BJ Penn had too many title shots with not enough luster to hold up, imo. Dicey Record in those matches as well with a record of 2-4-1.
How weak was WW back then, you might ask? Penn got a WW title shot in his first WW match, with no titles before that, only going 0-1-1 in LW title shots before that match with Hughes.
For all those title shots he "only" had 3 title defenses. Over twice as many shots as defenses.
BJ Penn had a title shot every year from 2002-2010 except for 05 and 07.
Fought Jens Pulver for LW title, Loss.
Fought Caol Uno for LW title, Draw.
Fought Matt Hughes for WW title, Huge win, huge, but never attempted to defend.
Fought Matt Hughes for WW title, Loss.
Fought Joe Daddy for LW title, Win.
Fought GSP for WW title, Loss.
Fought Edgar for LW title, Loss.
The only one who ruined his legacy is bj, personaly i think he's overrated as fuck but if he retired 8 years ago everybody would say he was the goat, now he's just a joke
A few hardcore penn fans would claim that, but less and less each year. I don't even think hes the best LW fighter of all time. I've got him in the top 3 or 5.