BJ Penn: Crossroads
Posted by Dave Walsh on February 1st, 2009
Last night we saw a dominant Georges St. Pierre take on the much hyped BJ Penn in what was an unprecedented champion vs. champion bout. This was Dana White’s gift to both the company and to BJ Penn, the unstoppable Lightweight Champion who had always wanted to prove his meddle in higher weight classes. As part of BJ “playing nice” he would receive a rematch with Georges St. Pierre.
There was a lot of talk leading into the fight, and there will be a lot of talk about the fallout of the fight. Sadly, a lot of what I’ve been seeing today revolves around one of St. Pierre’s cornermen wiping down his body with vaseline after wiping his face with it. While I understand Penn’s camp and why they are complaining, I think what it comes down to is a matter of pride. Vaseline on a fighter, even if wiped off with a towel isn’t just going to disappear. It isn’t water soluble, hence why it is applied to a fighter’s face; the sweat won’t affect it too badly. We all know that after a while it does, and hey, maybe BJ’s complaint is a legitimate one, who knows?
The bigger issue is how both men look coming out of the fight. Greasy or not, St. Pierre showed that a strong strategy, imposing his will and his athleticism were enough to overcome any foe. St. Pierre has immense strength for somebody his weight, his wrestling is without match and every part of his game is complete. He knew how dangerous BJ was and respected his abilities, that is why we saw the fight we saw. He respected Penn’s boxing and his jiu-jitsu, so he quickly found ways to break them down. Instead of clashing with Penn, he met with Penn and let himself flow. He worked with Penn to frustrate him and then began to impose his will.
People are going to be harsh on Penn for a while, because it was a monumental beating. Penn can always claim that he couldn’t hold his guard or improve his position due to the substance on St. Pierre’s body, but the truth is, there just wasn’t much he could do against a bigger opponent like St. Pierre. I respect the ideal of a martial artist and size not making a difference. Maybe under a different ruleset this would be true, but in MMA/Unified Rules, weight matters. Penn can look pudgy at 155lbs, never mind fighting at 170lbs.
This loss shouldn’t take away from any of Penn’s accomplishments. It is still clear that there are not many fighters at 155lbs that can challenge him, never mind defeat him. Penn is a very proud fighter and has been dubbed one of the best ever since he first appeared in the UFC. In the past his training was always suspect, but at this point Penn is training, he is trying, one can only imagine the blow this defeat was. Simply being defeated by St. Pierre would have bruised his ego, but 4 rounds of domination and having his corner call the fight in between rounds has to be soul crushing.
BJ Penn was humbled on Saturday night, period. He was humbled by a man that was bigger, stronger and better prepared. What we have seen in the past few years is the rise of the fighters like Georges St. Pierre, the ones with the training camps all over the world who are always looking for somebody better to train them and they have been the success stories. While a few fighters who stick to their guns have remained unchallenged (Fedor for example), they are exceptions to the rule. We’ve seen fighters like Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Shogun Rua continue to train the same way and to make the same mistakes. While BJ Penn has a good camp at home, sometimes you simply evolve beyond your base camp and need to look elsewhere. You don’t have to leave, maybe just find a different place to train and get some different opinions.
This being said, it isn’t even clear how BJ will handle this. If after being decimated the first thing he does is cry grease, he is hurting. Knowing BJ, this could mean anything. Will BJ Penn stop training and fall into disrepair again or will he decide it is time to pick up his game even more? Will he finally settle into his natural weight class, or will the allure of fighting the best in the world always be his destiny? BJ Penn could retire the best Lightweight in history after an epic run, or BJ Penn could keep pushing himself and leave things up in the air. If he fails like he did last night, who knows what will become of BJ Penn. We all know the safe route for him, to stay at 155 and beat everybody in his path, but does BJ know this?
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
From sherdog; http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/penn-to-paper-16020
I just dig this quote:
“Penn remains a unique athlete. So was Michael Jordan. He couldn’t play baseball. And Penn can’t play 170.”
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Excellent article, Dave. You hit the nail on the head on many points. This is the best review I’ve seen of this fight.
The only thing I would diagree with (minor issue), is that I don’t think BJ can be called the best LW in history. There are too many talented guys like Shinya Aoki, Eddie Alvarez, and JZ, who could potentially provide problems in a fight with BJ. BJ is definitely top 3 in the world. The Sherk win was a great win; but beating guys like Pulver and Stevenson (Gomi was a million years ago, sorry) does not give BJ uncontested claim to the top spot.
Overall, superb article, though. Excellent work, Dave.
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Thanks.
I totally agree that guys like Aoki, Alvarez and JZ are incredible and in a perfect world we’d get to see BJ Penn square off with them. I think Aoki/Penn could be one of the absolute best fights anybody could lay eyes on, but alas.
At least in the eyes of Zuffa he will undoubtedly go down as the best Lightweight in history, which wouldn’t be entirely wrong, as I am pretty sure he could dispense with everybody under a Zuffa contract. Knowing Penn he could very well vacate the title (again) and leave when his contract is up to look for better challenges in K-1 (again). I wouldn’t be against it.
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I’d pick Penn vs. anyone at lightweight: Aoki, Hansen, anyone; but I hope we get to find out. BJ told KHON that he was originally thinking of retiring after this bout (win or lose). But he’s not sure now.
It’s here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjV5wcH1pQY
No formal complaint has been filed, but the NSAC Exec. Director’s reaction to greasegate is at http://mmajunkie.com/news/13895/kizer-penn-yet-to-file-ufc-94-appeal-st-pierres-corner-could-face-action.mma
TH
February 5th, 2009 at 1:28 am
i would love to see bj penn vs spencer fisher both have very fast hands and spencers ground game is under rated it would be a very exciting fight to see
February 6th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
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