UFC 118 Recap – The End of B.J. Penn?
by Tim Furious
Many will call it a crossroads, but I’ve always called it “the hump”.
It’s a milestone for any athlete that either proves he is meant for greatness, and for better or worse, it is a moment that B.J. Penn has never been able to hurdle over and capture in his entire career.
At 31-years old, B.J. Penn looks like he has peaked as a champion and as a legend.
We’ve all heard or made excuses for B.J. Penn, who entered UFC 118: Penn vs. Edgar 2 as a heavy -350 favorite.
At various times in his career we’ve questioned Penn’s mental fortitude, his work ethic, the fact that he relied more on talent than effort. He is, undoubtedly, one of the best lightweights MMA betting circles have ever laid eyes upon.
Despite losses against Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre and Lyoto Machida outside the lightweight division, we always emphatically backed Penn within his own weight class. His takedown defense seemed impenetrable, and at times his overall game seemed completely unmatched.
Until Frankie Edgar came along.
At UFC 118: Penn vs. Edgar 2, the defending champion dismantled Penn for a second, consecutive, unanimous decision. Penn failed to find a solution for Edgar’s all-world speed. Rattled again in the first round, Penn was unable to build any respective momentum and will his way to victory.
Instead, he was pummeled, pummeled again and driven to the mat repeatedly by Edgar en route to back-to-back losses.
To his credit, Penn made no excuses following the fight. He praised Edgar’s ability and said that he had things to work on. But hasn’t that always been the case with Penn? If we know what he has to work on, then how doesn’t he? He may be just 31-years old, but he’s been around the UFC for nearly a decade and totaled 23 fights.
I questioned Penn’s mental resolve heading in to this fight. Against St-Pierre and Hughes, Penn proved incapable of rallying himself after having his back against the wall. Listen, it’s easy for any athlete or team to ride a wave of wins and success. What truly defines them is their ability to dig deep and come from behind, or rise from the ashes of defeat.
When has Penn ever done that?
Following a loss to Lyoto Machida in 2005, Penn came back and earned a unanimous decision against Renzo Gracie who was 38 at the time. He followed that win with two losses to St-Pierre and Hughes in the welterweight class, before returning to the lightweight division and beating Jens Pulver, who was 32-years old at the time.
A steady reign as lightweight champion followed suite, but was quickly derailed when Penn tried to fight St-Pierre a second time and was absolutely demolished at UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2.
Then we made more excuses, and the funny thing was that even Penn tried making them too (he claimed Pierre was greasing during the fight, which was never proven). I started asking myself, “When are we going to run out of excuses for this guy? Maybe he’s just really good, and not the superstar we think he is…”
Two fights at the lightweight division against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez, both of whom are rightful gate keepers, seemed to build steam for Penn who seemed motivated like never before. Then Frankie Edgar crushed him for ten straight rounds and ended the mystery of B.J. Penn.
It sounds like I’m outright murdering Penn here. I’m not trying to. You know who’s at fault for creating this “living legend” aura around him? Fans and the media (and I guess the UFC as well). There’s nothing wrong with being “really, really good” at something. It’s just not what we expect out of our supposed heroes.
We want them to achieve what we sometimes can’t, because athletes are sometimes the real life conduit between ourselves and our dreams. After all, climbing a championship ladder is so much more straightforward than climbing a corporate one. In real life, achieving that kind of glory is tough and never that direct. Sometimes just “getting the job done” isn’t enough.
In sports, it’s different. Success is directly correlated to winning. You win, you move on. Simple. Easy. Maybe Penn was never meant to be a legendary fighter. Perhaps we just wanted him to be and put him on this pedestal he didn’t deserve to be on.
The writing was on the wall with this guy. That’s where all the questions about his intangibles came from in the first place, but we made excuses for him. We gave him the time to mature, to grow and evolve to become the guy we expected him to be. We called him a freaking “Prodigy” for goodness sakes.
Which is exactly what overbearing parents do to their kids.
Penn isn’t great. You can’t say that after losses to Hughes, St-Pierre and Edgar. You just can’t. He was a champion and a fighter who came along in the UFC when there was no, truly impressive lightweight fighters around.
And that’s ok. In the end, Penn’s legacy will become a debate. People will doubt his toughness, his tenacity and his place amongst the best in the business because that’s what fans do. It’s not like he never won the big one, or ascended to superstar status.
We built a mountain of pressure on Penn’s shoulders and he only half-way delivered. He’s still won more two more UFC belts than you or me ever will. Just because he didn’t live up to our expectations of him, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a success.
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