B.J. Penn
December 20, 2008 by MMA Spark
Filed under MMA Fighters
Jay Dee or B.J. Penn is a mixed amrtial arts exponent from the United States of America. He was born on the 13th of December, 1978 in Hawaii. B.J. Penn is a professional fighter and a popular practitioner of the Jiu Jitsu from Brazil. He is better known in the world of mixed martial arts as the current champion in the Ultimate Fighting Lightweight category. The popularity sprung from the fact that in the year 2000, B.J. Penn became the first ever American born black belt winner of the Jiu Jitsu world championship. Penn is all this and more! This champion was a coach on the reality show that won the hearts of millions – The Ultimate Fighter 5.
B.J. Penn is the winner of the lightweight UFC 80 title and the second exponent of the art to actually win two different UFC titles, the first being Randy Couture. B.J. Penn has the distinction of being ranked as the Number 1 Lightweight mixed martial arts fighter in the world by MMA Weekly. B.J. Penn began extensive training in the Brazilian martial art Jiu Jitsu. The initiative and drive came after he was introduced to it by his neighbor. He went on to earn his black belt in 2000 and became the first in the world championship division as a non-Brazilian. B.J. Penn found his ground in World Jiu-Jitsu when he contended for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
He is known among professionals the best in the industry for his striking skills and knock outs. It was not until 2003 that B.J. Penn got true recognition when he fought the tournament designed to crown a new UFC champion, flopped but bounced back later with a thrilling victory over Gomi. The main highlight of his career was in the year 2004, when he challenged the five-time defending champion Huges in the UFC 46. He not only won, but won by a rear naked choke. The victory over Matt Hughes egged B.J. Penn to fight in the K 1.
Penn was not only blamed by UFC for a breach in the contract, but was also stripped of the welterweight title. Penn went on to sue the UFC and air his version of the conflict. In the K-1 fight, Penn defeated Ludwig Duane within five minutes and moved up to face Rodrigo Gracie. In 2005, Penn faced Renzo Gracie and won. It was not until early 2006 that the then UFC president Dana White came to a settlement with Penn and allowed him to return as ‘top welterweight contender’.
Penn coached for the 2007 show Ultimate Fighter 5. He led a team of eight and fought a rematch against Jens Pulver. In the UFC fight against Stevenson, Penn made it to the headlines by licking Joe Stevenson’s blood off of the gloves. Penn is now up for the January 31 2009 “UFC Super Bowl Weekend” against either Fitch or Pierre. He is also all set to star in Never Surrender, a film to be released by Lions Gate Entertainment.
© 2008, MMA Spark!. All rights reserved.
Share