BJ Penn Fighter Profile - Ultimate Fighter

Hawaiian born Jay Dee Penn (Family nicknamed B.J which stands for Baby Jay) has only recently entered the world of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) but has left an interesting mark upon the UFC. Trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, between 1997 and 1999 he went up in belt classes and came away with several competition victories. In 2000 hbecame the very first non-Brazilian to actually win a gold medal in the black belt division of the Mundial World Championships in Brazil, only 3 weeks after actually recieving his black belt. It was this victory that brought the UFC to his doorstep to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse. 
<p>His career began well enough, rising quickly through the ranks of the UFC lightweight class by defeating Din Thomas and Caol Uno with knockout victories. It was lightweight champion James Pulver that would bring him his first loss and halt his attempts to claim the title. In 2002 Penn easily managed two additional victories against Paul Creighton and Matt Serra, but it wasn’t until the following year that Penn would help change the course of the UFC. In 2003 Pulver left the UFC, leaving his title uncontested. Penn was set up to once again battle Caol Uno to claim the empty title in UFC 41. This proved disastrous as the match ended in a draw and the title was left uncontended. The UFC dissolved the lightweight division as a result.</p>
<p>Penn made a name for himself once again when he self-promoted a match between he and the current World Lightweight Champion, Japan Native, Takanori Gomi during “Rumble on the Rock 4". Penn won the match and claimed the title with a rear naked choke. With the lightweight division gone, Penn was given a chance to jump up in rank to the Welterweight division to fill in a contention slot for the title being held by Matt Hughes. Hughes had defended his title for five years and was considered a strong favorite for the fight. This lead to quite a shock when it only took Penn 4 minutes to get Hughes into a hold and claim the title for himself.</p>
<p>It was shortly after this that Penn signed on with the kickboxing championship K-1 which turned out to be a bad move. The UFC stripped him of his title by claiming that Penn had breached his contract with them by signing on with another organization, which was considered an official denial to defend his title. Penn attempted to back it up in the courts by saying that his contract with UFC had already expired, and attempted to file a motion that would keep the UFC from crowning a new Welterweight champion. The motion was denied and Penn’s involvement with the UFC was officially over. </p>
<p>Penn saw 4 victories during his time with K-1 including his claim for middleweight champion that he stripped from the undefeated Rodrigo Gracie. During the K-1 Heroes 1 event in Japan during 2005 Penn jumped up again in weight class but was outmatched by heavyweight Ryoto Machida. Later during the World Grand Prix Hawaii he returned to middleweight, defeating the famous Renzo Gracie.</p>
<p align="left">It wasn’t until 2006 that Penn and UFC President Dana White came to terms and agreed to a settlement on their previous issues. Penn would once again contend for the welterweight championship on March 4th during UFC 50 -USA vs Canada-. He was defeated however by his opponent George St Pierre in a split decision. It is assumed that Penn’s lack of aggression lead to the loss, even though Pierre looked the worse at the end of the fight. </p>
<p align="left">At UFC 63, BJ Penn gained his opprotunity to fight Matt Hughes for the Welterweigh championship. GSP was assumed to be injured at the time so BJ stepped up.  The fight began with BJ Penn boxing with Matt, beating him on the standup battle.  In the second round, BJ Penn went to the ground with Matt and quickly jumped to Matt's back, which apperantly injured his rib.  He locked in a triangle armbar at the last 30 seconds but Matt Hughes survived it .  In the third round, Penn looked completely out of it, and Hughes rocked him with afew punches.  This led to Hughes taking Penn down, and laying across his shoulders in a crucifix move, laying down punch after punch.  About fifty punches and elbows thrown, John McCarthy stops the match.  Matt Hughes regains his belt, but many believe BJ was winning the first two rounds and injured his rib, thus causing him to not fight well in the third.</p>
<p align="left"><strong><font size="4">Fight Record - 11-4-1</font></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div align="left">06-23-2007 - Defeats Jens Pulver, TUF 5 Finale, Submission Round 2, 3:12</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">09-23-2006 - Lost to Matt Hughes, UFC 63, TKO Round 3, 3:53</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">03-04-2006 - Lost to George St Pierre, UFC 58, Split Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">07-29-2005 - Defeats Renzo Gracie, WorldGrandPrix, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">03-26-2005 - Lost to Ryoto Machida, K1 Hero's, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">11-20-2004 - Defeats Rodrigo Gracie, ROTR 6, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">05-22-2004 - Defeats Duane Ludwig, K-1 MMA-R, Submission Round 1, 1:45</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">01-31-2004 - Defeats Matt Hughes, UFC 46, Submission Round 1, 4:39</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">10-10-2003 - Defeats Takanori Gomi, ROTR 4, Submission Round 3, 2:35</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">02-28-2003 - Draw to Caol Uno, UFC 41, Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">09-27-2002 - Defeats Matt Serra, UFC 39, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">05-10-2002 - Defeats Paul Creighton, UFC 27, TKO Round 2, 3:23</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">01-11-2002 - Lost to Jens Pulver, UFC 35, Majority Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">11-02-2001 - Defeats Caol Uno, UFC 34, KO Round 1, 0:11</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">06-29-2001 - Defeats Din Thomas, UFC 32, TKO Round 1, 2:42</div></li>
<li>
<div align="left">05-04-2001 - Defeats Joey Gilbert, UFC 31, TKO Round 1, 4:57</div></li></ul>

