Penn overrated?

[MMA-Aficionado]

This will drive the Penn nuthuggers crazy.

I do not question his warrior heart (amazing warrior, no fear and tough as nails).

And very skilled too - a highly dangerous first round fighter in particular.

But who has he really beaten? Even at LW when he was dominating he was beating Jenns Pulver (a natural fw), Joe daddy (mid-level), Sherk, sanchez and florian.

Impressive but I do not see him doing the same, even in his absolute prime, against the frankie edgars (who of course beat him twice while in his prime), benson hendersons, anthony pettises etc of the LW division. Penn was dominating a lesser breed, less skilled/talented bunch of fighters compared to the LWs of today.

overall he is 16-9 I think, although he is better than that record and a hall of famer but not among the truly great fighters IMO. That is, he is no GSP, A Silva, Fedor or J Jones.

Discuss rationally, or whine about it - up to you.

 

[MCS]

Well, you GSP-AV'd fella left out his biggest wins and best showings, so this is going nowhere rational as you suggest.

 

[PRIDEoftheUFC**]

Everyone is overrated

 

[Jet40]

I believe Penn is a great fighter, possibly the GOAT at LW.

But his fans do overrate him.

 

[Degen Gambler]

TS is correct

 

[Hans Gercmiov]

To be fair his wins at LW were against the best guys available at the time, and he's lost to some exceptionally talented, much larger men as well

 

[Corporate Giant]

he beat prime hughes and gsp when gsp was still a fighter

 

[chinarice]

He gets overrated by some (ex: PositiveBalance), underrated by some (probably TS).

Depends on who is giving their opinion.

 

[dragonclaw]

If anything Penn is under-rated.

He's fought in 4 weight classes, going on 5, has owned championship belts in two of those divisions competing against the highest level of competition in the sport. He's 12 years into the sport and still going strong, and the dude has the biggest heart of any MMA fighter. He's one of the few fighters out there that can talk the talk and walk the walk, Just Scrap is his motto and through his actions, it's evident he lives by it.

 

[les elroy]

Very dynamic wins and losses. A career like a roller coaster. That's how I see it.

 

[chinarice]

he beat prime hughes and gsp when gsp was still a fughter

He didn't beat GSP, ever.

If you think he won the 1st fight, we can thank the MMA GODS that you will never be a judge because no matter how you try to spin it, he didn't win the 2nd or 3rd round.

 

[MMA-Aficionado]

Well, you GSP-AV'd fella left out his biggest wins and best showings, so this is going nowhere rational as you suggest.

Did I - i mentioned his LW run which is thought of as the best patch of his career. What did I leave out that is so important. Beating Hughes twice?

 

[0vary hugger**]

"And very skilled too - a highly dangerous first round fighter in particular."

TS touchin us with the subtle jab.

 

[chinarice]

Did I - i mentioned his LW run which is thought of as the best patch of his career. What did I leave out that is so important. Beating Hughes twice?

Probably the part where he completely dominated Takanori Gomi when Gomi was considered the #1 LW in the world, at the time.

Is this not common knowledge?

 

[76Knockout]

No he isn't overrated, not even a little. Underrated if anything IMO.

 

[MMA-Aficionado]

To be fair his wins at LW were against the best guys available at the time, and he's lost to some exceptionally talented, much larger men as well

True, they were against the best at the time - but the best at the time made him look better than he is. Whereas Anderson/GSP were beating the best at the time and continue to beat the best. They are continuing to dominate a different calibre of competition.

 

[magigong]

He is skilled and talented despite lack of discipline in training and no real physical gifts. Yet, most fighters have to train twice as much to be half as good as him. Penn is a fighters fighter, not an athlete, which is why so much was expected of him. He revived the lw division to what it is today. And he also had the hardest schedule of ANY fighter.

Btw, he also could be seen as a natural fw

 

[phoenixikki]

Context. Everybody is better now.

 

[Damian Bartlett]

To be honest this is the same case for most stars of 5 years ago. The sport is constantly evolving and the level of fighter is rapidly improving, therefore the guys on top before don't seem so impressive against todays fighters (Tito - Jones, Sylvia - Velasquez etc)

For his time Penn was the very best at 155 and then with Edgar, time caught up with him, his style was figured out and he stopped evolving with the sport. Happens to everyone if their chin hasn't given out first.

People saying he'll win the 145 title are delusional, but people who say he's overrated are also delusional.

 

[MMA-Aficionado]

He gets overrated by some (ex: PositiveBalance), underrated by some (probably TS).

Depends on who is giving their opinion.

Think about it though - am I really underrating him, or just being fair. Its not like I said he was a run of the mill fighter. I think he one step below the top echelon (being the A Silva, GSPs, JBJs, Fedors etc). Most fighters are more than one step below.