BJ Penn's grappling

[Crazy Canuck]

In ADCC would Penn be which the following:

1) Best pound for pound grappler in the tournament (note, Garcia is the best pfp imo)

2) Great grappler, top 10 pfp

3) Good for his weight class- top 15-20 pfp

4) Average - competes well in regards to his weight class, not a tourny favourite

5) Below Average - expected to lose the majority of his matches

6) Horrible - how did he get a spot again?



Curious to see his actual measurement in grappling coming from the opinions of submission artists in this forum

 

[NJCarder]

i'd have to go with number 2...i dont know if he could beat Marcello Garcia...but im sure he could beat a lot of people

 

[Spoonman7]

If BJ did ADCC, he would have a good chance of winning, even against gracia, BJ is a phenom, he did thngs in BJJ at a faster ratee than anyone ever has, if he stayed wth BJJ, he would have untold titles by now.

 

[Clifford]

BJ Penn is amazing, hes a natural genius!

 

[blanko]

he would be a contender. Yes bj is a phenom but ADCC is filled with phenoms.

 

[randomg1t]

yeah garcia would be hard as fuck to beat, also i don't see him coming past popovitch, he seems pretty monstrous.

but hellyeah, the guy's a worldchamp, ofcourse he could do well.

 

[Hulk Rogan]

maybe bj would be the best if he kept his concentration on grappling

but he wouldnt be able to beat marcelo no way

 

[flashNsmash]

BJ would accomplish a lot, but yeah, I have the same reservation about him beating Marcelinho.

 

[FutureBxer]

If BJ did ADCC, he would have a good chance of winning, even against gracia, BJ is a phenom, he did thngs in BJJ at a faster ratee than anyone ever has, if he stayed wth BJJ, he would have untold titles by now.

well i have to disagree with him against garcia b/c

1. imo Garcia is even more of a phenom than BJ
2. BJ has been focusing heavily on MMA while Garcia has been focusing purely on BJJ this whole time
3. BJ admits that shaolin has better BJJ than him and Im willing to bet Marcelo is better than shaolin. he did catch him with that armdrag to the back and choked him out but we'll have to see another match to measuer their overall grappling ability imo.



Also - just cuz bj learned faster than anybody doesnt mean his potential was the highest. I bet BJ got his BB faster than Shaolin but Bj says shaolin has better jiu jitsu.

the rate at which you learn and the point where you peak are two different things. its like one car accelerates much faster than another but has a lower top speed. So somebody might learn faster than another but plateau at a lower skill level as well

 

[Spoonman7]

If BJ focused on BJJ with a gi, he could wn another world title within a few years or so i thnk, you do make great ponts, but give BJ time to train for ADCC or the mundials and he could wn again I think.

 

[knoxpk]

BJ is a freak, if he cuts weight and walks on to ADCC he is easily #2.

If he focuses on Sub grappling for a year and puts aside MMA training he is somewhere between #1 and #2.

 

[blanko]

If BJ focused on BJJ with a gi, he could wn another world title within a few years or so i thnk, you do make great ponts, but give BJ time to train for ADCC or the mundials and he could wn again I think.

you mean like nino? Nino was even a bigger phenom than bj and was a multiple world champion. Then he went back to bjj competitin and got choked the fuck out by andre galvao.

 

[Spoonman7]

Just look at what Bj accomplished and the short time period he did it in, plus it is possble that nino tok galvao lightly, Bj went from zero to world champ in 3 1/2 years. he would be fine.

 

[bjjbryce]

I don't know if he trains hard enough, but he might have about as much raw talent as anyone on the planet. Look at his performances agains both GSP and Matt Hughes in the UFC as example. He was technically superior to both of them (more so matt, GSP was a little closer), but he gassed and that's why he lost. In his fight against hughes he was clearly dominating and then gassed (it was very sad).

If BJ actually cowboyed up and trained his ass off he could potentially win, especially because he's nearly impossible to take down (see bizarre exhibition off flexibility in UFC when he counters singles).

Who knows but I'd love to see him compete sometime.

 

[blanko]

Just look at what Bj accomplished and the short time period he did it in, plus it is possble that nino tok galvao lightly, Bj went from zero to world champ in 3 1/2 years. he would be fine.

i doubt that nino took a world champion "lightly"

 

[Big Eck]

I doubt he'd take Marcelo but i think he'd be top 10 p4p for sure.

 

[TsukinoKage]

The Nino and Penn comparisons are rather apt however:
Both are amazing, original, ridiculously flexibly BJJ phenoms who have a lot of off days.

I remember Schembri getting choked out by Galvao, and then his weak performances in Pride (except for that flash KO of Sak). Same with BJ in MMA.

These guys are phenoms who have problems with underperforming. However, BJ at his A game would be extremely competitive (still think the top ADCC guys are much technically sounder, especially in sub grappling specific skills).

 

[LCDforMe]

In his fight against hughes he was clearly dominating and then gassed (it was very sad).

seperated rib

 

[XJ3B]

this may be a stupid question but how would bj do against rickson

 

[Hanz_Blitz]

BJ would probably be #2 P4P behind Garcia if he entered tommorrow but with more focus on just straight grappling he'd be #1