BJ Penn as a welterweight boxer

Ofcourse

He also threw some very hard kicks, if for 1 whole year he kicked punts and field goals, no doubt he would be in the NFL.

 

No. Penn isn't even the best striker in mma. He's not bad but you gotta realise that it's not even his forte. He excels on the ground. (because he's insanely good at jiujitsu)...

with a year of training , he'd be able to grab a few wins under boxing rules but he would need more than a year to be part of the cream of the crop.

Same goes for boxers who'd train in BJJ for a year...Maybe they'd be able to submit a few no hopers on the ground...but you gotta realise that amongst the bjj elites currently fighting in mma , there's black belt level jiujitsu artists who are getting schooled by other black belts.. some have never been subbed in their entire career...there's so many levels in BJJ that no boxer , even a "prodigy" or a "natural" would somehow own the competition.

Same goes for boxing...Penn would need way more than a year. What makes him a good fighter is the combination of everything... bjj , wrestling , a bit of boxing , kicks , knees etc...

if you substract jiujitsu , wrestling , kickboxing etc...of his options during a fight , he wouldn't be left with a lot of advantages.

Sherk (a wrestler) made a lot of wrong decisions but he wasn't totally stupid either. The reason why sherk tried to play a boxing game for the duration of the fight is because he knew that on the ground he'd either get his ass subbed or lose a decision...he was desperate to have this fight last as long as possible.

he was probably hoping for a KO but it didn't happened.

Against a guy like Mayweather , Sherk would probably just take him down and beat the **** out of him on the ground...

against Penn...he wasn't facing a pro boxer. just a versatile BJJ artist , that's why he gave it a try and tried to outbox Penn.

 

Nice post

 

I think anyone who has been doing MMA his whole life would get owned in a boxing match no matter how good his stand up is

 

Superior athletes like BJ can excel is most sports. He'd be good.

 

Good post but dont all BJ a versitile BJJ artist hes alot more then that. Theres a reason hes top 3 in the world p4p. Hes one of those kind of atheltes that can excell in any combat sport he choses. His Muay Thai looks sick whenever he uses it,his BJJ is arguablly the best out there if not the best its close,Randy Couture said when he was a Heavyweight orginally he was training BJ in Wrestling at 155 and BJ took him down at times and Randy had alot of trouble taking him down and especially keeping him there thats Randy Couture we are talking about one of MMAs best takedown guys. Every time BJ uses his hands he winds up taking people out and when you watch it his technique his very good. He isnt MMAs best striker no thats Anderson Silva but as far as boxing skills in MMA hes right up there among the best.

 

BJ Penn fought a very basic boxing match. It was good as he speared Sherk from range but his footwork, his defence and his punches in boxing would see to it that he loses to a good operator. Can't see him beating anyone in the top10 at 147 now.

Mosley, Judah, Cotto, Margo, Floyd, Clottey etc would win every round.

 

Let's be honest here. Going off the Sherk fight doesn't properly determine exactly what kind of style Penn brings into a fight against a top 10 WW. He was standing up against an excellent grappler - so it reasons that he's not going to commit completely to a boxing style.

Would you be dancing on your toes if you were in the ring with B.J. Penn and his jiu-jitsu in the back of your mind?

The possibility of going to the ground will strongly effect the manner in which you stand.

 

My honest opinion...
From what i've been able to observe during most of his fights , (in other words , in his entire career) , is a guy who's got real skills in almost every aspects of mma. He's not the type that you'd label in the category of the:

"jack of all trades and master of none"

Penn is really impressive it's almost unfair to most of his opponents.
But still , there's actual superior BJJ artist in the mma scene.
First names that come to mind , Ronaldo Jacare , Roger Gracie , Leozinho Vieira (maybe Leo is not better but just as good in BJJ)..

(btw in case you don't know who the guy is , here's a video of Penn and Leo sparring )
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1485438578

Some of the Heavies don't have much to envy either..(yes Werdum is ****ing boring and not as impressive with his flexibility but he's still part of the cream of the crop as far as Jiujitsu is concerned)

The HW , Roger Gracie...(not impressive mma record but...)
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=19854

Is arguably "the" BJJ "prodigy"

Here's a quick reminder...

ADCC 2003 – (first ADDC appearance): 88-98kg​

ADCC 2003 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Elimination Rounds
Roger Gracie def. Mario Sperry
ADCC 2003 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Quarter Finals
Roger Gracie def. Rigan Machado
ADCC 2003 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Semi Finals
John Olav Einemo def. Roger Gracie
ADCC 2003 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Third Place Match
Roger Gracie def. Xande Ribeiro

ADCC 2005 – 88-98kg​

ADCC 2005 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Elimination Rounds
Roger Gracie def. Justin Garcia
ADCC 2005 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Quarter Finals
Roger Gracie def. Eduardo Telles
ADCC 2005 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class - Semi Finals
Roger Gracie def. Xande Ribeiro
ADCC 2005 - Matches for 88 to 98 Weight Class – Finals
Roger Gracie def. Alexandre Ferreira 'Cacareco'

