Alongside the great very many athletes who have hung up their gloves; Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, etc. another MMA great has taken the liberty in doing so that man is "The Prodigy" BJ Penn.
Penn was defeated via third round TKO in the main event of Sunday's Ultimate Finale event, and formally announced his retirement at the post fight press conference.
Penn also discussed the last time he stepped into the octagon, his 2012 defeat to Rory MacDonald back at UFC on Fox 5. Following the loss he stayed on the sidelines for a while until he saw the opportunity to reinvent himself as a Featherweight and challenged Frankie Edgar who defeated him twice via decision in 2010.
Penn debuted in the octagon with a pair of first round knockouts over Din Thomas and Caol Uno before losing a majoraty decision to then champion Jens Pulver in 2002. He then rebounded with wins over Paul Creighton and Matt Serra before dropping challenging for the title and failing to win it again.
The UFC then abandoned its lightweight division and Penn went up to welterweight where he defeated Matt Hughes in the first round. He then walked away from the UFC citing that there was not enough competition and fought in K1 fighting the likes of Duane Ludwig, Lyoto Machida, and Takanori Gomi, and Renzo Gracie.
He returned to the UFC in 2006 and lost to Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes before returning to the lightweight division where he defeated Pulver, captured the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship by dominating Joe Stevenson, then defended it against Sean Sherk all in impressive fashion. This prompted many to believe that Penn was no less then the top 155 pounder in the world.
After defeating Hughes, Penn called out Georges St-Pierre for a rematch who dominated him in one of the most one sided bouts in recent memory. Penn then defended his lightweight strap against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez topping out 2009 on a memorable note. Penn dropped his lightweight title to Frankie Edgar in April 2010 in a controversial decision then failed to regain it in April that year.
Penn then returned to the welterweight division where he knocked out Matt Hughes in just 23 seconds, he next faced Jon Fitch who he fought to a draw. His next fight was in October 2011 against Nick Diaz who bombarded him with punches over the course of 3 rounds.
Still on the fence of retirement, Penn accepted a call out from GSP's team mate Rory MacDonald which once again we saw Penn dominated over the course of three rounds. Penn then waited almost two years before fighting Edgar who unfortunately would give him his swan song.
Author: Alex Cochrane
Cited source: Dana Becker (fightline.com)
------------------------------------------------------------------
BJ certainly gave us some moments to remember, my favorite was his 11 second knockout of Caol Uno. It kinda sucks but I understand his decision
Penn was defeated via third round TKO in the main event of Sunday's Ultimate Finale event, and formally announced his retirement at the post fight press conference.
BJ Penn said:
Penn also discussed the last time he stepped into the octagon, his 2012 defeat to Rory MacDonald back at UFC on Fox 5. Following the loss he stayed on the sidelines for a while until he saw the opportunity to reinvent himself as a Featherweight and challenged Frankie Edgar who defeated him twice via decision in 2010.
BJ Penn said:
Penn debuted in the octagon with a pair of first round knockouts over Din Thomas and Caol Uno before losing a majoraty decision to then champion Jens Pulver in 2002. He then rebounded with wins over Paul Creighton and Matt Serra before dropping challenging for the title and failing to win it again.
The UFC then abandoned its lightweight division and Penn went up to welterweight where he defeated Matt Hughes in the first round. He then walked away from the UFC citing that there was not enough competition and fought in K1 fighting the likes of Duane Ludwig, Lyoto Machida, and Takanori Gomi, and Renzo Gracie.
He returned to the UFC in 2006 and lost to Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes before returning to the lightweight division where he defeated Pulver, captured the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship by dominating Joe Stevenson, then defended it against Sean Sherk all in impressive fashion. This prompted many to believe that Penn was no less then the top 155 pounder in the world.
After defeating Hughes, Penn called out Georges St-Pierre for a rematch who dominated him in one of the most one sided bouts in recent memory. Penn then defended his lightweight strap against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez topping out 2009 on a memorable note. Penn dropped his lightweight title to Frankie Edgar in April 2010 in a controversial decision then failed to regain it in April that year.
Penn then returned to the welterweight division where he knocked out Matt Hughes in just 23 seconds, he next faced Jon Fitch who he fought to a draw. His next fight was in October 2011 against Nick Diaz who bombarded him with punches over the course of 3 rounds.
Still on the fence of retirement, Penn accepted a call out from GSP's team mate Rory MacDonald which once again we saw Penn dominated over the course of three rounds. Penn then waited almost two years before fighting Edgar who unfortunately would give him his swan song.
Author: Alex Cochrane
Cited source: Dana Becker (fightline.com)
------------------------------------------------------------------
BJ certainly gave us some moments to remember, my favorite was his 11 second knockout of Caol Uno. It kinda sucks but I understand his decision