B.J. Penn

'''Jay Dee "B.J."

Penn III''' (born December 13, 1978) is an American former professional mixed martial art fighter and 5th degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner.

Prior to his MMA career, Penn was known as the first non-Brazilian to win the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship at black belt level.

In mixed martial arts, Penn has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and in K-1 in the Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight/Openweight divisions.

A former UFC Lightweight Champion and UFC Welterweight Champion, he is the second of nine fighters in UFC history to win titles in multiple weight classes.

Penn fought to a draw against Caol Uno in the UFC 41 Lightweight Tournament.

Through his tenures as champion, Penn unofficially unified the UFC Lightweight Championship (against Sean Sherk) and broke the all-time lightweight title defense record.

In 1997 Penn began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ralph Gracie, eventually earning his purple belt from Gracie.

In 1999, at the age of 20, Penn finished 3rd, earning himself a bronze medal in the brown belt division, losing only to Fernando "Tererê" Augusto, and in 1998, earned a silver medal, placing 2nd in the blue belt division.

Penn is thought to have earned the fastest legitimate black belt of all active Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.

His accomplishments in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship caught the attention of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which convinced him to switch to mixed martial arts.

At that point he moved to Nova União, where he was eventually awarded his black belt in 2000 by André Pederneiras.

A few weeks later, he became the first non-Brazilian to win in the black-belt division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

While Penn's most well-known and prestigious achievement was placing first in the black belt division in the 2000 world championships, he had success at the Mundials in previous years.

Penn made his mixed martial arts debut with the company on May 24, 2001, with a win over Joey Gilbert at UFC 31.

He then demonstrated strong striking skills, knocking out lightweights Din Thomas and Caol Uno before suffering a decision loss in a championship fight against UFC Lightweight Champion, Jens Pulver.

In 2003, after Pulver left the UFC and relinquished his title, a tournament to crown a new champion flopped when Penn fought Uno to a draw in the finals at UFC 41, a failure which caused the UFC to later suspend its lightweight division.

Penn bounced back later in the year with a victory over future PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi to earn his first MMA championship, the Rumble on the Rock Lightweight Championship, in K-1 Fighting Network's Rumble on the Rock, an MMA organization promoted by Penn's brother, and Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), the parent company of the largest kickboxing organization, K-1.

Penn received his first UFC Championship in 2004 at UFC 46.

Penn jumped up in weight classes to challenge the five-time defending UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes to fill a title contention slot in a division where Hughes had already defeated all the available opposition.

Heavily favored to win, Hughes lost the fight four minutes into the first round by rear naked choke after giving up his back with only 23 seconds left in the round, in a bout which remains as one of the biggest upsets, as well as one of the greatest submission victories in mixed martial arts history.

Penn signed to fight for the Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group's (FEG) K-1 promotion citing a lack of challenging fights left for him in the UFC.

The UFC promptly stripped him of the welterweight title, claiming Penn breached his contract and that the signing constituted as him refusing to defend his title.

Penn filed a suit against the UFC and publicized his side of the conflict, claiming his UFC contract had already expired.

However, he has been criticized for continuing to fight past his prime, including an eight fight winless streak from 2011 to 2019.

Penn was born in Hawaii to Jay Dee Penn, who is of Irish American descent, and Lorraine Shin, who is of Korean and Hawaiian descent.

At the age of 17, Penn began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after being introduced to it by his neighbor, Tom Callos.

Callos had put up fliers in local gyms looking for people to train with, and B.J.'s father Jay Dee Penn had called Callos and said his boys were interested.

Callos then taught B.J. and his brother what he knew.

Shortly thereafter, B.J. moved to San Jose, California, to begin training at the Ralph Gracie BJJ academy with Dave Camarillo, with whom he lived and became close friends.

It was here during his time in San Jose that he decided to pursue a martial arts career.

In 2015, Penn was made the inaugural inductee into the Modern-era wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.

Penn was considered one of the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world early in his career and holds victories over opponents such as Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Paul Creighton, and Matt Serra.

Penn won the Rumble on the Rock Lightweight Championship in K-1.

He submitted long-reigning then-champion Matt Hughes to capture the UFC Welterweight Championship.

Following a period in which Penn competed exclusively for K-1, he returned to the UFC and won the UFC Lightweight Championship.

He made a record three subsequent title defenses before losing his title to Frankie Edgar.

UFC President, Dana White, credits Penn with bringing the lower weight divisions into the mainstream of mixed martial arts; he describes Penn as "the first crossover pay-per-view star for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's lighter weight divisions", as well as saying that "[through his] accomplishments, B.J. Penn built the 155-pound division".

Penn hoped to run for governor of Hawaii in the 2022 Hawaii gubernatorial election but was eliminated in the Republican Party primary.

Penn is regarded as one of the best competitors in the UFC's history.