Talk of Penn Being a "Disappointment" Speaks More to Our Own Perceptions
by Brian Mayes on Aug 31, 2010 8:01 PM EDT
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Jonathan Snowden wrote a peice for Bloody Elbow following BJ Penn's second loss to Frankie Edgar. Snowden had this to say about Penn :
The raw numbers stand out like a sore thumb. In title fights, BJ Penn is a pedestrian 5-5-1. For every big fight he wins, he loses one in turn. The true greats of the sport, your Georges St. Pierres, your Matt Hughes, your Frank Shamrocks, your Fedor Emelianenkos, are defined by rising to the occasion. When the fights get tougher, these men only get better. Not so with BJ Penn.
BJ Penn, when it is all said and done, will be considered a disappointment. From the time, before his UFC debut, that Frank Shamrock announced the "Prodigy" would be the greatest fighter of all time until this latest loss to Edgar, Penn has little to show for what should have been a legendary career.
Now, Snowden makes some solid points in his piece. Was BJ Penn a dominant champion like Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes or Fedor? No, he wasn't. It is fair to point out that he never got to face to level of opposition that someone like Frank Shamrock did - I kind of doubt BJ Penn would have a life and death struggle with a nearly teenage Jeremy Horn - but that's neither here nor there.
I think what's interesting here is what our perception of BJ Penn is. We've always expected him to be some sort of dominant champion that is going to run over guys left and right. From the very beginning of his career, we've always placed him on a pedestal. When he got into MMA after accomplishing so much so fast in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, people started talking. And when he made his UFC debut and started running guys over, people anointed him as the second coming. He was Rickson Gracie, Roy Jones Junior and Alexander Karelin all wrapped into one.
Just chew on this for a second - in the first fight between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar, BJ Penn was a -1150 favorite, with Frankie Edgar being a +650 underdog. By contrast, James Toney, an obese 42 year old man with no MMA experience of any kind whatsoever, was only a +350 underdog against Randy Couture, who was a -575 favorite.
Let's look at this a little closer, because it really is telling of how we think of Penn. Going into the first Frankie Edgar fight at UFC 112, no one gave Frankie Edgar a prayer against Penn. This is despite the fact that Penn had shown a tendency in his past fights to stand and box with his opponents for long periods of time. Edgar is a very good boxer with great footwork and head movement. In the past, Edgar had only shown a weakness to being outmuscled by a much larger, more physical wrestler in Gray Maynard, and while Penn certainly has the ability to take an opponent to the ground and have his way with them, he's always been more apt to stand and trade. Now, going into the fight fans should have thought at the very least it would be a good, competitive fight. Edgar had all the tools to hang in there with BJ. But no - the fans, the media and the odds makers all wrote off Edgar completely. I mean, c'mon. Edgar, an elite level lightweight who had beaten the likes of Tyson Griffin, Jim Miller, Spencer Fisher, Hermes Franca, and Sean Sherk, was a larger underdog going into his fight with BJ Penn than James Toney was going into his fight with Randy Couture. Everyone had built up Penn into such an offensive dynamo in their minds, that there was simply no way that Frankie Edgar was going to be able to do anything to him.
The fact of the matter is that BJ Penn is a really talented fighter. He has had some true moments of brilliance in his career - from blowing Caol Uno out of the water in eleven seconds and running over Takanori Gomi, to his upset of Matt Hughes and his violent masterpieces against Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk and Diego Sanchez. These performances make us think of him as something he's not, when he's actually just another really, really good fighter, with flaws just like everyone else. When we expect him to go out and lay waste to an entire division and reign for as long as he sees fit, that's on us, not Penn. At the end of the day, Penn is just a fighter, and fighters lose. And like all great fighters, he's going to beat up guys he's better than, have competitive fights with guys that are on his level, and occasionally he's going to lose to guys that are as good or better than he is. That's just the fight game. Running around saying BJ Penn is over rated, or that he was never really all that good to begin with, speaks more to our own perceptions about the man than to what kind of fighter he actually is.
Even if we hadn't put so many expectations on BJ Penn, would a man who beat Takanori Gomi, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, and Matt Hughes and won UFC belts at both welterweight and lightweight really be considered a "disappointment"? I don't think so. Maybe we should just enjoy a fighter for what he is, and not get wrapped up in the hyperbole that surrounds him.
