B.J. Penn: The most dangerous fighter in the world at 155 or 170 pounds?

While I'm not a fan of the way he's always carried himself, I think it's safe to label myself a fan of B.J. Penn as a fighter. I consider him to be the second best pure fighter in MMA (right behind Fedor) and I have him ranked a lot higher in my lightweight rankings than most people. But even I have to say that people are not showing Joe Stevenson enough respect heading into their match for the vacant UFC lightweight title on Jan. 19 at UFC 80 in New Castle, England.

Leading the B.J. Penn hype bandwagon is none other than UFC president Dana White. It's always strange to reach White's praise of Penn considering the history between Penn and the UFC, but Penn is a UFC fighter and it's in White's best interest to promote him.

There's the following comment made by White in the UK Sun (which I believe was taken from the UFC Countdown show without any attribution whatsoever):

“At 155 lbs. BJ Penn is the most dangerous fighter in the world...there’s no doubt about it," White is quoted as saying in the Sun. “He’s the scariest fighter in the world at 155lbs and 170lbs."

Best pure fighter in the world at 155 lbs. or 170 lbs.? Perhaps. The most gifted fighter at those weights? Yes. But scariest? I think Georges St. Pierre fans might have something to say about that.

But White has immunity from being guilty of over-hyping one of his fighters. While he might be a part-owner and president of the UFC, his most prominent role is that of fight promoter. It's his job to promote fights no matter how good or how bad the matchup. And when it comes to piquing the interest of the mainstream or novice fan, there isn't a promoter alive that has more credibility with that audience than White. Compare the hyperbole that he espouses to some of the more prominent boxing promoters out there, and White comes off like an understated genius.

As great as Penn has proven to be at various times, he's still somewhat of an enigma. I dare call him an underachiever. Some will point to the titles he's held and the caliber of fighters he's beaten and ask how can brand his accomplishments underachieving, but I judge people on a curve on what I perceive to be their individual potential. I'm not saying I know much about MMA, but I know that B.J. Penn could own this sport if he wanted.

It's important to remember that Penn is 11-4-1 lifetime in MMA. I think he could easily be 16-0. The man is a grappling savant and has emerged as a more than capable striker. Physically, he has all the tools needed to go down in history as the greatest fighter to ever grace the sport. But if he were to retire today, he'd been known in his legacy as being great, but not the greatest.

What's held Penn back from reaching his full potential is his work ethic. You might say, what the hell do I know, that I don't know the guy. And you'd be correct. But I've talked to enough fighters and insiders in the industry that do know what's really going on to know that Penn has a reputation for not working as hard as others do in the sport. That's not to say he doesn't work hard. You don't graduate to a black belt in BJJ as young as he did without working. And he sure looked like he was in awesome shape against Jens Pulver this past June.

Penn is so good that in many cases, he's been able to get by on natural fighting ability. But natural fighting ability wasn't enough to allow him to beat Matt Hughes in their rematch at UFC 63 and it wasn't enough to get him past St. Pierre at UFC 58.

So should we be counting on Penn as an automatic victory over Stevenson? If he brings his "A" game, absolutely. But if he brings his "B" game, Penn is going to get upset. His "B" game might be good enough to get him past certain fighters, but not a fighter as capable as Stevenson.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com