B. Penn was UFC lightweight and welterweight champion (Photo: Instagram/B.J. Penn)
The discussion about who is the greatest lightweight of all time in MMA has been lively over the last week. After Khabib Nurmagomedov declare himself the greatest in history in the division, BJ Penn spoke out on the subject, added new ingredients to the debate, but avoided placing himself at the top of the list.
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Days later, again through social media, B.J. Penn brought up the subject again. This time with a slightly sharper speech. The Hawaiian, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion, questioned the fact that Khabib had never ventured into the top division and questioned the Russian's confidence in jiu-jitsu.
“Ever since Khabib started saying he's the greatest lightweight of all time and I'm the second greatest, a lot of people have been asking me why he didn't face Usman for the welterweight belt or compete at welterweight like I did. several times. In my humble opinion, it's because he's not proficient and confident in jiu-jitu. I believe the reason behind Khabib not facing Usman is because he doesn't know how to fight jiu-jitsu like I did and he doesn't feel comfortable fighting on his back on the ground against someone bigger and stronger than him, like I did many times in my career. I fought at 77, 84 and at heavyweight. In every fight I had to stay on my back, survive and come back stronger if I wanted to win,” argued Penn.
BJ reinforced the importance of jiu-jitsu in enabling smaller fighters to face bigger fighters and recalled the episode in which Khabib provoked the gentle art, stating that Sambo would be a stronger martial art.
“It's because of my experience as a jiu-jitsu black belt, fighting in my division and at absolute weight for years that I prepared for this. Jiu-jitsu alone isn't enough to be a UFC champion, but if I had to choose a style, it's the greatest self-defense system in the world, especially for small guys facing big guys. It's part of the game. Khabib says jiu-jitsu is easy and that he's the best grappler of all time, but he hasn't faced bigger opponents in the weight divisions above because his style isn't prepared for it. That's what jiu-jitsu was created for, for little guys to defend themselves against big guys! This is martial art, this is self-defense”, concluded BJ.
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