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Never understood the praise for BJ
You said perfectly, put on a pedestal.
I know about everything he accomplished. I respect him as a fighter and recently as a man. But he never really put on a consistent streak of wins over top competition. Not on the same level as Fedor or Hughes.
Part of that is bc he took on true challenges, fighting at HW. At the same time, we all know about his laziness so he fought in the heavier divisions partially bc of that.
Dana White and Joe Rogan constantly repeating that he’s the best lightweight does not make him so.
All the respect in the world to him but he is yet to prove that he belongs with the Fedors and GSPs.
The same exact thing is happening with Jon Jones. He’s coming in, beating some average to slightly better than average competition in spectacular fashion, and everyone has anoited him the second coming. They already want him to fight Shogun and Brock Lesnar in the Thunderdome.
And then, when he goes out and fights someone really good and loses for the first time, people are going to go “Oh come on! This guy was never any good! The only people he ever beat were Brandon Vera and Vladdy!” They’ll totally forget that they were the ones that thought Jones was some sort of killer in the first place.
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I'm going to depart from your opinion here just slightly.
Jon Jones will lose fights. It’s inevitable with the overall talent level in the UFC’s LHW and (finally) HW divisions, in which I expect him to compete before too long. But he’s also got the absolute finest attitude/skillset/physique combination you could draw up for an MMA fighter. BJ Penn, on the other hand, rode in strictly on his wizardly BJJ and reputation as being the only non-Brazilian to go in and win their most prestigious championship.
Orangutan arms, coupled with obviously incredible physical strength (his throws/takedowns require great technique, but he simply overpowers LHW’s at this point more than anything else; did you see how he calmly gripped Vlad’s wrist, held it down effortlessly and mounted to crucifix? VLADDY IS A WORLD-CLASS WRESTLER!) and an excellent wrestling background make this guy one of the scariest men in the world. Add to that his apparently level head and work ethic, fascination with the sport and all things which might make him better, and you’ve got a recipe for absolute domination.
But I’m also a baseball fan. I understand that for every Alex Rodriguez, there are literally hundreds of high-round draft picks who never even make it close enough to get a whiff of the major leagues, but got paid a few million dollars for the chance to try. Jones is closer to A-Rod than some unnamed player at A-ball, but there is still the possibility that he hits the wall.
For me, that part isn’t as important as watching the start of a potentially historic fighter’s career. And I’ve been there since his first fights were posted online, so I’m probably too biased.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
Hey, I’m one of Jon Jones’ biggest fans, ever since he beat up Stephan Bonnar. But the guys is so green, and is being pushed so fast, that he’s going to fall and fall hard, and when he does the fan reaction is going to be interesting to watch. They’ve built him up to be this untouchable killer, who’s practically the uncrowned champ. What’s going to happen when he loses, and what if it’s a really embarrasing loss? This guy still posts his arms very deep within the guard – he did it against Brandon Vera and Vladdy. You do that against Rogerio Nogueria or Shogun Rua, and you’re going to get tapped very quickly.
You mentioned how Jones held down Vladdy’s wrist and mounted to a crucifix – yes, that was some nice technique, but it was against a guy who has historically never had a much of a guard game. Would Jones be able to just pass the guard of a BJJ player like Nogueira, Shogun or Machida? Would he even be able to put a guy like Machida on his back? What would he do if he couldn’t put Machida on his back?
We’ll learn who the real Jon Jones is in his next few fights, when he starts facing legit Top Ten opposition. Then we’ll see what he’s made of. Remember, everyone thought Brandon Vera was “the guy” when he was beating up the Justin Eiler’s, Assuerio Silva’s and fat Frank Mir’s of the world. As soon as he stepped up in competition, everyone had a rude reality check about what kind of talent he really was. I think Jones has a lot more potential (and a better head on his shoulders) than Brandon Vera, but we’ll have to wait and see. There’s only so much you can learn from a guy beating up “solid” competition. It’s when you get into those top guys, that you really see if a guy is for real or not.
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We seem to agree on most of this subject.
The only thing I’ll point out is that I was using his crucifix mount more as an example of his raw strength than anything. Not only in his arms (which should be obvious) but in his grip. He simply grabbed Vladdy’s wrist with one hand, torqued it exactly where he wanted it, and passed his knee over the top almost like he was doing it to a lightweight.
