BJ "The Prodigy" Penn

 

Born	Kailua, HI, USA
Fighting out of	Hilo, Hawaii
Age	29
Height	5' 9" (175 cm)
Weight	155 lbs. (70 kg)
Overall MMA Record (W-L-D)	14-4-1
Strengths	Excellent submissions, strong standup

 

In 2000 Penn became the first non-Brazilian to win a gold medal in the black belt division of the Mundial World Championships. And it was his accomplishments in Jiu-Jitsu World Championships that would catch the attention of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he began his mixed martial arts career less than a year later. After winning his first 3 fights, including an impressive 11 second knock out of lightweight Caol Uno, Penn's career with the UFC seemed to be going from strength to strength.

In early 2002, less than a year after entering the UFC, Penn was offered a title shot at then champion Jens Pulver at UFC 35: Throwdown. Penn battled on lasting the full 5 rounds, only to lose by majority decision. 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.

The crowning achievement of Penn's career came 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. Heavily regarded as the underdog, Penn won the fight four minutes into the first round by rear naked choke. However shortly after defeating Hughes, the new champion signed to fight in the K-1 organization, a decision which resulted in Penn being stripped of his title.

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. However, after new contender St. Pierre injured himself during training it was announced that Penn would replace him in upcoming title fight, resulting in a highly anticipated rematch between Penn and former rival Matt Huges, at UFC 63. 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. A loss which saw Penn drop back to lightweight division, where he is now reigning champion after a monumental battle with Joe "Daddy" Stephenson at UFC 80 in January 2008. With this win, Penn became only the second man to win UFC titles in two different weight classes.

The UFC announced that Penn's first title defence would be against former champion Sean Sherk at UFC 84 on May 24th, 2008. In the closing seconds of the third round, Penn threw a punch that backed Sherk into the cage, and ducking under another punch, he was hit in the head by a left knee from Penn. Sherk went down and Penn continued attacking, but the round ended before the referee stopped the fight. However, Sherk was unable to continue and Penn was declared the victor by TKO.