“The BJ Penn Curse”
Joe Stevenson cannot beat BJ Penn. Not, “probably won’t,” “unlikely to do so,” “the odds are stacked against him,” or “history indicates it won’t happen.” It is literally impossible for Joe Stevenson to beat BJ Penn. This is the curse of fighting Penn: he’s so good that when he doesn’t win, the focus becomes on how he lost, not on how his opponent won. On Sunday morning, if Stevenson is the new UFC Lightweight Champion, the discussion will almost assuredly revolve around what Penn did in the fight to lose, not what Stevenson did to find victory. It’s an easy script to follow too. If Penn loses (see how that works, Penn loses; Stevenson doesn’t win), it’ll be because he didn’t train hard enough, gassed out and that’s why Stevenson took over. If Penn doesn’t win, Stevenson is the winner because he was the guy standing in the cage when Penn screwed up. Right time, right place.
And it’s not like this is without merit.
Penn’s credentials are not a secret; he was nicknamed “The Prodigy” for good reason. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu wunderkind, Penn captured a world championship in the sport after roughly three years of training. Imagine if Michael Jordan picked up a basketball at 18 for the first time in his life and then won an NBA MVP award at 21. This stuff just doesn’t happen.
Penn then bursts onto the MMA scene and rather than dominate with his ground skills, he starts knocking opponents out left and right. Din Thomas is knocked out by a knee. Caol Uno is floored in less than thirty seconds with a barrage of punches. World class ground game + raw striking prowess = unfair.
Penn then fights Jens Pulver for the UFC Lightweight Title. Pulver is the first opponent to encounter the Penn Curse as he earns a majority decision victory over the Hawaiian. Yet, to this day, all anyone talks about is how Penn seemed to mentally shut down after two rounds, not how Pulver came on strong in the final three.
Pulver parts ways with the UFC, a tournament is created to determine a new champion. In the finals, Penn meets Uno. The fight ends as a draw. It’s hard not to focus on what Penn did wrong, instead of what Uno did right, when their first fight decisively ended in eleven seconds and this fight limped to a sister-kissing conclusion after twenty-five minutes.
Penn would come back though. He chokes out Takanori Gomi and Matt Hughes (which netted him the welterweight title) in succession. Penn wins, no talk of The Curse need rear its ugly head.
Penn beats Duane Ludwig and Rodrigo Gracie. No Curse.
He loses a decision to Lyoto Machida (yes, THAT Machida). It was a fight that saw Penn likely win the first round, but then fade in the 2nd and 3rd. Again, the focus is on how PENN faded, not how Machida remained strong. Despite having an extra five bowling balls worth of weight on Penn, people don’t seem to talk about Machida blowing it (in the form of not finishing a lightweight), they look at Penn not winning.
Know any other lightweights so talented they can fight a top 10 light heavyweight and your immediate thought is not, “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard”?
After a win over Renzo Gracie, Penn returns to the Octagon. He fights Georges St. Pierre. Those in class who’ve been paying attention can probably guess how the fight played out. Penn dominated the first round, then faded in the 2nd and 3rd. Penn loses by split decision. Afterwards, people, AGAIN, talk of how Penn looked so impressive early, only to let it slip away later on.
Penn fights Hughes in a rematch. Same song and dance to the same tune. Penn utterly dominates Hughes for the first two rounds, injures his rib, comes out, gets finished by Hughes in the 3rd. Matt Hughes isn’t a gutsy or determined, he’s the guy that was there when Penn hurt himself. But for the grace of a broken rib, Hughes goes as champion.
Penn steamrolls Pulver in his return to the lightweight class and life comes full circle as he has a third chance to win the 155 lb belt, this time from poor Joe Stevenson.
A quick aside about the poor UFC Lightweight Championship: Pulver is champion. He leaves the company without losing the title. A tournament to crown a new champ ends in a draw, no champion. The belt remains dormant for years. Sean Sherk wins said title. He gets injured, doesn’t defend it for a decent amount of time. When Sherk finally does defend the belt, both he and his challenger, Hermes Franca, fail a steroid test. Sherk then appeals the test, forcing the UFC to keep the title in limbo. A decision is made for Penn and Stevenson to fight for an interim LW belt. Sherk’s appeal fails, his suspension is reduced, but he’s still a certified steroid user. The UFC strips Sherk of the title and announces that Penn-Stevenson will be for the now vacant UFC LW title, instead of the UFC interim LW title. Sherk will fight the winner in an imaginary title unification match later this year. Since Penn and Pulver first fought for the belt, there have been three UFC Lightweight Championship fights: one ended in a draw, one ended cleanly, one ended with every fighter involved being caught using steroids. Sheesh.
I like Stevenson. He’s a solid fighter, the kind of guy that made himself into a contender. Penn was born on top of the mountain; Stevenson climbed his way up and has the blistered fingers to prove it. His striking has improved, though it still has a long way to go. His wrestling is good, his submission game is good, his ground and pound is good. He’s quite successful at fighting within his limits. He doesn’t over-extend himself and usually fights his kind of fight. He’s also someone that Penn absolutely should beat and I’m rooting for Penn to do it. I want Penn to win because I want to see him at his best – because Penn at his best is something special. I’m tired of watching the “BJ Penn Ruling the MMA World” trailer; I want to see the feature film.
Many devoted followings of a fighter will make excuses in the wake of a loss. They’ll rationalize it away as a fluke, an accident that won’t repeat itself, some such talk. If Penn loses to Stevenson, such sentiments will arise. Seriously, who can blame Penn fans for thinking this way? Penn has better jiu-jitsu, a better chin, better hands, and an impossibly great sprawl. Stevenson isn’t going to be stronger that Hughes or GSP, and Penn managed to deal with their strength just fine. Stevenson himself tacitly admits that the way he’s going to beat Penn is to make it a long fight and wear down the MMA world’s great underachiever. Skill for skill, this fight is a mismatch.
Today, Joe Stevenson gets a chance to fight for a title he has an unquestionable chance to gain, in a fight it is impossible for him to win. {plug}
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