Sherdog’s Top 10: Giant Killers

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4. B.J. Penn

At his natural weight class of 155 pounds, Penn is one of the best ever, but “The Prodigy” has never been able to fully focus on cleaning out that division. Perhaps that is because the Hawaiian’s first taste of championship gold came at UFC 46, where he moved up in weight to topple Matt Hughes.

At the time, Hughes was in the midst of a dominant run in which he had won six fights in a row, including five title defenses. Against one the sport’s greatest welterweights in the prime of his career, Penn was superb. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt bloodied the champion’s nose with a punch and quickly took his back. At 4:39 of the opening frame, Hughes was forced to tap.

Though Penn would never quite reach such lofty heights again at welterweight, he has proven ready and willing to take on opponents of all sizes. The win over Hughes marked a stretch in which Penn fought seven straight bouts at 170 pounds or greater. For an open weight K-1 showdown with Lyoto Machida, Penn weighed approximately 190 pounds, while “The Dragon” tipped the scales at 220. Penn lost a decision to Machida, but he was victorious against middleweights -- Rodrigo Gracie and Renzo Gracie -- and another welterweight -- Duane Ludwig -- before he returned to the UFC.

Consecutive losses to Georges St. Pierre and Hughes prompted a return to lightweight, where Penn remained -- with the exception of a super fight versus St. Pierre -- until UFC 123. There, he concluded his 170-pound trilogy against Hughes with a 21-second knockout.

“Well, he hit me hard,” Hughes said. “When I felt the hit, I thought it was a knee or a kick. It wasn’t a clip. He hit me hard.”

For one more night at least, Penn had proven he was plenty dangerous fighting out of his comfort zone.

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