BJ Penn The LW GOAT?

[Dbreiden83080]

For those that say he is the LW GOAT please explain why? I am not bashing the guy but he has 3 total defenses, which is tied with Frankie and Benson. Frankie as we know has 3 wins over him, 2 of them with BJ in his prime. The 2nd fight was a rout. I feel like people cling to BJ being the LW GOAT as if this is fact, like GSP WW GOAT but I am not seeing it as some slam dunk. It's highly debatable.

 

[LilChuckLil]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

 

[[insert_name_here]]

Come get 'em...

 

[MRDOG]

There was a point in time He was ranked as the #1 LW in the world and also held the WW Title.

Won titles in two divisions.

Most LW title defenses.

All defenses were in dominate fashion and clear wins in his favor. Unlike Edgar , Benson and Pettis who have title defenses that are questionable.

 

[andnowweknow]

The fact this is coming up after last night shows two things:

1. You're a fucking idiot
2. Sherdog is normal today...Guy loses, ipso facto, he was never that good.

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

BJ Penn is the example of dramatic performances making people believe that his wins are more significant. He has a pretty poor LW resume all things considered, but despite being where the competition was weakest at every phase of his LW dominance (Shooto was superior during his first run where he didn't win the belt, DREAM was infinitely superior during his second run where he did), he was the UFC Champion and the pioneer of the weight class. The winner tells the story, being a dominant UFC Champion and a pioneer carries a lot of weight with people not willing to look past the big letters.

There was a point in time He was ranked as the #1 LW in the world and also held the WW Title.

Won titles in two divisions.

Most LW title defenses.

All defenses were in dominate fashion and clear wins in his favor. Unlike Edgar , Benson and Pettis who have title defenses that are questionable.

Benson's title defenses were over guys that are better than BJ Penn ever faced at lightweight. What matters above all else is who you beat, how you beat them is secondary. It's nice, but who you beat is far more important.

 

[MRDOG]

BJ Penn is the example of dramatic performances making people believe that his wins are more significant. He has a pretty poor LW resume all things considered, but despite being where the competition was weakest at every phase of his LW dominance (Shooto was superior during his first run where he didn't win the belt, DREAM was infinitely superior during his second run where he did), he was the UFC Champion and the pioneer of the weight class. The winner tells the story, being a dominant UFC Champion and a pioneer carries a lot of weight with people not willing to look past the big letters.



Benson's title defenses were over guys that are better than BJ Penn ever faced at lightweight. What matters above all else is who you beat, how you beat them is secondary. It's nice, but who you beat is far more important.

He beat the best there was at the time and that is all you can ask of someone. Someone will be saying the same about today's fighters 10 years down the road. And they will be just as wrong as you are.

Uno , Sherk , Florian , Gomi , Hughes for the WW title Diego was 23-2 on a 4 fight win streak when B.J. dismantled him.

B.J. is the LW Goat.

One of his fights that gets over looked is Sherk. This is a very solid win and it basically was champion vs champion since Sherk didn't lose his belt but was stripped. A good a win as any.

The others mentioned don't come close. There defenses can be argued as losses. You can't say that about B.J. He won and left no doubt in anyone's mind who the winner was.

 

[Rod Farva]

With the brief history of the division it's hard to crown a best.

BJ had an amazing run for a couple of years. But nothing before or after in the LW division.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

There was a point in time He was ranked as the #1 LW in the world and also held the WW Title.

Won titles in two divisions.

Most LW title defenses.

All defenses were in dominate fashion and clear wins in his favor. Unlike Edgar , Benson and Pettis who have title defenses that are questionable.

Dominate fashion over who though? He was on top when MMA was at a low point.

 

[Jayziz]

Penn dominated and violently stopped Sherk, Stevenson, Florian and Sanchez. Those are impressive wins, best possible opponents out there.

He also beat Gomi, who was a dominant force in Pride, and he was clearly the better fighter against an all time great welterweight in Hughes...

I believe the sport has passed him by, by this point, but give credit where credit is due. He was a pioneer and a legend no matter how you put it.

 

[TourIsOverBoyo]

MMA hasn't been around for long enough to have all of these "GOAT" talks.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

Penn dominated and violently stopped Sherk, Stevenson, Florian and Sanchez. Those are impressive wins, best possible opponents out there.

He also beat Gomi, who was a dominant force in Pride, and he was clearly the better fighter against an all time great welterweight in Hughes...

I believe the sport has passed him by, by this point, but give credit where credit is due. He was a pioneer and a legend no matter how you put it.

But what about Frankie? Is he not in that talk as well for LW GOAT? 3 wins over BJ 2 of them dominant. Same number of defenses..