Weight Class Eligible for Top 10 ( tick if yes )

( Seperate each weight class with a space. Tags for weight classes are: lw = light weight, mw = middle weight, lhw = light hw, he = heavy weight )

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Sample of BJ penn HL coming up.	Penn Six - Video Killed The Radio Star
Penn & Teller's Got Talent	bj penn techniques/sweeping from gaurd
Penn Six - American Girl	Penn Six - Princeton Strut

His career began well enough, rising quickly through the ranks of the UFC lightweight class by defeating Din Thomas and Caol Uno with knockout victories. It was lightweight champion James Pulver that would bring him his first loss and halt his attempts to claim the title. In 2002 Penn easily managed two additional victories against Paul Creighton and Matt Serra, but it wasn’t until the following year that Penn would help change the course of the UFC. In 2003 Pulver left the UFC, leaving his title uncontested. Penn was set up to once again battle Caol Uno to claim the empty title in UFC 41. This proved disastrous as the match ended in a draw and the title was left uncontended. The UFC dissolved the lightweight division as a result.

Penn made a name for himself once again when he self-promoted a match between he and the current World Lightweight Champion, Japan Native, Takanori Gomi during “Rumble on the Rock 4". Penn won the match and claimed the title with a rear naked choke. With the lightweight division gone, Penn was given a chance to jump up in rank to the Welterweight division to fill in a contention slot for the title being held by Matt Hughes. Hughes had defended his title for five years and was considered a strong favorite for the fight. This lead to quite a shock when it only took Penn 4 minutes to get Hughes into a hold and claim the title for himself.

It was shortly after this that Penn signed on with the kickboxing championship K-1 which turned out to be a bad move. The UFC stripped him of his title by claiming that Penn had breached his contract with them by signing on with another organization, which was considered an official denial to defend his title. Penn attempted to back it up in the courts by saying that his contract with UFC had already expired, and attempted to file a motion that would keep the UFC from crowning a new Welterweight champion. The motion was denied and Penn’s involvement with the UFC was officially over.

Penn saw 4 victories during his time with K-1 including his claim for middleweight champion that he stripped from the undefeated Rodrigo Gracie. During the K-1 Heroes 1 event in Japan during 2005 Penn jumped up again in weight class but was outmatched by heavyweight Ryoto Machida. Later during the World Grand Prix Hawaii he returned to middleweight, defeating the famous Renzo Gracie.

It wasn’t until 2006 that Penn and UFC President Dana White came to terms and agreed to a settlement on their previous issues. Penn would once again contend for the welterweight championship on March 4th during UFC 50 -USA vs Canada-. He was defeated however by his opponent George St. Pierre in a split decision. It is assumed that Penn’s lack of aggression lead to the loss, even though Pierre looked the worse at the end of the fight.

At UFC 63, BJ Penn gained his opprotunity to fight Matt Hughes for the Welterweigh championship. George St. Pierre was assumed to be injured at the time so BJ stepped up. The fight began with BJ Penn boxing with Matt, beating him on the standup battle. In the second round, BJ Penn went to the ground with Matt and quickly jumped to Matt's back, which apperantly injured his rib. He locked in a triangle armbar at the last 30 seconds but Matt Hughes survived it . In the third round, Penn looked completely out of it, and Hughes rocked him with afew punches. This led to Hughes taking Penn down, and laying across his shoulders in a crucifix move, laying down punch after punch. About fifty punches and elbows thrown, John McCarthy stops the match. Matt Hughes regains his belt, but many believe BJ was winning the first two rounds and injured his rib, thus causing him to not fight well in the third.

Fight Record - 11-4-1

06-23-2007 - Defeats Jens Pulver, TUF 5 Finale, Submission Round 2, 3:12
09-23-2006 - Lost to Matt Hughes, UFC 63, TKO Round 3, 3:53
03-04-2006 - Lost to George St. Pierre, UFC 58, Split Decision
07-29-2005 - Defeats Renzo Gracie, WorldGrandPrix, Unanimous Decision
03-26-2005 - Lost to Ryoto Machida, K1 Hero's, Unanimous Decision
11-20-2004 - Defeats Rodrigo Gracie, ROTR 6, Unanimous Decision
05-22-2004 - Defeats Duane Ludwig, K-1 MMA-R, Submission Round 1, 1:45
01-31-2004 - Defeats Matt Hughes, UFC 46, Submission Round 1, 4:39
10-10-2003 - Defeats Takanori Gomi, ROTR 4, Submission Round 3, 2:35
02-28-2003 - Draw to Caol Uno, UFC 41, Decision
09-27-2002 - Defeats Matt Serra, UFC 39, Unanimous Decision
05-10-2002 - Defeats Paul Creighton, UFC 27, TKO Round 2, 3:23
01-11-2002 - Lost to Jens Pulver, UFC 35, Majority Decision
11-02-2001 - Defeats Caol Uno, UFC 34, KO Round 1, 0:11
06-29-2001 - Defeats Din Thomas, UFC 32, TKO Round 1, 2:42
05-04-2001 - Defeats Joey Gilbert, UFC 31, TKO Round 1, 4:57

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