This piece is a retrospect over the downside of BJ Penn’s career. This piece does not look to criticize anyone as much as it does to shed light on a particularly dangerous mindset.

B.J. Penn will join the list of fighters that retired too late. Going on a 4 fight losing streak by either TKO or brutal decision loss, Penn’s last performance against Yair Rodriguez hopefully gives him, and his fans, some closure on Penn’s career so he can finally call it quits.

I struggled with the idea of Penn’s return to fighting as a good thing. It seemed as though after every loss BJ received, talks of him coming back were all but likely, even after a terrible performance from the Prodigy.

The fans, as did Penn, held on too long to the days of old, which lead to one of the worst spirals in recent MMA history. Let’s take a look at the road Penn went on, and how he died on his shield.

Part I: Fall In Style

Penn Vs. Frankie Edgar I & II UFC 112 / UFC 118 (April 10, 2010 / August 28, 2010)

After BJ Penn’s destruction of Diego Sanchez, BJ Penn was seen as an unstoppable killing machine because of his BJJ legacy, and crisp powerful boxing. Not only was Penn amazing in his main weight class of 155, he had also won the belt at welterweight, and had won fights against middleweights. BJ was one of the first true mixed martial artist, and became an icon of the sport for his fights and just how tough he was.

Penn lost the lightweight title in a 5 round decision to Frankie Edgar, and then would have an instant rematch against Edgar which he subsequently would lose as well. Penn in his first fight against Edgar started off strong, landing powerful shots and showing his boxing, but was eventually unable to take the fight to the ground, and was outboxed by Frankie on the feet in the first fight, and in the second fight as well. Questions concerning Penn’s camp, and training for the fights arouse as Penn himself questioned his motivation before the fights took place. After this fight, Penn made the decision to go back to the welter weight division, and make a run for the belt again.

Return to Welter Weight

BJ’s first fight back at welter weight was a rematch against long time rival Matt Hughes. Hughes, coming off of a three fight win streak was looking to make it 2-1 against BJ after beating him in their last fight in 2006. The fight would be over in 21 seconds with BJ scoring a KO on Hughes that stopped the fight.

After this fight, Matt Hughes would go on to fight Josh Koshcheck and be KO’d again leading him into retirement. Josh Koscheck would then go 1-6 in his next 7 fights.

Hindsight is 20-20 though, and a new surge of energy was behind BJ. Penn was back, and more dangerous then ever. The Prodigy’s next fight would be against long time number one WW contender Jon Fitch, who at the time was 13-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming to a one sided fight with welter weight champion, Georges St-Pierre.

Penn vs Fitch headlined UFC 127 in a 3 round (back when only championship fights were the only fights allowed to go 5 rounds) majority draw. The fight was grappling heavy with BJ Penn taking Jon Fitch’s back multiple times. Jon Fitch, being known for submission defense and BJJ, had no problem nullifying Penn’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Even though the fight was regarded as lackluster, BJ still showed he could handle top competition.

BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz UFC 137 (October 29, 2011)

Nick Diaz made his UFC return at UFC 137 after being the Strike Force champion and defending his title in one of the greatest 1 round fights of all time against dangerous kick boxer Paul Daley.

Penn showed some moments of brilliance in the fight as he and Diaz slugged it out on the feet, while also having a technical war on the ground. As the fight went on Penn started to fade as Diaz’s boxing, conditioning, and size were proving to be too much for BJ to handle. The fight progressively got uglier as Penn started to absorb shots with little to no answer. Fighters that usually retire too late are the ones that have a chin and a punchers chance. This allows people to give the excuse that, “You can’t count (fighter) out! They still have a dangerous (x).” While this is true, the problem really lies when a fighter is no longer dangerous over a period of time . If they can’t survive for a long period of time, most fighters that gas while the other opponent is still fresh are susceptible to sustaining a large amount of damage during a fight.

After the fight, Penn stated he wanted to retire telling Joe in his post fight interview,

“Joe, this was probably the last time you’ll see me in here. I can’t keep performing at the top level. That’s it Joe. I got a daughter and another daughter on the way, I don’t want to go home looking like this. I’m done.”