 

[SherdogJoe]

Basically he is called the LW goat because so many of his fans called him the LW goat. And he has a lot of fans. Despite it not being accurate it is said a lot.

 

[MRDOG]

Dominate fashion over who though? He was on top when MMA was at a low point.

He beat the best there was at the time and that is all you can ask of someone. Someone will be saying the same about today's fighters 10 years down the road. And they will be just as wrong as you are.

Uno , Sherk , Florian , Gomi , Hughes for the WW title Diego was 23-2 on a 4 fight win streak when B.J. dismantled him.

B.J. is the LW Goat.

One of his fights that gets over looked is Sherk. This is a very solid win and it basically was champion vs champion since Sherk didn't lose his belt but was stripped. A good a win as any.

The others mentioned don't come close. There defenses can be argued as losses. You can't say that about B.J. He won and left no doubt in anyone's mind who the winner was.

The below poster answers your question nicely.

Penn dominated and violently stopped Sherk, Stevenson, Florian and Sanchez. Those are impressive wins, best possible opponents out there.

He also beat Gomi, who was a dominant force in Pride, and he was clearly the better fighter against an all time great welterweight in Hughes...

I believe the sport has passed him by, by this point, but give credit where credit is due. He was a pioneer and a legend no matter how you put it.

B.J. stands out at LW. He is the LW Goat. Someone will come along eventually and take that spot since he jumped around so much and he doesn't have a crazy amount of defenses like GSP or Anderson has in his career but there isn't another LW that has the clear wins over there opponents like B.J. has. There isn't another LW that went up a weight class and destroyed the then unstoppable champion in a higher weight class. He simply is above everyone else at present time. But I have doubt he will be surpassed.

But what about Frankie? Is he not in that talk as well for LW GOAT? 3 wins over BJ 2 of them dominant. Same number of defenses..

Edgar won the belt in a controversial fight. Defended against two opponents in three fights. One was a draw that can be argued as a loss for him. He also lost the title in a controversial fight also. LW was is stacked. B.J. was the only one to stand out and be dominate.

 

[Jayziz]

But what about Frankie? Is he not in that talk as well for LW GOAT? 3 wins over BJ 2 of them dominant. Same number of defenses..

Edgar is without a doubt in the conversation. He beat Henderson for sure in the second fight, so he could have been even bigger. It still pisses me off how he was forced to go down to featherweight against Aldo because of those judges...

Let us wait a couple of years before calling someone GOAT again. For a moment everybody thought the same about RDA - and it was understandable the way he dominated fighters like Pettis, Cerrone, Henderson etc. It's so difficult to stay on top in this sport, so besides Johnson we will probably have to wait some time until we see dominant champions like Hughes, St-Pierre and Silva again...

 

[Cam Zink]

But what about Frankie? Is he not in that talk as well for LW GOAT? 3 wins over BJ 2 of them dominant. Same number of defenses..

So Benson has two wins over Frankie, should he be in the mix also?
Nah, BJ is the uncrowned LW GOAT.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

So Benson has two wins over Frankie, should he be in the mix also?
Nah, BJ is the uncrowned LW GOAT.

Yes.. 3 total defenses. He is in the mix.

 

[DevilsLettuce]

Khabib is lightweight GOAT. Everyone else is #1 bullshit.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

BJ fans < Conors fans

 

[MikeMcMann]

For those that say he is the LW GOAT please explain why? I am not bashing the guy but he has 3 total defenses, which is tied with Frankie and Benson. Frankie as we know has 3 wins over him, 2 of them with BJ in his prime. The 2nd fight was a rout. I feel like people cling to BJ being the LW GOAT as if this is fact, like GSP WW GOAT but I am not seeing it as some slam dunk. It's highly debatable.

BJ Penn is the example of dramatic performances making people believe that his wins are more significant. He has a pretty poor LW resume all things considered, but despite being where the competition was weakest at every phase of his LW dominance (Shooto was superior during his first run where he didn't win the belt, DREAM was infinitely superior during his second run where he did), he was the UFC Champion and the pioneer of the weight class. The winner tells the story, being a dominant UFC Champion and a pioneer carries a lot of weight with people not willing to look past the big letters.



Benson's title defenses were over guys that are better than BJ Penn ever faced at lightweight. What matters above all else is who you beat, how you beat them is secondary. It's nice, but who you beat is far more important.

This 100%

Because BJ beat up much lower quality guys but did so in gruesome and 'exciting' ways his fans over rate his wins by a factor of 100 in terms of what they should mean in the GOAT rankings.

Quite frankly when arguably 5 guys can all be considered GOAT based on certain aspects of their resume then no one is GOAT. GOAT should be pretty clear imo. LW has no GOAT.