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09-14-2006, 08:56 PM
BJ Penn "The Prodigy"
Born: HI, USA
Fighting Out Of: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 27
Height: 5.9
Weight: 170 lbs.
Overall MMA Record (W-L-D): 10-4-1
Strengths: Submissions
WEIGHTCLASS: Welterweight
FIGHTING OUT OF: Hilo, Hawaii
STYLE: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
TRAINER: Rudy Valentino and Renato Verissimo
STRENGTHS: Excellent submissions, strong standup.
TRAINING: I gave up training professionally for a fight. Either you’re a fighter or you’re not, and every time I train professionally, I just get so burned out I don’t want to do it anymore. So I’m just gonna be in shape and train how I used to train back when I won the jiu-jitsu world championships. I fight best when I’m having a good time.
History: Nicknamed "The Prodigy", BJ Penn was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Hilo Hawaii at the tender age of 17 by neighbor Tom Callos. It was through Tom Callos that BJ met Ralph Gracie in 1997 and decided to relocate to Mountain View, CA to further his jiu-jitsu training. From that time on, BJ Penn launched his storied career through the ranks of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Accomplishments along the way include the following:
May, 1997 Enters first tournament in Bakersfield, CA and wins both his weight and the open weight class.
June, 1997 Enters the Joe Moreira tournament as a blue belt winning his weight class.
June, 1997 Wins submission grappling tournament
1997 Enters Brasileiro and places 4th in his weight class, blue belt category
1997 Continues to enter tournaments upon return from Brazil placing first consistently
1997 Receives blue belt from Ralph Gracie
1998 Silver medal at Brazilian Mundials competition in his weight division; receives purple belt upon return
1999 Bronze medal at Brazilian Mundials in heavier weight class as a newly promoted Nova Uniao brown belt.
1999 Gold medal, Copa Pacific Tournament in Los Angeles
1999 Receives Black belt from Andre Pederneiras just 3 weeks before the 2000 Mundials
1999 Joins Nova Uniao Competition Team (reserved for the four top team competitors)
2000 First non-Brazilian to win gold medal in black belt division of the Mundial World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2001 Enters UFC 31 preliminary match and beats Joey Gilbert by referee stoppage at 4:58
2001 Defeated Din Thomas by knockout in 2:17 at UFC 32
2001 Defeated Caol Uno by knockout in, well, fast at UFC 34
2002 Loss to Jens Pulver by majority decision at UFC 35
2002 Defeated Paul Creighton by TKO at UFC 37
2002 Defeated Matt Serra by unanimous decision at UFC 39
2003 Draws to Caol Uno at UFC 41
2003 Defeated Takanori Gomi by rear naked choke at Rumble on the Rock 4 making BJ the World Lightweight Champion
2004 Defeated 5 time Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes by rear naked choke at UFC 46 making BJ the UFC Welterweight Champion and steals the title for the best fighter "pound for pound"
2004 Defeated Duane "Bang" Ludwig by arm triangle at K-1 MMa Romanex
2004 Defeated Rodrigo Gracie by decision at Rumble on the Rock
2005 Loss to Ryoto "Lyoto" Machida by unanimous decision at K-1-Hero's 1
2005 Defeated Renzo Gracie by unanimous decision at K-1-World Grand Prix Hawaii
2006 Loss to Georges St. Pierre by split decision at UFC 58-USA vs Canada
2006 Loss to Matt Hughes by TKO (strikes) at UFC 63–Hughes vs Penn 3:53 rd 3 on 9/23
Call it fate, divine justice or any other proverb you like, but due to a severe groin pull, Georges St. Pierre's will not be able to step into the octagon for his scheduled rematch of UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes on September 23, the UFC announced on its Web site Wednesday afternoon.
Filling the vacated slot to face Hughes is the only man to beat the champion mixed martial artist since March 2001: Hawaii's own B.J. Penn.
Penn returned to the UFC Octagon in March of this year, losing a controversial split decision to St. Pierre, which set-up the Canadian's second shot at Hughes' belt.
The UFC annonced that the decision to go with BJ as the replacement for St. Pierre was a "no-brainer" as fans have been waitin for this rematch for over two years now. BJ eagerly accepted the opportunity to make it 2-0 against Hughes, who is regarded as the premier welterweight of this era.
“I thrive on these big fights, I thrive on pressure, and that’s when I perform my best,” said Penn, who was already in training for an October UFC bout when he got the call to replace St. Pierre.
Hughes has defended his crown eight times over two reigns, dispatching such talent as Renato Verissimo, Frank Trigg, St. Pierre and Joe Riggs and would like nothing better than to settle an old score with Hawaii’s own ‘Prodigy’.
“Now I’ve got something to really look forward to. I’ve already beat Georges and here I get to fight BJ Penn, a guy who’s beaten me. I’m a month out and I can really concentrate on BJ Penn now, and I’m looking forward to it.”
In 2004, BJ, already regarded by most around MMA circles as the best lightweight in the world at the time after his total domination of Takanori Gomi, rose 15 pounds in weight to take on Hughes who had not suffered defeat since 2001. The outcome was a arguably the biggest upset in mixed martial arts history when at 4:39 of the first round BJ forced Hughes to tap out due to a rear-naked choke.
Will history be repeated on September 23rd? MMA fans around the world can hardly wait!