He is scary strong. But yes, he has quite a bit to prove. I think most of us agree that he is favored to beat those odds and prove that he is, as currently packaged, an elite LHW. He does still have some to learn though, you’re right about that.
There is a way to post your arms down through someone’s guard that isn’t atuo-death, and that’s the way he does it (both hands simultaneously, tight to the body creating a path to collapse your head/shoulders to the chest while gripping hands behind the body after the bottom fighter swivels for an armbar/triangle). Still, it’s playing with fire and ill-advised, and like you said it’s indicative of the struggles he might have against someone like Lil Nog or maybe Shogun.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
by misterjonez on Aug 31, 2010 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions
You can outmuscle competition that have your same level of technical acumen, but what happens when you run into someone who knows more than you do? Jon Jones has only been training MMA since early 2008. The guys he’s going to start running into in the next couple years have forgotten more about BJJ than he’s learned so far. That’s going to make things real, real tricky.
Now to be fair, a guy like Rogerio is somewhat shop worn at this point, and if Jones started landing shots on him from guard it’d probably be over pretty quick. But man, if he just shoves his arm into Rogerio’s guard……….that’s just asking for trouble. I haven’t watched the fight in awhile, but I seem to recall that Jones was posted up on one arm inside of Vera’s guard. Vera seemed more content to try to upkick Jones in the face than to latch onto the arm.
I’m very interested in seeing how Jones reacts to someone with a good guard game. Even more interesting would be how he reacts to someone with good takedown defense and a good technical striking game. That would probably give him more fits than anything. For all his flashy spinny back elbows and such, he still can’t really box. And if he couldn’t will his way to a takedown on someone, that could cause him some serious problems. All things I’m very interested in seeing play out.
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by Brian Mayes on Aug 31, 2010 10:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I can't find video that I can access here,
but now that we’re talking about Jones’ arm being planted in Vera’s guard, I specifically remember thinking (and feeling validated for thinking) that it was a trap he was setting for Vera. Pretty sure Vera fell for it once or twice.
Dammit, I wish I could find video. I think it was a trap to create an opening for elbows?
But your point stands. He’s going to end up running into guys that have far greater BJJ skill than he’s faced. They’re protecting him a bit by running skillsets at him that he can succeed against, just like they did with Anderson and Chuck (Silva went a long time before getting killer wrestlers, and Chuck went a long time fighting nothing but killer wrestlers, since he had the great sprawl-and-brawl style perfected).
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
by misterjonez on Aug 31, 2010 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes. I thoroughly agree with this. I don’t see the rush on Jones either. If you develop him correctly and keep feeding him guys he should beat but that can produce resistance – man, he might not lose a fight for 3, 4, 5 years. Maybe longer than that. I think they’ll rush Jones because they figure if he loses, hey, he should bounce back real fast and they can make money on the rematches. But they’d be smarter to keep developing him against guys like Thiago Silva or Jason Brilz and make themselves a guy who is a huge megastar and who can sustain that starpower and that kind of cloak of invincibility for a period of several years.
by VirtualBalboa on Sep 1, 2010 1:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Ok, can we talk about something else than Snowden ?
BE is now officially tabloid trash, WKR is on its way.
Do you really think HKL has to follow ?
Well, anybody who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true. Or what did or didn't happen.
I personally think BE is one of the best MMA sites out there, and I generally enjoy Snowden’s work – Total MMA is a great book and should be on the bookshelf of every MMA fan. Snowden’s problem is that he’s about as subtle as a ten pound sledge hammer. I think his articles often make good and valid points, but he often presents them in such a blunt manner that the reader takes it in the wrong way. He has a fair point about Penn, but he presented it in such a way as to make it seem like he’s totally writing off everything the man’s ever accomplished. That’s what people take exception to.
I wanted to do a peice on fan perception of BJ Penn’s talents and accomplisments, and Snowden’s peice seemed like a good talking point to build off of. I don’t do tabloid peices.
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BE used to be the premier site for MMA analysis and as a prompt one-stop-shop
to bring most of the relevant news in the MMA world. They were absolutely unparalleled for a couple of years, no question.
