True or false no one in LW today would beat the bj penn at ufc 84?

eh the current crop is so much better than the old gaurd at every weight class
 
It would be hard to say how he'd do against Pettis. I'd be fairly comfortable picking him over Henderson or anyone else in the division.

False. Pettis Subs him imo

Pettis might beat him, but he wouldn't sub him. Do you even know who Penn is?
 
Pettis would out strike him.

So would Cowboy.
 
Prime BJ would beat any LW. How fast people forget, Penn in his prime beat the 2nd GOAT WW (Hughes) & went to a controversial split decision vs the GOAT WW (GSP). Any of you honestly believe any other LW would beat the 2nd GOAT WW & lose a controversial split decision to GSP? Seriously. He also had a draw vs long time #2 WW Fitch.

Fighters these days don't have the balls to challenge bigger fighters, they're too concerned about their "legacy".
 
Penn was very impressive against Sherk, no doubt. Made it look easy.
 
Pettis would out strike him.

So would Cowboy.

Prime Penn would get both of them down and submit them. I hate to sound like a BJ nuthugger, but Pettis hasn't shown impressive takedown defense and Cowboy takes too many risks on the ground for the likes of Penn. Honestly , the only active lightweights I see giving a prime Penn trouble (but still not winning) are Henderson, Nate Diaz, and Gil. Hendo because of his sub defense, kicking game, and cardio. Diaz primarily because of his reach and volume boxing. Gil due to his pace, overall defense, and cardio. As far as Edgar goes, Penn was past his prime and still won their first fight (regardless of the ridiculous judges scorecards).
 
False.

Sherk landed many leg kicks on Penn, and although Penn didn't act like it was hurting him, at the end of the PPV broadcast it shows his team icing his leg in the locker room, so damage was being done ... Had that been Pettis or even RDA doing those kicks, and keeping them up as well, Penn would've have looked like Nate Diaz.

I'm comfortable in saying that Pettis more than likely will beat Penn. Melendez and Edgar are about 50/50. Maybe RDA can do it also.
 
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It would be hard to say how he'd do against Pettis. I'd be fairly comfortable picking him over Henderson or anyone else in the division.



Pettis might beat him, but he wouldn't sub him. Do you even know who Penn is?

If Pettis rocks Penn he has a chance to sub him, but like you said it probably wouldn't happen.
 
Prime Penn would get both of them down and submit them. I hate to sound like a BJ nuthugger, but Pettis hasn't shown impressive takedown defense and Cowboy takes too many risks on the ground for the likes of Penn. Honestly , the only active lightweights I see giving a prime Penn trouble (but still not winning) are Henderson, Nate Diaz, and Gil. Hendo because of his sub defense, kicking game, and cardio. Diaz primarily because of his reach and volume boxing. Gil due to his pace, overall defense, and cardio. As far as Edgar goes, Penn was past his prime and still won their first fight (regardless of the ridiculous judges scorecards).

I agree with Gil Melendez, but not at all with Nate Diaz and Ben Henderson.

Nate's too poor at wrestling. And if Penn was losing the striking, which he very well could, he'd just take Nate down with ease and win it there.

Bendo's a mediocre striker and just an average kicker, imo. His kicks will be no better than Sean Sherk's because he lacks power and the thinking ability to keep them up.
 
Prime Penn would get both of them down and submit them. I hate to sound like a BJ nuthugger, but Pettis hasn't shown impressive takedown defense and Cowboy takes too many risks on the ground for the likes of Penn. Honestly , the only active lightweights I see giving a prime Penn trouble (but still not winning) are Henderson, Nate Diaz, and Gil. Hendo because of his sub defense, kicking game, and cardio. Diaz primarily because of his reach and volume boxing. Gil due to his pace, overall defense, and cardio. As far as Edgar goes, Penn was past his prime and still won their first fight (regardless of the ridiculous judges scorecards).


I doubt it, highly. But that's your opinion and I'll respect it.

shame we won't really ever know,, I guess all we have to work off is BJ's last fights which were mostly terrible.
 
BJ wouldn't stand a chance against today's guys. He was lucky to fought in an era where there was so little talent.
 
God bless these 'what if' threads.
 
Just rewatched penn vs sherk. His boxing looked unreal. Still think Pettis would give him problems though.

Discuss

Edit: i meant 84 lol

I'm a big Penn fan and think he'd do really well in the current division.... but I think he would always have struggled with guys who have a great kicking game. The game has moved on a bit since UFC84, and the world-class kicking games of guys like Pettis and Cerrone and dos Anjos would really have troubled BJ I think. Dudes who rely very heavily on boxing only tend to look a little one-dimensional these days.
 
False because Penn's opponents were relatively one dimensional(compared to today's LWs) during his reign.

Lightweight has always been universally recognized as the most skilled division in the sport...
 
The thing to remember about that fight at - apparently - UFC84 was that Sherk was IMO really starting to slip. He was coming off a PED suspension and he just never looked the same to me.

Still a masterful performance by Penn.

As for how Penn would do today... I think he would be a definite top 5 guy, hold the belt at some point but not be a dominant champ. I don't think that is a result of MMA "evolving" that much but rather just a sign that 155 was just getting started up again by the UFC when Penn was champ. The depth is much better today and I think some of the top guys would win some of their fights against prime Penn
 
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