BJ Penn.com
UFC.tv
Born: HI, USA
Fighting Out Of: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 27
Height: 5.9
Weight: 170 lbs.
Overall MMA Record (W-L-D): 10-4-1
Strengths: Submissions
WEIGHTCLASS: Welterweight
FIGHTING OUT OF: Hilo, Hawaii
STYLE: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
TRAINER: Rudy Valentino and Renato Verissimo
STRENGTHS: Excellent submissions, strong standup.
TRAINING: I gave up training professionally for a fight. Either you’re a fighter or you’re not, and every time I train professionally, I just get so burned out I don’t want to do it anymore. So I’m just gonna be in shape and train how I used to train back when I won the jiu-jitsu world championships. I fight best when I’m having a good time.
History: Nicknamed "The Prodigy", BJ Penn was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Hilo Hawaii at the tender age of 17 by neighbor Tom Callos. It was through Tom Callos that BJ met Ralph Gracie in 1997 and decided to relocate to Mountain View, CA to further his jiu-jitsu training. From that time on, BJ Penn launched his storied career through the ranks of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Accomplishments along the way include the following:
May, 1997 Enters first tournament in Bakersfield, CA and wins both his weight and the open weight class.
June, 1997 Enters the Joe Moreira tournament as a blue belt winning his weight class.
June, 1997 Wins submission grappling tournament
1997 Enters Brasileiro and places 4th in his weight class, blue belt category
1997 Continues to enter tournaments upon return from Brazil placing first consistently
1997 Receives blue belt from Ralph Gracie
1998 Silver medal at Brazilian Mundials competition in his weight division; receives purple belt upon return
1999 Bronze medal at Brazilian Mundials in heavier weight class as a newly promoted Nova Uniao brown belt.
1999 Gold medal, Copa Pacific Tournament in Los Angeles
1999 Receives Black belt from Andre Pederneiras just 3 weeks before the 2000 Mundials
1999 Joins Nova Uniao Competition Team (reserved for the four top team competitors)
2000 First non-Brazilian to win gold medal in black belt division of the Mundial World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2001 Enters UFC 31 preliminary match and beats Joey Gilbert by referee stoppage at 4:58
2001 Defeated Din Thomas by knockout in 2:17 at UFC 32
2001 Defeated Caol Uno by knockout in, well, fast at UFC 34
2002 Loss to Jens Pulver by majority decision at UFC 35
2002 Defeated Paul Creighton by TKO at UFC 37
2002 Defeated Matt Serra by unanimous decision at UFC 39
2003 Draws to Caol Uno at UFC 41
2003 Defeated Takanori Gomi by rear naked choke at Rumble on the Rock 4 making BJ the World Lightweight Champion
2004 Defeated 5 time Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes by rear naked choke at UFC 46 making BJ the UFC Welterweight Champion and steals the title for the best fighter "pound for pound"
2004 Defeated Duane "Bang" Ludwig by arm triangle at K-1 MMa Romanex
2004 Defeated Rodrigo Gracie by decision at Rumble on the Rock
2005 Loss to Ryoto "Lyoto" Machida by unanimous decision at K-1-Hero's 1
2005 Defeated Renzo Gracie by unanimous decision at K-1-World Grand Prix Hawaii
2006 Loss to Georges St. Pierre by split decision at UFC 58-USA vs Canada
2006 Loss to Matt Hughes by TKO (strikes) at UFC 63–Hughes vs Penn 3:53 rd 3 on 9/23
Call it fate, divine justice or any other proverb you like, but due to a severe groin pull, Georges St. Pierre's will not be able to step into the octagon for his scheduled rematch of UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes on September 23, the UFC announced on its Web site Wednesday afternoon.
Filling the vacated slot to face Hughes is the only man to beat the champion mixed martial artist since March 2001: Hawaii's own B.J. Penn.
Penn returned to the UFC Octagon in March of this year, losing a controversial split decision to St. Pierre, which set-up the Canadian's second shot at Hughes' belt.
The UFC annonced that the decision to go with BJ as the replacement for St. Pierre was a "no-brainer" as fans have been waitin for this rematch for over two years now. BJ eagerly accepted the opportunity to make it 2-0 against Hughes, who is regarded as the premier welterweight of this era.
“I thrive on these big fights, I thrive on pressure, and that’s when I perform my best,” said Penn, who was already in training for an October UFC bout when he got the call to replace St. Pierre.
Hughes has defended his crown eight times over two reigns, dispatching such talent as Renato Verissimo, Frank Trigg, St. Pierre and Joe Riggs and would like nothing better than to settle an old score with Hawaii’s own ‘Prodigy’.
“Now I’ve got something to really look forward to. I’ve already beat Georges and here I get to fight BJ Penn, a guy who’s beaten me. I’m a month out and I can really concentrate on BJ Penn now, and I’m looking forward to it.”
In 2004, BJ, already regarded by most around MMA circles as the best lightweight in the world at the time after his total domination of Takanori Gomi, rose 15 pounds in weight to take on Hughes who had not suffered defeat since 2001. The outcome was a arguably the biggest upset in mixed martial arts history when at 4:39 of the first round BJ forced Hughes to tap out due to a rear-naked choke.
Will history be repeated on September 23rd? MMA fans around the world can hardly wait!
BJ Penn.com
UFC.tv