They’ve changed their model, probably unconsciously as a result of a series of issues which Nate and Luke have talked about publicly. Now they’re just one of the pack, and they probably belong near the lead still, but the gap is closing fast. And that’s not entirely their fault, it’s partly due to the ‘sphere improving by leaps and bounds while they’ve kind of stagnated.
I like your site. It’s no nonsense, and covers some different angles.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
by misterjonez on Aug 31, 2010 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Listen ...
… what I’m not going to do is take the bait and discuss Snowden’s so-called opinion. Brookhouse already said everything that needed to be said and he managed to do it using few words.
There is one thing I can tell you though. Some people are not blind. Snowden is not writing “opinion pieces”, he’s spiting the most inflammatory things he can think of to get hits and comments. It works really well, I can see that, but please don’t tell me it’s a “good talking point to build off of” when the “BJ is a bum” angle has already been milked dry.
Do you want to write something original ? How about manning up and writing a piece about Edgar’s performance ? I know, it does not appeal to the crowd the way a “BJ is overrated” tissue does, but THAT would be interesting to read. This guy just performed for 5 rounds like he’s from another planet and not a single writer gives him the credit he deserves. It’s like it didn’t happen because, you know, BJ is overrated.
Bah …
Well, anybody who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true. Or what did or didn't happen.
That is a very fair point. In all this hoopla, Edgar’s brilliant performance has been totally overlooked once again. The guy just can’t get a fair shake to save his life. First, Penn got “robbed” in Abu Dhabi. Now, Penn was “over rated” and a “disappointment”. It’s always about Penn, and not Edgar.
I do think it’s kind of funny that the big talking point here is that I quoted Snowden, and not the fact that Frankie Edgar was a considerably larger underdog to BJ Penn going into their first fight than James Toney was going into his first mixed martial arts fight with Randy Couture.
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by Brian Mayes on Aug 31, 2010 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions
I do think it’s kind of funny that the big talking point here is that I quoted Snowden, and not the fact that Frankie Edgar was a considerably larger underdog to BJ Penn going into their first fight than James Toney was going into his first mixed martial arts fight with Randy Couture.
Hey, don’t buy the ticket if you don’t want to take the ride.
Well, anybody who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true. Or what did or didn't happen.
And just to be clear,
what subo and people like myself are complaining about regarding pieces like Jonathon puts forth, is that it obfuscates the important/true points of the matter.
Perfect example is the passive discrediting of Frankie Edgar. They fill the follow-up news cycle with insane statements like they made about Penn being overrated, watch the comments fly in, and one of the end results is people discussing something which is absurd, while distancing public attention from Edgar’s impressive performances and/or Zuffa’s successes.
THAT is what subo is pissed about, at its core. I’m glad he built, lit and carries the torch.
I do love your point about Edgar being a bigger underdog than Toney. Another great example of this strange discrediting campaign that is happening.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
by misterjonez on Aug 31, 2010 11:29 PM EDT up reply actions
The problem is that no one looks at Edgar and thinks “Wow, this guy is going to rule lightweight forever and ever, amen.” Most people look at Edgar and think “Oh man, he’s got a lot to work on if he’s gonna get a win back against Maynard.” Penn, in general has not been that guy. He’s a guy that was, as the article pointed out, anointed as not only being the best thing since sliced bread, but actually transcendent to that. This was supposed to be sliced bread that wouldn’t get stale.
No one can say that BJ is unfairly characterized though. He cultivated this image with his own statements and actions over the course of his career. No one made BJ Penn say he was going to try to win every world title all the way up through heavyweight. His hand was not forced.
by VirtualBalboa on Sep 1, 2010 12:40 AM EDT up reply actions
I think you’re right in that Edgar doesn’t give off this air of supperiority. I just watched this man dominate BJ Penn for 5 rounds, and I really have no idea how I am going to break down the Edgar vs Maynard rematch. Has Edgar improved enough to outbox Maynard on the feet and avoid his takedowns? Can Maynard just charge forward and take down Edgar at will, and steal enough rounds to win a decision? You would think that someone who just pistol whipped BJ Penn for 5 rounds would be easy to pick over someone as fairly one dimensional as Gray Maynard, but he’s not. I think he’s a better technician than Gray Maynard, but I thought the exact same thing about Kenny Florian. We saw how far being a better technician got Florian against Maynard.
