The Prodigy: Resurrected

He is one of the world's best known fighters and can be considered one of the best fighter's in history. Along side Randy Couture, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, and Chuck Liddell, just to name a few. His aggressive nature in the cage and skill has turned him into someone that has the capabilities to defeat anyone that stands across from him in the cage. And he amassed the reputation as a Prodigy. All of this, and he only has a 14-5-1 record. Everything that he has achieved in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts he has achieved in only 20 professional fights. The man that I am talking about is none other then BJ Penn.

BJ Penn got his first taste of martial arts when he was a kid. A tough street fighter who enjoyed fighting anyone, anytime, anywhere. Sound like any other great fighters? (*Cough* Chuck Liddell *Cough*) When a Tae Kwon Do instructor who had taken Jiu Jitsu moved in near Penn's home in 1996, Penn didn't take much notice. That is until, this instructor wouldn't stop asking Penn's father to send Penn and his friends over to wrestle him. Eventually, just to make his neighbor stop asking, BJ went over and wrestled his neighbor. BJ was tapped out. And that is what started BJ Penn's quest into martial arts.

He began training in Jiu Jistu under Ralph Gracie and in three years was given his black belt by Andrea Pederneiras. The speed in which BJ achieved the rank of black belt is something that is rarely seen. It can take the average person who trains on a regular basis in the art up to ten years to achieve the rank of black belt. So for BJ to get his black belt in three years, is amazing. And the amazing feats didn't stop there, BJ then went on to win a gold medal at the World Jiu Jitsu Championships in Rio De Janeiro; the first non-brazilian to do this. All these achievements combined earned Penn the nickname "The Prodigy."

BJ competed on the Jiu Jitsu circuit for a little while before he started competing in MMA.

When Penn started fighting in MMA, it was clear what his fighting style was going to be. Penn would come out of the gate aGgressive and powerful. His ferocity and powerful stand up caused problems for whoever he was fighting while standing. With powerful boxing and good take downs, Penn is able to control where the fight takes place against almost any opponent. With the exception being, Georges St. Pierre. Penn can give anyone trouble on the feet, but will give anyone more trouble on the ground. With incredible flexibility and the ability to use his legs like third and fourth arms, there are very few people that can hang with BJ on the ground. And most of the time, people will want to stay standing with BJ and avoid the ground all together.

The plan of many of BJ's past opponents has been to keep the fight standing and try to push him into the later rounds where his conditioning would cause him to slow down and allow his opponents to take control of the fight and win. That's how it used to go with BJ, but no longer. Based on BJ's last fight against Kenny Florian, BJ has drastically improved his strength and conditioning training and didn't even seem very winded by the fourth round where he submitted Florian by rear naked choke. BJ dominated the fight with Florian and showed that he is one of the single most well-rounded fighters on the planet. And his new strength and conditioning proves that he is no longer the "best first round fighter on the planet," but a force to be reckoned with throughout all three or five rounds of the fight.

It's no secret that BJ has a much more success ahead of him in the Mixed Martial Arts game. His next opponent is Diego Sanchez. A dangerous striker with very good ground skills. Next to Georges St. Pierre, Sanchez is probably BJ's most dangerous fight in the last few years, and it has all the makings to be a barn burner. Both men are extremely aggressive and like to push the action and are always looking for the knockout or submission and this fight will probably go down as one of the best fights of the year, and if the UFC does another 100 greatest fights show, this fight is sure to be on it.