thoughts on BJ Penn?

T

tmacklem

Yellow Belt
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
163
Reaction score
0
I was just reading an article about BJ on Yahoo (they have to be the worst news outlet covering mma right now btw), where they mentioned that he is only hurting his legacy by continuing fighting and that on the G.O.A.T. scale, he really doesn't measure up.

I couldn't help but disagree, the things hes done in mma are outstanding, especially considering he did a lot of it outside his normal weight class, but i was curious how many people rank BJ as the Greatest lightweight of all time? also, where does he rank on everyone's personal G.O.A.T. list?
 
The fact is BJ returned to lightweight, beat Sherk and held onto the title a second time but then lost twice to Frankie Edgar, an undersized lightweight himself.

He's then challenged guys he shouldn't have such as Rory Mac, and Nick Diaz and looked bad in his losses.

BJ is a legend and there is no doubt about that. But the more he takes stupid fights outside of his weight division, the more it hurts his legacy. He's probably the most iconic lightweight of all time but I doubt he'll retain that title in ten years from now.
 
he is one of two to ever hold a belt in two weight classes so on that alone he is top 10 p4p GOAT imo
 
BJ is a legend... but it remains to be seen if he hurts his legacy or not... the WW debacle was ridiculous, there is no way the man should have been fighting @ 170... Sure, he can and has beaten some excellent WW's, but the sport has changed so much, moving outside of your natural weight class now is so dangerous, I believe far more than before... I am interested to see what the effects the cut to 145 will have on BJ... it could be positive or it could be disastrous.. I suspect even BJ is not sure how this is going to play out... Will it diminish his legacy? Most likely not, because I think his career post LW Title will be judged differently and separate from the earlier part of his career...
 
BJ is DONE. He hasn't been the same since he fought GSP (the last time). Hate to say it but he's just looking for one last pay day.
 
Penn is one of the best MMA fighters to ever live. I look foward to any of his fights.
 
I think Edgar is going to dominate him. Never really been a fan of Penn but I wish he took a different fight.
 
420sicness said:
he is one of two to ever hold a belt in two weight classes so on that alone he is top 10 p4p GOAT imo
Click to expand...

Big fucking deal. It isn't that big of an accomplishment when you're just given title shots left and right. Especially during his time.

He's not even close to top ten
 
I think this fight is going to tell BJ what everyone has been trying to tell him, its time to hang em up. He's a legend and has nothing left to prove to anyone.
 
vic city said:
BJ is DONE. He hasn't been the same since he fought GSP (the last time). Hate to say it but he's just looking for one last pay day.
Click to expand...

If that were the case he wouldn't have wanted to fight Frankie.
 
His record at WW shows he should never have been WW champion. Sure he beat Hughes but he never climbed the WW ladder and he never defended the belt either. He thought so highly of himself he got beaten senseless in the end.

Still that doesn't affect his overall greatness. With a little more humility and a pinch of common sense, he could have been GOAT. But his pride stood in the way of his real fight abilities, that was his undoing.

BJ really never evolved with the game. The game catch him up and passed him.
 
tmacklem said:
I was just reading an article about BJ on Yahoo (they have to be the worst news outlet covering mma right now btw), where they mentioned that he is only hurting his legacy by continuing fighting and that on the G.O.A.T. scale, he really doesn't measure up.

I couldn't help but disagree, the things hes done in mma are outstanding, especially considering he did a lot of it outside his normal weight class, but i was curious how many people rank BJ as the Greatest lightweight of all time? also, where does he rank on everyone's personal G.O.A.T. list?
Click to expand...

if you were a fighter and you wanted to fight but some fan said "but, but, but if you lose, then in 20 years folks wont remember you as fondly as if you hadn't fought", what would you do?

remember, you love fighting and want to fight.

what do you do?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
he was a great fighter for the first ~8 years of his career. the last ~4 or so, not so great. i think folks should remember his great years. just my way of looking at these things, you can disagree if you so choose.
 
As we all know BJ has basically made as many dumb decisions as possible with his career. Fighting GSP the second time, poor training, fighting at 170 against Fitch, etc. all of it makes very little sense. This fight against Edgar is flat stupid, but it is BJ Penn so heck he might win anyways.
 
I think his standup is slightly overrated. He should take a cue from Maia and start focusing more on his wrestling and submissions.
 
jlazer said:
Big fucking deal. It isn't that big of an accomplishment when you're just given title shots left and right. Especially during his time.

He's not even close to top ten
Click to expand...

So beating champions in two different weight classes is not a big accomplishment...

Wonder what you've accomplished lately.

As I stated I'm not a Penn fan, but his haters are ridiculous.
 
War-Lord said:
Why is that? Seems like all UFC fighters get a base pay anyway. This isn't boxing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so he would've chosen an easier opponent if he just wanted a payday. Edgar completely dominated him in their second fight, in Penn's mind he really has something to prove.
 
SeattleFightFan said:
if you were a fighter and you wanted to fight but some fan said "but, but, but if you lose, then in 20 years folks wont remember you as fondly as if you hadn't fought", what would you do?

remember, you love fighting and want to fight.

what do you do?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
he was a great fighter for the first ~8 years of his career. the last ~4 or so, not so great. i think folks should remember his great years. just my way of looking at these things, you can disagree if you so choose.
Click to expand...

What I was thinking
 
FrontNakedChoke said:
So beating champions in two different weight classes is not a big accomplishment...

Wonder what you've accomplished lately.

As I stated I'm not a Penn fan, but his haters are ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Beating Hughes was huge. But it was ONE fight, that's it. Doesn't make you a true champion. And who did he beat to get the lw title again? Stevenson and Pulver? Again, nothing legendary.

I Don't hate him. I actually like him. I like his "let's just fight" attitude. I just know he is overrated and his fans are the worst.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,237,076
Messages
55,466,080
Members
174,785
Latest member
JoyceOuthw

Share this page

Back
Top