Joe Lauzon believes there are plenty of fighters you can call the greatest of all time, but one stands out to him the most.
That fighter is B.J. Penn. “The Prodigy” has won Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gold in the lightweight and welterweight divisions. He’s beaten the likes of Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi, Matt Serra, Jens Pulver and more. Penn is also a UFC Hall of Famer.
At 16-11-2, Penn doesn’t have the most appealing professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record but it doesn’t negate what he’s accomplished. For Lauzon, Penn’s ability to compete at the highest level in two weight classes is enough to make him the greatest of all time (via MMAJunkie.com):
“He’s had a lot of fights where he didn’t come out looking so great, but he’s also one of the only guys that would go and jump up one, two or three weight classes and bounce all around and do all kinds of stuff. I think that is super impressive. I think it’s B.J. There are some other guys who have been really dominant in their weight class, but they don’t really leave their weight class. I think ‘GSP’ was awesome. I think (UFC flyweight champ) Demetrious Johnson is great – he just seems unstoppable. But I don’t know – I guess, (if) Demetrious Johnson was bouncing around like B.J. was, I don’t think he would do as well. If he tried to jump up two or three weight classes, I don’t think he’d do as well. You’re going to lose fights here and there. But there are so many great fighters you can say are the ‘G.O.A.T.’ and they’d all be credible answers.”
