How does Prime Penn stack up against the current top 10 of lightweights?

[TheChadAllen352352]

I feel he'd have somewhat of a chance against Justin and maybe Chandler.

 

[AmericanMMA]

Motivated BJ Penn beats everybody and licks their blood off his gloves

 

[JustOnce]

BJ would wipe the floor with Oliveira. I think he beats Islam who I think beats Oliveira by finish and rest of everyone else.

Now what gets interesting is against guys like Chandler, Poirier, Gaethje all of whom Oliveira beat and who I think would lost to Islam easily. Match ups make fights, and I'm not sure. I think he beats Poirier by sub and not too sure about Gaethje/Chandler.

 

[Snowblindlove]

He gets wrecked.

Prime Penn is fast but not strong, his BJJ couls be negated by all the guys today, he would be a stand up fighter who stuffs or tries to stuff the takedown

 

[Willie]

It's almost as if MMA had never moved past the early 2000's. He gets wrecked.

 

[Luthien]

 

[markys00]

I never liked these questions. A prime Penn in current times is still probably behind the curve. A prime Penn that was born in the current era would have adapted differently... Still, just impossible to say. Also, he'd be pretty small for the weight

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

BJ Penn is a can who got beat like 3 times by a BW in Edgar

 

[JustOnce]

BJ Penn is a can who got beat like 3 times by a BW in Edgar

 

[JustOnce]

And that robbery really ruined Penn...never been the same since....Penn always had shit cardio, but he didn't look that bad at LW imo...

MEDIA SCORES
MMAJunkie.com 48-47 Edgar
Greg Savage
Sherdog.com 47-48 Penn
Josh Gross
SI.com 47-48 Penn
MMAMania.com 47-48 Penn
Brent Brookhouse
BloodyElbow.com 47-48 Penn
Jordan Breen
Sherdog.com 47-49 Penn
FightMetric.com 47-49 Penn
Mike Fridley
Sherdog.com 46-49 Penn
Jack Bratcher
ProMMANow.com 46-49 Penn

 

[JustBleed69]

BJ gets mauled by most of them. The game has evolved.

 

[robbie]

BJ Penn in his prime was a total beast. BJ Penn not in his prime was embarrassing. I think he could hang with today's top LW fighters. He fought well against top welterweights and basically was fighting without cutting weight. He even fought Machida at LHW and was able to last 3 rounds and went to a decision loss. Penn won a BJJ world championship after only 3 years of training. I think he had the skills and athleticism. I believe BJ's highs and lows were mental. I think when he was confident and motivated he excelled. Not always the hardest worker, when the motivation and confidence waned his performance drop off was very steep. He went from killer to bum pretty quickly.

 

[I am your actual father]

Top 5

Prime Penn could hang with GSP.

 

[Ares Black]

He beats them all.

 

[BFoe]

Top 5 and potentially champ depending on the matchups. I could see Islam being trouble for him, Oliveira I think is a tough fight to call that could go either way. BJ could def beat Dariush, Chandler, and Gaethje. Poirier is beatable but tough fight. BJ would still be elite today though I think.

 

[mjmj]

Its sort of funny how many here continue to fall for these troll threads. Especially this one, it's done every week.

 

[HaulParris]

Agree with the posters above, the game has evolved. Even dudes who seem like they're swinging wildly (Chandler, Gaethje) are way more technical in the stand-up than most of the opponents BJ faced on his prime (Joe Daddy, Sherk, Diego, Kenny, etc). Size also matters - today's LW and WW for the most part are bigger than in the 2000s, and overall more well-rounded.

 

[mmaElite53]

Prime BJ possessed:
Excellent BJJ
Takedown Defense good enough to stuff GSP
Great boxing
Iron chin

Guys like Gaethje do just fine in todays LW Div and yet ppl think this is a “new era” of fighters that would mop the floor with guys from just 10-15 years ago. Nope.

 

[13Seconds]

The lightweights are bigger today

 

[JonJonesNeedle]