And you are correct in that BJ Penn talked a big game – but what fighter doesn’t? Every fighter wants to be the best. At one time GSP talked about moving up all the way to 205 pounds and trying to get a belt there. Every fighter dreams big dreams. You have to have a big ego just to step in that cage in the first place. You have to really believe in yourself to get in there and face another man in hand to hand combat. If you don’t honestly believe you’re better than him and can win……..you’re probably not going to do so well.
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I wouldn’t demand a fighter lack that ego or arrogance. Most great fighters have it. the difference in the case of BJ Penn was his willingness to act on it and use it as an excuse for years of lousy behavior and physical conditioning. Anderson Silva talks about fighting Frank Mir, but that doesn’t mean he comes into fights out of shape and unprepared to win at all costs, does it? And yet, with Penn, there’s a definite history of that there. I just don’t see a reason to believe the historical record will ignore it.
Edgar doesn’t feel like “the man”. He was never built into being the next great lightweight, he was given the title shot when he was a fringe contender rather than the top rated opponent, etc. etc. etc. You can’t go blaming people that Frankie Edgar doesn’t feel like the next great thing then, because he’s never been presented to be. Hell, the promotion and media for this last fight was still all about Penn. Its still about Penn after. Penn is still really the face of the lightweight division. Its a bit like the WEC not finding any traction making Mike Brown a star in spite of him beating Urijah Faber.
by VirtualBalboa on Sep 1, 2010 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions
BJ’s never been horribly interested in training. He’s been a victim of his own talent, in that regard. That’s his own fault. He was training with Marinovichs for the Florian and Sanchez fights, and looked great. Then for some reason he stopped training with them, and you saw what happened. Other great fighters are responsible enough to know they have to be in great shape every time. Penn isn’t one of those guys.
Frankie Edgar is in a strange place. No one expected him to beat Sean Sherk, let alone BJ Penn. He’s got a style that is hard for the average fan to apprechiate – it’s very technical and you really have to pay attention to catch what he’s doing most of the time. It will be interesting to see how they promote the Edgar vs Maynard rematch. Neither of those guys are oozing personality, and neither guy is super thrilling to watch. Still, that’s a fight I am really looking forward to.
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You are listing some rather compelling reasons to look back at BJ Penn’s career with disappointment.
Could have Penn been better if he applied himself more? Sure. You could make that argument for literally anyone, athlete or not. That’s like going, “John Wayne is an American icon and made a lot of classic films, but he never branched out into Shakesperian theater. He could have been so much more if he just applied himself.”
I can’t look at a guy who won UFC title belts at 170 and 155, beat guys like Hughes, Gomi, Sherk, and Florian and go “yeah, this guy is a disappointment”. Expecting Penn to beat every person to come his way is a little far fetched. Penn doesn’t have a saftey first style like a GSP, who by his own admission stacks the odds on his side for a victory. Penn just goes out there and does his thing. More often than not it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
At the end of the day, he’s a wildly entertaining fighter who consistently wins fights on an elite level. I fail to see what’s disappointing about that.
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by Brian Mayes on Sep 1, 2010 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Actually, 1 writer did give Edgar the respect he deserves ...
Zeus.
Frankie Edgar proved that he is a better fighter than BJ Penn, twice. It’s a lot to ingest at this point in the night and you may cling onto the brim of a toilet and regurgitate it later tonight, but Frankie Edgar is the best lightweight in MMA. We all just need to accept this fact as part of our lives. In every aspect of tonight’s title fight, Frankie Edgar outclassed BJ Penn. Nullifying takedowns, countering punches, even submission defense. It’s as if you discovered the tooth fairy was just a means for your parents to put dollar bills under your pillow while you slept. I’m pretty sure BJ Penn could slap my mother and I would still be on the BJ Penn bandwagon. This will never change. However, Frankie Edgar is an unstoppable force at 155lbs.
On MiddleEasy
On the SBnation blogs ? The Silence of the Lambs (I could have said “of the Sheeps”)
Well, anybody who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true. Or what did or didn't happen.
I think most writers have at least acknowledged that Edgar did a fantastic job in the wake of his second win over BJ Penn.
It’s interesting that only two fighters have beaten BJ Penn twice- GSP and Edgar. Both beat him by very close, competitive decisions in the first fight, but then came back to totally dominate him in the rematch. GSP and Edgar learned and built off their first fights with Penn, while Penn obviously didn’t.