Part II: Never Surrender

BJ Penn vs Rory MacDonald UFC on Fox: Henderson VS Diaz (December 8, 2012)

Over a year later after retiring, BJ would return to the Welter Weight division with a fight against top contender and training partner of Georges St. Pierre, Rory MacDonald. Rory MacDonald had challenged BJ multiple times to a fight before BJ decided to accept the challenge and return to the octagon. A fight that in my eyes was a big challenge for the aging Penn, but for Penn, another opportunity to be a shot back in the mix.

The fight against Rory once again proved the WW division to be too much for Penn, as BJ was beat up for three rounds, even at points mocked by the usually quiet and humble Canadian. This fight in my eyes was one of the first fights to really show how far BJ had declined. Instead of having strong success in the first round and then slowly fading, Rory barely received damage in the fight, and unmercifully unloaded on Penn for 3 rounds.

Rory’s 6.5 inch reach advantage and ability to maintain distance kept BJ guessing up against the fence from the beginning of the first round. Rory almost was throwing at will for the better part of the fight as he unload head kicks, body shots, and jabs on the damaged Penn.

A new storyline started to emerge about Penn after this fight, “was Penn too tough for his own good?” BJ’s fighting ability quickly changed to a waiting game where Penn would absorb damage and wait for counter openings, but those counters became less and less open, and Penn would receive more and more damage. After this fight Dana White called for BJ’s retirement, but BJ felt that he had more to offer just at a lighter weight class.

BJ Penn vs Frankie Edgar III The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn Finale (July 6, 2016)

Fighters have received second chances before if they don’t do well in a certain division and then move down or up a weight class. From an outside perspective, this seems to make sense as divisions have been changing in size and morphing as competition changes as well. But in my eyes, this fight was a mistake from the beginning.

In a very strange performance, BJ Penn decided to try out a new unusual upright stance against Edgar. Edgar, being known for his wrestling, was able to take down the now close legged Penn, and beat Penn up from his guard for over 3 rounds before Herb Dean decided he had seen enough.

After this fight I thought, “That’s it, Penn is done, he should never fight again.” Right?

Part III: Dying On Your Shield

BJ Penn vs Ricardo Lama (Cancelled)

In my opinion, what could’ve been the most one sided matchup ever created by Zuffa, the UFC set up BJ Penn against Ricardo Lamas. Lamas, who had just lost a unanimous decision to now feather weight interim champion Max Holloway, was still at the top of his game and was seen as a dangerous wrestle. This fight surely would’ve been an easy victory for Ricardo Lamas, and another serious problem for BJ Penn’s health. But to my dismay, made me realize that BJ Penn would be in for another night of trouble, and I would be in for another hard to watch fight.

This card was cancelled though, as BJ was injured before the fight with Lamas took place.

BJ Penn vs Yair Rodriguez UFC Fight Night: Penn vs Rodriguez (January 15, 2017)

After the fight with Lamas was cancelled, BJ’s opponent switched from Lamas to Dennis Siver to Cole Miller until finally a fight with Yair Rodriguez was made. Although Rodriguez was a contender for knockout of the year in 2016 with his flying head kick KO on Andre Fili, Yair showed he still had a lot to learn in the terms of game planning and execution beyond flashy technique in his fight against Alex Caceres. BJ also started training at Greg Jackson’s to prepare for the fight, another good sign that BJ had a good chance to reinvent himself as Jackon-Wink’s gym has been known to be able to advance older aged fighters with their careers.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case for Penn as Yair proved once and for all (hopefully) that BJ’s chances at another victory in the UFC, just weren’t going to happen against a viable opponent no matter what the level was. At the beginning of the second round, BJ Penn, absorbed a head kick and would receive 25 additional shots on the ground from Yair. An almost fitting reflection, and foreshadowing, of BJ Penn’s career.

BJ Penn will always be remembered by fans everywhere as a person that truly lived by the ideology that a martial artist should be able to defend himself against anyone. Penn will always have an amazing history that will forever be celebrated. But, hopefully now as fans and human beings we realize the stipulation of what holding on to something that isn’t there can bring. Or at least, at minimum, allow for more strategy at rebuilding fighters instead of consistently fighting against top competition day in and day out. Otherwise, we will end up seeing a lot more fighters, like Penn, die on their shields.

Correction*

The actual term is, “Going Out On Your Shield” not “Dying On Your Shield.” This is the reason why given by Reddit user: Cian93

“Spartans would rather die in battle with their shield rather than drop it and run. And if they died in battle their body would be brought back on their shield, so the women would (supposedly) say come back with your shield or on it. But no one was actually dying on shields”

Cheers