Who do you rank highest pound-for-pound of all-time: Dan Henderson or BJ Penn?

Penn and IMHO this isn't up for debate. Even when he has lost to Hughes it was clear he was the better fighter who was just too small and out of shape. GSP dominated him, but he did it by employing a perfect gameplan and taking full advantage of Penns weaknesses. And GSP dominates everyone at WW and I'm not convinced he couldn't beat Hendo. He also lost to Machida but still made it the distance, again I'm not convinced if Hendo can last with Machida. Skill and Ability Penn clearly, accomplishments its close.

 

It really has to be Penn, he has dominated a weightclass for half a decade, while winning a belt one higher, and fought well as high as HW.

 

Dan Henderson because he is a MMA Legend.

BJ Penn hasn't had a 1/4 the career of Hendo.

 

BJ Penn is an MMA Legend

 

Henderson has a good resume but he lost to the best fighters hes faced. Truth be told the best fighter hes beaten was Busta.

Penn has fought and has challenged the absolute best. Uno was considered as arguably the best lightweight when BJ ran over him. Jens was the UFC champ when they fought. When BJ fought Din, Thomas was a stud and was expected to beat a green BJ.

Then he beat an absolute peak/prime Matt Hughes...after that he went to JApan and fought a feared striker at the time BAng Ludwig(who raped Jens)...and then he fought who many considered the best LW at the time Gomi and pretty much beat him into a bloody pulp.

Then he ran out of competition and started fighting larger men in Rodrigo and Lyoto (who already had koed Franklin)

When he went back to UFC he picked GSP who had pretty much demolished everyone at the time (Trigg, Miller, Sherk) and pretty much stalled him to a split D.

Everytime BJ has fought, he has picked the best opposition at the time at their absolute best. There lies the difference.

 

BJ Penn without any shadow of a doubt.... in a sane world, Hendo (who is very good & I do respect greatly) should lose this thread by a complete landslide.

Im gonna read the other replies now & likely come back to correct some guys.

:good

 

This post ^

 

Penn is a more talented & complete fighter, his striking is way better, his BJJ is so much better its not even funny & he is a good wrestler in his own right but obviously not in Hendersons league in this particular skill... he has absolutely cemented his legend as the best 155 lber of all time in the same mould/or almost the same mould that Fedor has at HWT.

The guy is so much better than everyone in his own class that he has gone as far as fighting Machida (close loss) to seek challenges.

Seriously guys, whats going on here ?

Penn >>>>> Henderson.

Its a no-brainer.

 

Penn takes a beating from his haters for losing to 3 guys who are all bigger then him and are all future HOFers...Hughes, St. Pierre and Machida.

What would happen if Machida challenged Fedor? If St. Pierre challenged Silva? If Hughes (Prime) fought Franklin back then?

 

Henderson competed with nog even though he was like 50lb bigger than him and he has beat a lot of guys much bigger than him
Beat Yvel whose a dangerous HW, beat Sorobal very dangerous fighter, Newton good fighter, R Gracie Very good fighter. Rua, Belfort, Misaki all very good fighters

Bj Penn has beaten 3 people Serra - decent fighter noting special. Matt Hughes has no skills he drains weight and lies on top of his opponents. Renzo gracie very good fighter and Sherk decent fighter.. his best win is Gomi.

there is no comparion at the moment BJ Penn needs more fights as champion.

 

BJ Penn -probably end up as the greatest lightweight in MMA. Henderson is one of the best but bj should be rank higher.

 

you got to be kidding meatsch

yvel? lose cannon.. has loss so many fights-sobral-is good win--newton loss to hughes twice(have you forgotten?) R.Gracie-also loss to bj penn

Rua-is ok but no where near his lil brother as far as talent
Belfort-my idol good win
misaki-good win

since you want to include fighters like yvel then you should also include florian-stevenson and former lightweight champ jens pulver in bj penn resume.

 

That's total bollocks and you know it.

He has Uno, Serra, Gomi, two Gracie's, Hughes, Pulver, Sherk and Florian. And perhaps Stevenson if your being generous.

 

And dont forget, all those guys at their very peak.

I wont even argue it because Ive follwed MMA from UFC 1 and thru the UFCs dark ages. Ive got perspective...When BJ fought Din Thomas, Thomas was a slight favorite and was being pitted as Pulvers greatest challenger at the time. Bang Ludwig was a pretty dangerous guy.

I mean look at what happened to Florian, who is at his physical prime and touted as a dangerous challenger. In a way he reminds you of Anderson Silva, he makes good guys look overrated after the fact. Hes that good!

GSP alone was treated Trigg as a rag doll and was all of a sudden derailed against an out of shape 2 week notice BJ Penn. Now GSp has improved from that time but he was a monster already.

 

I agree and this is no knock on BJs resume cause his is pretty ****ing sick. However Dans may arguablly be the best in MMA history

Brazil Open Winner (not a big tournament but one regardless)

UFC 17 Middleweight tournament winner (beats Allan Goes and future Welterweight Champ Carlos Newton in the same night)

Rings King of Kings tournament winner (beats future Strikeforce 205 Champion Babalu Sobral,Gilbert Yvel and the legendary UFC and Pride Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the SAME NIGHT)

Pride 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion (KOs Gono and Chonan with the same punch in the same night)

Pride Welterweight and Middleweight Champion at the same time (never been done in big time MMA infact the man Hendo is being compared with Penn tried to accomplish this and failed miserably)

2 wins over former UFC Middleweight Champ Murilo Bustamante
KO win over the legend Renzo Gracie (only man to do so)
Defeated prime Ninja Rua
Defeats 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix winner Kazuo Misaki
Defeats former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin
KOs the defending Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva cold
Dominated former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort

Throw in wins over pretty good guys or guys considered to be contenders in Rousimar Palhares,Michael Bisping,Nakamura,Yuki Kondo.

You got 7 wins over former or current UFC/Pride Champions and add in 2nd tier Champions like Pancrase,Elite XC,Strikeforce or even Pride Grand Prix winners he has 11 wins.

When BJ has won all these tournaments and has the overall depth on his resume Henderson does then ill rank him above Hendo.