What The Hell Happened To BJ?

Bewareofdawg

Bewareofdawg

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This is a serious question, because I cannot understand what the hell has gone on with him over the past 7 years.

How does a guy who completely dominated and anhialated a prime Diego Sanchez, then arguably beat Frankie Edgar in the first fight....go on to get handled by Frankie so badly in the 2nd fight?

How does a guy who knocks out Matt Hughes in like 30 seconds, and then gives Fitch a grappling clinic for 2 rounds....go on to get DESTROYED by Nick Diaz and Rory MacDonald?

How do you go from being one of the best fighters in the world, to tippy toes Penn? In BJ's fights against Diaz and Rory, he looked like he couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag. In his fights with Edgar 3 and Yair, he looked like a 60yr old man.

We've obviously seen fighters decline as they got older, but he has been a mystery and i've never seen any fighter decline as badly as he has. It's puzzling.
 
The sport evolved pass him. But BJ gon BJ. He will fight a few more fights I'm sure. He lives for this stuff.
 
He's old and he took too much time off, he's not a near 40 yo like Faber who still stayed sharp training hard.
 
He never evolved as the sport changed. The guy was only 31 when the decline started
 
You new to combat sports TS? Get used to seeing your heroes die :(

Sometimes it's an up and down ride, sometimes a steady decline, and sometimes it's a fucking light switch and you never see the same fighter ever again.

There are a lot of factors but basically combat sports are not kind.
 
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He didn't get destroyed by Nick Diaz but I believe what made him so great was also his downfall. He been in wars with much bigger men and it has taken its toll on him. He is an old 38 and it showed at stare down before the fight started and it showed when he was sitting on his stool when the fight ended. Even in the 145lb division the man managed to find someone who was much bigger than himself to fight.

Always a fan but the B.J. we seen last night was no where near the B.J. we seen that took the WW belt from Hughes. Nor was he good as the past his prime B.J. who went to a draw with Fitch. If he keeps fighting I hope he picks his opponents more wisely.
 
You really don't think a guy like Rory would destroy him in his prime? BJ's great run consisted of guys like Joe Stevenson.
 
The sport passed him by.

Always hespect though.

LW GOAT
 
BJ is allergic to hard, consistent training. Pair that with father time and you have a guy who looks like an 80 yr old man versus Rodriguez.
Even with all that said, he looked epically horrible in last night's fight. I thought he might be competitive for at least half a round. I was wrong.
 
His has been a steady decline...
Surprised you didnt see it much sooner.

Whereas guys like george deligently worked on improving his camp from fight to fight....bj seemed to not give a fck. That was always his problem. He had raw ability and warrior spirit you couldnt train, but as the years go by, you gotta change with the times to compensate age and natural decline.....penn never did.

Bisping may have never possessed the raw talent that bj had, but he trains his ass off and is now a champ. Lawler was another example of someone who evolved with the times. GSP probably did it the best. Its hard work.
 
"I can't even beat fuckin Kevin mcbride" - Mike Tyson after his last fight.

Fighters age and fall out of their prime. Bj should have fought someone like siver or a Sherk rematch, someone close to his age with the same wear and tear.
 
Penn never got better. He never pushed himself and he never reached his true potential.

Look at his first fight with GSP. That was a great fight and it was extremely close. At the time, he was as close to even with GSP as he could get.

Now look at their second fight. That was not a close fight. That was not two equal fighters. GSP was not only bigger, he was also significantly better than Penn, and he proved it.

So what happened? GSP evolved and became a true mixed martial artist. He redefined what that term meant. Penn never evolved. The Penn who fought GSP the first time was more or less the same as the Penn who fought GSP the second time, despite the years that separated the two fights.

Penn found early success and surrounded himself with yes men who never pushed him to get better because aside from GSP, he was still better than just about anyone else at LW or WW. But as time went on, other fighters caught up to him and he couldn't adapt to the changing game. Once he lost his LW title, he was done.
 
Apocalypse604 said:
His has been a steady decline...
Surprised you didnt see it much sooner.

Whereas guys like george deligently worked on improving his camp from fight to fight....bj seemed to not give a fck. That was always his problem. He had raw ability and warrior spirit you couldnt train, but as the years go by, you gotta change with the times to compensate age and natural decline.....penn never did.

Bisping may have never possessed the raw talent that bj had, but he trains his ass off and is now a champ. Lawler was another example of someone who evolved with the times. GSP probably did it the best. Its hard work.
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