Randy Couture
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BJ Penn is an all time great. Why??
- Thread starter Dbreiden83080
- Start date
Excuses? He shouldn’t have been fighting people like GSP, Machida, Fitch, etc.
Lousy person in deed, but GREAT fighter when in his prime.
Ronda yes, Conor is arguable. Ronda was the anti-BJ. She wanted nothing to do with Cyborg. Prime BJ fought all takers and fought them well. Ronda was a great hype job who slept with the boss. Dana and Ronda didn't want Cyborg anywhere near Ronda. Keep the gravy train rolling. Thank God Amanda derailed it. The women champs are the real thing now. Funny that when Amanda gave Ronda the rematch they were still hyping Ronda and she wasn't even the champ. It was really crazy.
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that dude in the bar who K him TFO would probably fight anybody too
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Went from having never competing in a combat sport to winning the BJJ worlds in 3 years, transitioned from that straight into the UFC and competed for 3 titles in under 10 pro fights going 1-1-1 with the win being against the guy considered by many the greatest WW of the time as a natural LW.
Threw that belt in the garbage to go and beat the consensus #1 LW at the time then competed from LW to HW (against a future great himself) always being competitive and picking up wins at MW, WW, and LW, again, all while being a natural LW.
Returned to the UFC to rematch Hughes, a fight he was once again winning before suffering a rib injury then fighting another future all time great and legend losing a close decision before going back down to dominate his natural weight class upon it's return and destroying the guy who he lost a close decision against in his first title shot, (the guy he drew with in his second shot as I'm sure you know he also has a 10 second KO win against).
Wasn't satisfied just being the dominant LW champ so once again moved up to compete against the (by this time all time great and future legend) and was badly beaten which was the beginning of the end.
After one more successful defence he would lose his LW belt in a controversial decision followed by a clear decision loss in the rematch and would once again make the I'll advised move up to WW to destroy Hughes in seconds before fighting Fitch to a tough draw where he was dominated in the 3rd (and should have lost imo) followed by two career ending beatings at the hands of two of the divisions best at the time.
This is where the story should have ended but sadly did not.
Regardless though, to answer our question he is considered a legend because he was a rich kid who had no reason to fight other than the love of competition who went on to win titles in 2 weight classes and compete in 5 who was willing to fight anyone and was a part of some of the greatest fights of all time.
Had he just stayed at LW he most likely would have had a more impressive record on paper but would never have become the legend that taking those chances and fighting greats well above his best weight made him.
The numbers don't really mean much when it comes to BJ because in his prime he was unlike anyone we have or likely ever will see again and took crazy risks that were against his best interest for the love if the challenge and competition.
He may have turned out to be a pretty shitty human being as is now sadly being revealed but we will never see another BJ and that's why we love him.
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Lol, "marketing made fighter" only considered a legend because of the "media running with it" despite the fact most of the things we consider him a legend for accomplishing happened when there was very little marketing and the "media" didn't really give a shit about MMA, lol.
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So you are saying that you are only as good as your last fight? Common sense, do you know what that is? I’m guessing not. Whatever B.J. does now has no impact on how good he was in his prime. You can discuss whether he’s an all time great, sure, but you can’t judge his greatness on how piss poor he has been looking for 10 years.
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BJ Penn
Bj was in his prime during tuf
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when bj fights at 155, he's 162 on fight day. everyone else is 175 and such. he's fought all the way up at HW, MW, and WW, beating some very good people including all-time great Matt Hughes twice. He's a great fighter who peaked a long time ago, but also a great fighter without the best work habits. He tore through opponents like Sherk, Florian, Sanchez, and Pulver at his peak. And he also lost to GSP by split decision, which shows he was hanging in with an outstanding opponent above his weight class. don;t confuse his refusal to retire and his piling up losses with his actual talent. Very few fighters can be at the top in this sport for 20 years. BJ just hasn't been able to move on.
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Greatness isn’t just defined by metrics, sometimes, it’s created by achieving something unprecedented.
