B.J. Penn: Inside the Numbers

August 14, 2009

I have to admit, I was surprised at the number of posts and e-mails I got disputing the notion that Penn is the best lightweight in the world. Diego Sanchez, Shinya Aoki, even Eddie Alvarez was mentioned. I stand by my point that there’s nobody even close to Penn at 155, and to prove it, let’s break down all of his fights.

Overall record: 14-5-1

Record at 155: 10-1-1
Wins (Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Paul Creighton, Matt Serra, Takanori Gomi, Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian)
Losses (Jens Pulver)
Draws (Caol Uno)

Record at 170: 2-3
Wins (Duane Ludwig, Matt Hughes)
Losses: (Georges St-Pierre x2, Matt Hughes)

Record at 185: 2-0
Wins (Renzo Gracie, Rodrigo Gracie)

Record at HW*: 0-1
Losses (Lyoto Machida)
(The Machida fight was actually an open weight fight. Machida weighed in over the 205-pound mark for light heavweights, thus making him a heavyweight)

Penn’s 10-1-1 overall record (9-1-1 in the UFC) at lightweight is incredible, and he avenged his only loss (a majority decision to Pulver) with a second-round submission win over him years later. And while Caol Uno handed him his draw, he also has beaten Uno in 11 seconds. He’s beaten a PRIDE champion (Gomi) and three UFC champions (Serra, Pulver, Sherk) at that weight and has won by TKO or submission in nine out of his 10 wins.

A total of four men have beaten Penn, and all of them have been UFC world champions (Pulver (lightweight), St-Pierre and Hughes (welterweight) and Machida (light heavyweight)) The only two fights Penn has been stopped in is the Hughes fight, where he says he was injured after winning the first two rounds, and the second St-Pierre fight, which is the only time he has been dominated in a fight. That includes going the distance with Machida, who weighed 220 pounds for their fight in Japan, is undefeated in his career, and has knocked out Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva and Rich Franklin.

Obviously, losing his last three fights at welterweight have dropped him down on the pound-for-pound rankings, but when you look exclusively at what he has done at the lightweight level, it’s impossible for me to believe someone out there is better.

Posted in Fights