time.