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by Brian Mayes on Aug 31, 2010 10:48 PM EDT up reply actions
I never thought about that
admitted fanboy. It never dawned on me due to my fanboy blindness
Even a broken clock is right two times a day.
by Chris Toffer on Aug 31, 2010 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions
The reason why BJ was so heavily favoured in the first Edgar fight has a lot to do with his demolishing of Sanchez. After that performance just about anyone would be judged invincible.
Really, MMA fans judge losses too harshly. If you’re going to fight the best in your division you’re going to lose occasionally, no matter who you are.
by Amor on Aug 31, 2010 11:09 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
That's a rec.
I think it’s not the fans that judge losses too harshly. We absolutely love Couture and his 65.5% career win ratio.
I honestly think it has to do with fitting agendas in the online media, more than anything. People have fighters/organizations they prefer, and they’ll go through all kinds of mental contortions to prevent cognitive dissonance from biting them in the ass.
Unfortunately, many people are easily swayed by what they read on a credible site.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
by misterjonez on Aug 31, 2010 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions
rec'd
I’ll always say Penn will win. GSP or Edgar III? Baby Jays got this! Now I wouldnt go putting money on it…
But this article is true and true. truth 101.
Even a broken clock is right two times a day.
I don't think it is unreasonable to be dissapointed in BJ Penn
He was, and probably still is, an extremely talented guy, and he has underperformed.
Athletes who don’t live up to their apparent potential, no matter the reason, are regularly considered disappointing.
I should make it clear that personally, I am not disappointed with BJ Penn in the slightest. I think he is what he is – a great fighter. You’re not going to win every fight you’re put in. Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron had the potential to hit every ball thrown their way out of the park, but they didn’t do it every single time. That’s just the law of averages. BJ Penn isn’t going to come in and look like the guy who who smashed Caol Uno in 11 seconds or put on a 5 round ass kicking of Diego Sanchez in every single fight. Some times, he’s going to come in and have an off night. Other times, he’s going to come in and just plain lose. That doesn’t mean he’s not a great fighter.
It’s funny that people hold none of these feelings twards Randy Couture, who’s currently on the first three fight winning streak he’s enjoyed in ten years. But no one ever expected anything from Randy in the first place. He was just some guy brought in to lose to Vitor Belfort back in the day. Everyone has expected Randy to lose every big fight he’s been in, short of the Toney fight obviously. And when he wins, everyone is blown away. And when he loses, it’s what they expected, so it’s no big deal. Randy’s just this old guy that no one can believe is fighting in the first place. It’s a completley different set of expectations than what is set on BJ Penn.
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You answer the reason why re: Couture in mentioning him. BJ Penn isn’t some 40+ year old man winning off technique and smarts to make up for the slowing of his body. Couture gets immense respect because he constantly works harder to make up or surpass the deficits caused by the aging process. BJ Penn doesn’t have any excuses. He’s in his athletic prime, makes enough money for a strong, well staffed camp, etc etc etc. Lots of guys are at similar athletic levels, but raw talent is nothing without application. When you get to the very top, that’s what’s gonna make the difference. As good a fighter as he is (and he is very, very good), he just never made the transition to reach that next level. Again – look at how Edgar upped his game while BJ was complacent in preparation for the second bout.
by VirtualBalboa on Sep 1, 2010 12:46 AM EDT up reply actions
But no one ever expected anything from Randy in the first place.
Disappointment and expectations go hand in hand.
I think you nailed it right there. You can’t be disappointed in someone if you don’t expect anything from them in the first place. Randy Couture has never been anything but one giant suprise after another. I think that’s the main reason why everyone loves him so much. I remember people thinking he was going to get sent home on a stretcher going into the Tim Sylvia and Gabe Gonzaga fights.
BJ Penn on the other hand has been expected to be a dominant world champion ever since he was 3-0 in MMA. It’s hard to live up to those expectations. Not everyone is a Fedor, an Anderson Silva or a GSP. When you think about it, we’ve really only seen those three guys who have been able to go on long sustained runs of dominance in their respective weight classes, and Fedor is a bit of an anomaly in that he got to fight some pretty soft ball opposition for the majority of his career. Beyond those three guys, there’s not really anyone else. That’s what makes them so special.
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