ADCC 2005 – Absolute Weight Class​

ADCC 2005 - Matches for Absolute Weight Class - Elimination Rounds
Roger Gracie def. Shinja Aoki
DCC 2005 - Matches for Absolute Weight Class - Quarter Finals
Roger Gracie def. Fabricio Werdum
ADCC 2005 - Matches for Absolute Weight Class - Semi Finals
Roger Gracie def. Xande Ribeiro
ADCC 2005 - Matches for Absolute Weight Class – Finals
Roger Gracie def. Ronaldo Jacare

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2000 (first appearance)​

“MEIO-PESADO” – Blue Belt
1-Roger Gracie
2-Rafel Mota
3-Daniel Cherobim
3-Lucas Lopes

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2001​

“MEIO-PESADO” – Purple Belt
1-Roger Gracie
2-Etienne hebert
3-Taheles Freitas
3-Fabio Guzzo

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2002​

“PESADO” – Brown Belt
1- Roger Gracie
2- Rodrigo Asmus
3- Fernando Di Piero
3- Marco Aurelio

“ABSOLUTO”- Brown Belt
1- Roger Gracie
2- Ronaldo de Souza "Jacaré"
3- Davi Gomes
3- Leopoldo Montenegro

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2003​

“ABSOLUTO”- Black Belt
1-Marcio Cruz
2-Roger Gracie
3-Alexandre Dantas
3-Fabricio Werdum

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2004​

“SUPERPESADO”- Black Belt
1º Roger Gracie
2º Rodrigo Medeiros
3º Roberto Tozi
3º Arthur Cezar

“ABSOLUTO”– Black Belt
1º Ronaldo de Souza "Jacaré"
2º Roger Gracie
3º Alexandre Ribeiro
3º Marcelo Garcia

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2005​

“SUPERPESADO”- Black Belt
1º Roger Gracie
2º Alexandre Ribeiro
3º Fernando Pontes
3º Rodrigo Medeiros

“ABSOLUTO”– Black Belt
1º Ronaldo de Souza "Jacaré"
2º Roger Gracie
3º Braulio Estima
3º Saulo Ribeiro

World Jiu-Jistu Championship 2006​

“SUPER-HEAVY”- Black Belt
1º Roger Gracie
2º Robert Drysdale
3º Rodrigo Medeiros
3º Fernando Pontes

“OPEN-WEIGHT”– Black Belt
1º Alexandre Ribeiro
2º Roger Gracie
3º Roberto Abreu
3º Marcelo Garcia

-----------------------------------

My point is that when you say Penn , "excells"...Well..yes and no.
Yes in the mma scene. But at the same time , he's not "the" ultimate master of all disciplines. What really makes the difference is the fact that he's a "A level" and in some other aspects "B level" in every disciplines.. that's what makes him dangerous.

It's always more impressive to see his Jiujitsu because he's got a cazy flexibility...(another guy who's like that is Shinya Aoki , however he's not as versatile as Penn)..

the guy is undeniably talented , and even though he has this ability to "adapt" faster than most...I do not believe that it would translate in a sport such as boxing. Because like i said earlier...He'd be forced to fight under one dimensional rules.

Penn's real strength , is the combo of all aspects of fighting.

Another guy who's like that is the HW , Fedor Emelianenko. Actually , Fedor has advantages and specialties that even Penn doesn't possess but that's another issue...

Both have a different approach to fighting too so maybe it's a bit hard to compare. But speaking of emelianenko , i also believe that (in his case) , without mma rules (or sambo rules) , he wouldn't be as dominant even with years of training.

and don't get me wrong..I'm not saying that guys such as Penn or Fedor would be hopeless...maybe they'd have the potential to be in the top 10 but not very likely...(at least certainly not with a year of training.)

 

Both Penn and Sherk admit it was a standing fight. However agreed they had other things to think of.

I believe Penn would not be totally offensive or defensive, he'd mix it up.

I'm not talking about skill though, Penn has loads it. Short uppercuts on the inside, he went to the body, good jab etc

Technically he leaves much to be desired. He can get away with things he wouldn't. He can keep his hands a little lower cos he knows he can answer situations with different things i.e. takedowns.

At 147 pounds I can't see Penn beating any of the top guys. 147 is stacked with great fighters and solid champs.

 

Roger Gracie is a bad mofo and is arguablly the best. But as far as MMA related Jiu-Jitsu you can make a good case for Penn. Also you bring up the tournaments that Gracie wins but when is BJ in any of these anymore ? All I got to say is in 3 years of training he goes out and wins in the Blackbelt divison in the 2000 Mundials thats pretty amazing.

 

Yes and no. He's completely supported off of his parents fortune. So if you do BJJ 24/7 its completely possible. I used to have a friend who was a purple belt and he got it inside 1 year(same as BJPenn). He did it as his job tho.

 

Well im assuming your talking about the Blackbelt and how quick he earned it. Honestly I wonder if they give them things out sometimes so I dont pay too much attention to blackbelts id rather see them compete to coment on the BJJ skills. I dont care if he had training 24-7 cause when you win the Mundials thats it big damn deal right there.

 

Im not saying its. Im saying most people have to support themselves while training. He didn't.

 

True it sucks paying 100 bucks for Jiu-Jitsu school everymonth id rather have someone do it for me.