Sherdog’s Top 10: Phenoms

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3. B.J. Penn

“The Prodigy” earned his nickname through his exceptional career in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where it took him only a few years to go from novice Hawaiian grappler to the first non-Brazilian world champion at the Mundials. That rapid rise also translated to Penn’s career in MMA, where his shocking athletic gifts and preternatural skills on the mat quickly made him one of the best lighter-weight fighters in the world. Along with Georges St. Pierre several years later, Penn marked the beginning of the youthful, physically overwhelming era of well-rounded and lethally dangerous fighters who would dominate the sport for a generation to come.

It is difficult to overstate the rapidity of Penn’s rise to elite status. He began his career in the UFC and took out Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas and Caol Uno in dominating fashion, and he fought for a title against the much more experienced Jens Pulver less than a year into his professional career. He moved up to 170 pounds and took on Matt Hughes, then one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and finished him in impressive fashion. Penn was less than three years into his career and only 25 at the time.

Penn left the UFC after beating Hughes and fought much larger competitors in other promotions, including Duane Ludwig, Renzo Gracie and even Lyoto Machida. By the time he returned, Penn was no longer the youthful prodigy but an experienced veteran. Even so, the Hawaiian’s best years as a true star and dominating champion were still ahead.

With his retirement and then return at featherweight against nemesis Frankie Edgar, it is easy to forget that Penn was once a standard bearer for the youthful phenoms. Nevertheless, that is how he made his mark, and it was “The Prodigy” who made the lighter weight classes viable properties.

Number 2 » The Brazilian represented something entirely new when he first appeared on the scene. His Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills had been honed under the legendary Carlson Gracie Sr., but unlike most of his grappling-first compatriots, he combined that skill on the mat with vicious knockout power and a modicum of boxing skill on the feet. Even more important, however, he was the first truly elite physical specimen to come into MMA, a marvel of athleticism, strength and unreal speed that the lumbering heavyweights of the day simply could not match.