The Case for BJ As a Better Pound for Pound Fighter Than GSP

After watching BJ Penn dismantle Diego Sanchez I believe he is the best Pound for Pound fighter in the world. This is not a widely shared view and I think the most significant obstacle to BJ Penn receiving that kind of praise are his two losses to Georges St Pierre. Therefore I am going to make as thorough of a pound for pound comparison between the two here as I possibly can. When making pound for comparisons and rankings there are two different perspectives that can be used: level of accomplishment, and level of skill. Level of accomplishment involves comparing resumes and determining whose overall accomplishments are more impressive. Level of skill involves watching fights and attempting to determine who would win a fight if the fighters in question were of equal weight. In each of these areas I will first state the case that can be made for St Pierre and then explain why I think the case that can be made for BJ Penn is stronger.

I believe Penn has a slight edge in level of accomplishment:

The first two things that stand out about St Pierre’s resume that appear to give him an advantage are his second (dominant) win over Penn (I don’t count the first fight as a St Pierre victory), and his overall winning percentage (19-2 vs. 15-5-1). I don’t think either of these facts represents compelling evidence. In combat sports winning percentage has a lot to do with the skill level of opponents faced which can vary widely. Head to head, in and of itself, is also not very significant in this case because St Pierre is bigger than Penn and the whole purpose of Pound for Pound comparisons is to determine who would win a fight if weights were equal. The stronger evidence supporting St Pierre is his recent dominance of the welterweight division: Since November of 2006 St Pierre has fought in eight championship fights and won seven of them convincingly.

BJ Penn has a similar string of recent dominance in his natural weight class. Since January of 2008 he has fought in four lightweight championship fights and won all four by either submission or knockout. Whose recent dominance is more impressive? St Pierre may have been the champ for more fights but his streak is marred by an embarrassing knockout at the hands of Matt Serra. BJ has never come close to losing in that fashion in his natural weight class, and certainly not since he became the lightweight champion. Additionally BJ has finished all of his championship opponents and in combat sports the difference between a decision victory and a finish is significant. So I believe that BJ has the slightest of edges when it comes to his resume at his natural weight. I also believe that BJ’s work at higher weights opens up a clearer separation, (though it is by no means gaping). BJ Penn is 5-4 at weights higher than 155 and of those 4 losses one was a catastrophe of a decision (St Pierre I), one was a controversial decision when Penn was outweighed by 30 pounds (Machida), and one was a fight he was clearly winning but lost after getting injured (Hughes II). So his record at higher weights is more impressive than it appears at first glance. The clearest separation between the two resumes is the simple fact that Penn has possessed belts in his natural weight class AND the weight class above his natural weight.

I believe Penn has a significant edge in level of skill.

St Pierre is a remarkably well rounded fighter. He has good footwork, good timing, accurate hands and a diverse arsenal of strikes. His takedowns are the pound for pound best in the sport and his top game is either the best or second best (with Penn being 1a or 1b). His takedown defense is excellent and whenever he is on the bottom (which happens rarely) St Pierre also seems consistently able to get back up to his feet.

As skilled as St Pierre is Penn is clearly better, especially when it comes to striking. The fact that St Pierre uses a more diverse arsenal of strikes than Penn does not make him a better striker. Penn is able to throw punches exclusively because he has an excellent strategic understanding of how to use them. His understanding of distance and angles is vastly superior to St Pierre’s and his defensive skills (primarily head movement) are also on a completely different level than St Pierre. Although both are dominant, Penn gets hit a lot less than St Pierre and there is a reason for that. Penn’s superior striking is what gives him the edge in the Pound for Pound comparisons because I don’t think St Pierre would be able to take down and control Penn consistently enough to win a five round fight if the two were the same weight. As for a direct comparison of the wrestling and grappling: St Pierre is a better offensive wrestler, but Penn is no slouch. Takedown defense and top game are both a wash. Penn’s bottom game is a little better.

The final thing I want to consider is how to account for St Pierre’s second victory over Penn. (The first doesn’t need to be accounted for; St Pierre did not land a single significant strike in the first two rounds of that fight). In the second fight St Pierre was able to win because he was able to get on top. St Pierre was able to get on top because he was able to consistently press Penn up against the cage. St Pierre was able to consistently press Penn up against the cage because he is bigger than Penn. St Pierre knew that he was bigger than Penn and he came up with a fantastic strategy to take advantage of that. He wanted nothing to do with Penn’s boxing so he clinched at any opportunity and pressed continuously for the takedown until he got it. St Pierre did not allow Penn the chance to outbox him but in the little bit of Rounds 1 and 2 where Penn and St Pierre did exchange Penn was landing more effective shots. In the 3^rd and 4^th rounds St Pierre started beating Penn to the punch a little bit but that was because Penn had clearly been hurt when St Pierre got on top. A clear demonstration of the difference between the two as strikers came in the 2^nd round. Greg Jackson told St Pierre to “take a round and kick-box BJ”. They exchange for a little while, BJ is landing jabs. St Pierre then gets cracked with a big left hook. St Pierre almost immediately goes back to his strategy of clinching and pressing.

I really believe that if St Pierre and Penn were the same weight and they fought 10 times Penn would win 8 or 9 of those matchups.