BJ Penn's Shattered Illusions, Continued Delusions

Let me start by saying that this isn't another article about greasing.

The fight between Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn was rightly hyped as one of the biggest fights in the history of mixed martial arts.

The stars had aligned with two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, both at their peaks in ability and popularity, both UFC champions, and both with hugely loyal fan bases.

To make things a little spicier, it was also a rematch of a controversial split decision at UFC 58, which now seems like centuries ago.

Yet now that the fight is over, after a dominating performance by St. Pierre, much controversy seems to remain.  The greasing issues have been covered to such an extreme level, that it is detracting from the sport.

Let me state my two cents worth before I continue... Even if there was any intentional application of Vaseline, it was wiped off at the beginning of every round.  Even if there was any remaining grease, it wouldn't have affected the outcome.

But this is not what Penn and some of his delusional fans continue to believe.  They believe that BJ would have somehow won the fight, if it were not for the Vaseline.

They seem to forget that St. Pierre won the first round, even before the Vaseline was allegedly applied.

They also somehow think that Penn would have been able to control the fight on the ground if GSP had not been greasy.

Please, let's be honest here.  After a round of fighting, both fighters are going to be slippery with sweat anyway. Slippery is slippery!

Furthermore, top position is of utmost importance in mixed martial arts.  While Penn might have been able to control from the bottom well if both fighters were doing a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu match while wearing a traditional GI, the lack of a GI and addition of strikes makes top position far more dominant in mixed martial arts.

Penn was unable to ever have top position and that had nothing to do with Vaseline.  Furthermore, the Penn camp speaks of BJ's world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills, stating that he would have been able to somehow use that advantage to win the fight against GSP.

However, the fight already made it clear that BJ knew being on the bottom against St. Pierre would be a bad idea.  You can tell this by the effort he took to try to keep the fight on the feet. 

St. Pierre is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so it is hard to make the case that somehow Penn should have been seen as having a greater advantage from the bottom position when the match went to the ground.

Despite these facts, Penn and his followers still believe that he was robbed of victory.

When questioned on the controversy in a radio interview, a frustrated GSP replied that "We're going to do it again, St. Pierre vs. Penn 3, and this time we'll wear a rash guard.  I guarantee that the result will be the same, if not worse for him." 

St. Pierre knew the match would not come though.  He was just sick of Penn talking trash, and then discrediting his victory.

Over the past two years since the first fight, St. Pierre has improved at every aspect of mixed martial arts.  When it came to the fight, he had better striking, better jiu-jitsu, better conditioning, and most importantly, better game planning.

It should have been obvious.  While Penn does have some legitimately talented training partners, they do not even approach the level of GSP's training partners. 

GSP trains with Olympic wrestlers, former world champion boxers, and the top fighters in the UFC, including Rashad Evans and Nate Marquardt.

Most importantly, he went in with a strategy that was designed to wear Penn down and create opportunities for victory.  Penn, on the other hand, didn't have a game plan. 

He stated in previous interviews that he was just going to go in there and let the fight go wherever it was going to go.  You simply cannot do this against a top competitor like GSP.

Since Penn's loss, it has been revealed that he was planning on retiring, if he had beaten St. Pierre. 

In retrospect, this should not be surprising.  A victory over GSP would have been the very pinnacle of success for him, and every other fight in the future would have seemed pointless in comparison. 

Given that Penn has problems motivating himself to do practically anything, it seems likely that had he won, he would have had problems motivating himself for further title defenses.

Throughout his career, Penn has been able to dominate most of his opponents on talent alone.  He hasn't had to train as hard to achieve victory. 

When he lost against GSP and then Matt Hughes, it was assumed that he could have won, if it were not for conditioning issues, as he was leading early in both fights.

So, the logic seemed to be that if Penn jogged a bit in preparation for his fights, he would be unstoppable.  This is what he thought and this is what his followers thought.

Now, they are trying to find every excuse as to why Penn lost the fight, as opposed to things that they could do to change the outcome of future fights.

It has become clear that Penn and his followers believed that it was his destiny to win this fight, creating a legacy for BJ as the greatest fighter in UFC history. Penn has become more of a myth than a man. 

Even other fighters have begun to believe this.  For evidence of this, look at the predictions of other fighters, even though most of them couldn't foresee the outcome that now seems to have been obvious.

But now that the myth of Penn's invincibility has been shattered and his legacy damaged, he is now intent on taking GSP's legacy down with him. 

This isn't the type of thing that a champion should do.

Penn should have known that great fighters aren't born great, they become great through hard work and dedication.  He didn't deserve to win the fight against GSP. 

Had he won, it would have been the triumph of laziness over dedication and destiny over the ability to achieve things with hard work.

Thankfully, there is some sense of justice in this world.  That being said, Penn does have more natural talent and potential for greatness than almost anyone in the sport. 

But now, it will take more than one victory in a very tough division to cement his legacy.  After his recent destruction, in order to build his legacy, he will have to defend his lightweight belt many times.

That kind of undertaking will require BJ to shed his attitude of entitlement.  It will require him to be focused and dedicated. 

It seems like poetic justice that in order to be great, BJ will now need to and have to be focused and committed—the only things he hasn't been over his career thus far.