10 years ago BJ Penn was stripped of the title by DW...how serious are they about Jon

[tenniswhiz]

BJ was stripped because he took higher paying fights in Japan while holding the UFC strap, and laughing at the money they were offering.

 

[Baconcandy12]

They wont strip Jones of his belt unless their dumb....they might strip him of his belt. I doubt they want to drop the greatest light heavyweight fighter of all time.

 

[vb]

the only thing dana will strip is jones pants to go down on him

only star champ left

 

[DaleBoca]

the only thing dana will strip is jones pants to go down on him

only star champ left

Lol at calling Jones a star.

 

[mathguy]

TS, where are you getting this nonsense about BJ leaving the UFC because he wanted more money? I think you're mixing him up with Jens Pulver, who was stripped of the LW title because of a contract dispute over money (http://fcfighter.com/post/the-ufc-loses-its-undisputed-champjens-pulver-is-released-by-the-ufc). To say BJ left because of money is complete BS. He was still willing to take on any UFC challengers, even suing Zuffa in an attempt to keep his WW title (http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/BJ-Penn-Sues-Zuffa-Over-Stripping-of-Welterweight-Title-1872).

The MMA scene was quite different back then, and so was the UFC. BJ wanted to fight the best fighters, whatever the organization, whatever the weight. That crazy attitude is often criticized, but it's also why so many people love him. In particular, BJ was itching to for a rematch with Pulver to avenge his only loss at the time, but Pulver was no longer in the UFC. When Pulver got KO'd by Ludwig, BJ signed with K-1 so he could fight Ludwig. The UFC (presumably in part because they were afraid of their WW champ possibly losing to someone in a different organization) stripped him of his title just a few days before the Ludwig fight happened.

I remember all this quite well, because I was training at BJ Penn's academy at the time (back at his old gym, kitty-corner to Ken's House of Pancakes). I was relatively new to MMA back then, but I've been following his career from the beginning.

 

[Deleted member 245586]

Well it looks like Jon had all the leverage in the world with PPV draws GSP and Andy away and UFC champs on the shelf for extended periods of time and unable to fight in title fights: Cain, Weidman, Johny, Pettis, Cruz.

So, by Bones smartly using this to his advantage the UFC caved when Lorenzo and Dana decided to join the Jon Jones kiss my ass club and got the deal done.

 

[AwesomePossum1]

Or they reached a compromise like most other negotiations in history and made you look like an alarmist fool.

 

[rjmbrd]

Or they reached a compromise like most other negotiations in history and made you look like an alarmist fool.

:icon_lol: