Jay Dee "B.J." Penn was born on December 13, 1978 in Kailua, Hawaii. He is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He holds the current Ultimate Fighting Championship in the lightweight category. He has notable wins over Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi, Jens Pulver, Caol Uno, Duane Ludwig, Matt Serra, Rodrigo Gracie, Din Thomas, Renzo Gracie and Joe Stevenson. In the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship he is the first American-born winner (Mundial) in the black belt category (2000). A former UFC welterweight champion, Penn is also a coach. His nickname is "The Prodigy".
During the age of seventeen, Penn started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after being introduced to it by his neighbor, Tom Callos. Callos had put in fliers in local gyms appearance looking for people to train with, BJ's father Jay Dee Penn had rung Callos and said his boys were interested. Whatever Callos knew he taught BJ and his brother.
Penn began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ralph in 1997 Gracie, eventually earning his purple belt from Gracie. He motivated to Nova Uniao where he was eventually awarded his black belt in 2000 by Andre Pederneiras. In the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil he won the black-belt making him the first non-Brazilian to win the event. Many people need a decade to get a black belt, Penn had achieved this, with only three years of training, not only received a black belt but defeated people who had been training their entire lives on his way to winning the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Penn once made a name for himself when he self-promoted a match between him and the current World Lightweight Champion, Japan Native, Takanori Gomi during “Rumble on the Rock 4". Penn claimed the title with a rear naked choke after winning the match. Along with the lightweight division gone, Penn was given a chance to jump up in rank to the Welterweight division to fill in a contention slot for the title being held by Matt Hughes. Hughes was considered a strong favorite for the fight and defended his title for five years. This quite lead to a shock when it only took Penn 4 minutes to get Hughes into a hold and claim the title for him.
On May 8, 2005 B.J. Penn was arrested outside a nightclub in Waikiki, Honolulu after he allegedly hit a police officer. Penn was among a crowd outside the club when he grabbed the officer and struck his face, Penn was trying to retrieve his brother from the fracas and shoved someone to his side to get into the crowd, who turned out to be the policeman according to his lawyer. Penn received one year of probation on December 11, 2007 and pled no contest to the charges in August 2007.
Fight History
Event | Opponent | Method | Round | Date | Time | Result |
| UFC 94 - St. Pierre vs. Penn 2 | Georges St. Pierre | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | 4 | 1/31/2009 | 5:00 | Loss |
| UFC 84 - Ill Will | Sean Sherk | TKO (Knee and Punches) | 3 | 5/24/2008 | 5:00 | Win |
| UFC 80 - Rapid Fire | Joe Stevenson | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 2 | 1/19/2008 | 4:02 | Win |
| UFC - Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale | Jens Pulver | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 2 | 6/23/2007 | 3:12 | Win |
| UFC 63 - Hughes vs Penn | Matt Hughes | TKO (Punches) | 3 | 9/23/2006 | 3:53 | Loss |
| UFC 58 - USA vs Canada | Georges St. Pierre | Decision (Split) | 3 | 3/4/2006 | 5:00 | Loss |
| K-1 - World Grand Prix Hawaii | Renzo Gracie | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 7/29/2005 | 5:00 | Win |
| K-1 - Hero's 1 | Lyoto Machida | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3/26/2005 | 5:00 | Loss |
| ROTR 6 - Rumble on the Rock 6 | Rodrigo Gracie | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 11/20/2004 | 5:00 | Win |
| K-1 MMA - ROMANEX | Duane Ludwig | Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) | 1 | 5/22/2004 | 1:45 | Win |
| UFC 46 - Supernatural | Matt Hughes | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 1 | 1/31/2004 | 4:39 | Win |
| ROTR 4 - Rumble on the Rock 4 | Takanori Gomi | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 3 | 10/10/2003 | 2:35 | Win |
| UFC 41 - Onslaught | Caol Uno | Draw | 5 | 2/28/2003 | 5:00 | Draw |
| UFC 39 - The Warriors Return | Matt Serra | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 9/27/2002 | 5:00 | Win |
| UFC 37 - High Impact | Paul Creighton | TKO (Punches) | 2 | 5/10/2002 | 3:23 | Win |
| UFC 35 - Throwdown | Jens Pulver | Decision (Majority) | 5 | 1/11/2002 | 5:00 | Loss |
| UFC 34 - High Voltage | Caol Uno | KO (Punches) | 1 | 11/2/2001 | 0:11 | Win |
| UFC 32 - Showdown in the Meadowlands | Din Thomas | TKO (Knee and Punches) | 1 | 6/29/2001 | 2:42 | Win |
| UFC 31 - Locked & Loaded | Joey Gilbert | TKO (Punches) | 1 | 5/4/2001 | 4:57 | Win |
