Why I Fight: The Early Years
Before entering the world of MMA BJ was a world class competitor in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a career that was also full of conflict. He gained his black belt in BJJ in less than four years (itself a Herculean effort) but also won the Gold medal in the most widely respected BJJ World Championship as a black belt.
Before all of this though BJ Penn was born on December 13, 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Named Jay Dee Penn, he is better known as BJ Penn, or 'Baby Jay'. At the age of four he and his family moved to Hilo, Hawaii, where he fights out of to this day. In his early years Penn notes that his parents didn't have a lot of money but they did possess a strong drive and healthy work ethic to gain financial success as young entrepreneurs, something they appear to have succeeded in achieving and a factor that I feel is crucial in explaining Penn's success in martial arts. More on this point later.
BJ Penn enjoyed a stable upbringing and was close to his family, and his younger brother Reagan in particular. He played soccer until he was kicked off the team for fighting an older member. Penn appears to have had an above-average propensity for getting into fights in his youth, something he admits to in Why I Fight. With no soccer practice he chanced upon boxing. Buying a pair of boxing gloves he was soon sparring, albeit in a disorganized way, on the front porch of his family home with anyone and everyone that fancied turning up on a daily basis. Penn's informal fight club was a success with local boys and BJ learned not only how to deliver a punch but, arguably more importantly, how to take one. This was a major turning point in his mentality towards fighting as he realized that he could take punishment and continue to dish it out.
Why I Fight next discusses how the young Penn continued to get into trouble though and the next major event in his life was leaving school at the age of 16 after being caught smoking marijuana. It isn't clear if he was forcibly expelled from school or if his father quietly agreed to remove him, but whatever the reason BJ Penn began homeschooling. Remarkably though his father primarily encouraged BJ to workout and continue boxing. His father wanted him to become disciplined and also to ensure BJ was healthy after smoking. Peculiarly though, this meant that at the age of 16 Penn was effectively training as a professional fighter would: his days was mostly spent working out and boxing.
The pace of Why I Fight changes in the next chapter and becomes of much more direct interest to martial artists. Over the summer of 1996 a major change took place in Penn's life. Tom Callos, a skilled exponent in various grappling and striking arts, including Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, entered the scene. After some initial hesitancy about attending classes, Penn was hooked once he got started. It was at this point in his life that Penn really seems to have become interested in the art of fighting and not just about being a tough guy who could hold his own in a street fight. Penn describes his life in Why I Fight at this point thus: 'All I had to do was wake up, do whatever household things were needed of me (there was always something), drive over to the gym, practice, and then chill out. It was a stress free life.'
Penn made great progress and at the end of the year Tom Callos began talking about taking the teenager back to California with him for more advanced training. Penn arrived in San Jose in February 1997 and trained with Ralph Gracie a few times. Penn impressed Ralph and the latter encouraged him to return in the future for a longer stay and to train more.
Again Penn's very easy going father played a crucial role in molding his son by encouraging him to return to California for an extended period and learn more about BJJ. At the beginning of summer 1997 Penn was flying back to California.
Penn's father played a crucial role throughout the former's career as a martial artist and it is a point that I feel Why I Fight underplays to be honest. Penn went to Ralph Gracie to train full time. He had no job and as far as I can tell from reading Why I Fight BJ has never actually had a job. Certainly there is no mention of any work outside of training or fighting, not even of part time work.
Almost immediately upon arriving in California Penn began his competitive career. He won his first competition, taking first place in his own weight class and the Open division. This would mark the beginning of Penn's dominance on the West Coast. After winning his second tournament Penn moved up to blue belt, stating that 'This was when I put the thought of fighting for its own sake behind me and focused more on competitive BJJ.'
Through Ralph Penn also gained his first exposure to the world of MMA, his first contact being a sparring session with Frank Shamrock, a man that BJ would get to know much better later on and enjoy working out with.
This early contact with the world of competitive MMA later became much more pronounced when Penn had his first fight after being encouraged by Ralph Gracie. BJ won his first MMA fight and picked up $400...but didn't give Ralph - his cornerman - a cut, something that he regrets to this day. The details of the fight, as with every fight in Why I Fight, are well written and well described while also giving us the perspective of one of the competitors, a definite strong point of the book.
Over the summer on 1998 Penn and some of his brothers traveled down to Brazil to compete in the Mundials, the world championship of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Although BJ didn't win, his younger brother Reagan did, becoming a world champion white belt. BJ performed well though and upon his return to California he was awarded his purple belt.
Why I Fight moves forward to several months later when Penn's training and life took another major turn. Through his elder brother Jay Dee BJ came into contact with John Lewis and the Nova Uniao team, which was created in part by legendary BJJ expert Andre Pederneiras. Training at this new location and with new people was the beginning of the end of Penn's relationship with Ralph. The split was cemented in late 1999 when Penn competed in the Copa Pacifica, one of the biggest BJJ competitions in the US. Penn won his division but had done so representing Team Nova Uniao, who he had been training with extensively. When Ralph found out he was less than happy and BJ and his brothers were asked to leave his gym.
I think this is an interesting event - and Why I Fight is full of situations to ponder - and causes one to consider traditional approaches to training and teaching compared to modern, more commercial approaches. From Ralph's point of view he had invested his time and trust in BJ and clearly wanted his school well represented to gain the respect he felt he deserved as a teacher. Penn on the other hand notes in Why I Fight that he saw the relationship as being more of that between a paid coach and a trainee. Afterall, Penn was paying for the tuition and Ralph was providing a service, so what else was there to the matter?
In any case, Penn was now a full member with Nova Uniao and continued his training. It was while training with Nova Uniao that a man called Steve DaSilva christened BJ with the nickname 'The Prodigy'. It was also shortly after shifting to his new team that BJ gained his brown belt. Later Penn traveled with his new team to the Mundials in Brazil, where he lost a controversial decision to Fernando Augusto, or 'Terere' as he was known.
Upon his return to San Jose BJ continued to train hard and began spending more time at the American Kickboxing Academy. Here he came into contact with a lot of different people, some of whom would be pioneers in the world of competitive MMA. At the time however Penn didn't see the financial return from MMA and the UFC as being worth it. He was more set on becoming a champion in BJJ and setting himself up as a teacher. Penn though was being exposed to some of the then top people in MMA as well as being around when the American Kickboxing Academy was establishing itself as an MMA powerhouse and not just a place for kickboxing. It would have been nice to read in Why I Fight more about this very interesting period for fight fans.
Just before the New Year came Penn experienced another turn in his fate. John Lewis introduced him to two men for a relaxed training session who were at the time just starting to mess around, apparently in a casual manner, with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. One was a very rich businessman with his own private gym. The other was a heavier guy with a passion for boxing. The first was Lorenzo Fertitta and the second was Dana White. As they chatted Penn again stated his lack of interest in MMA. I think Penn's observations on the UFC and Dana White in particular will be of the most significant interest to readers and Why I Fight doesn't disappoint. There is much more to come later...
The following summer the Mundials rolled around. Penn had to fight for his spot on the Nova Uniao team and did so successfully. So successfully in fact that after winning his matches for selection he had his brown belt taken from him and was awarded his black belt. A truly remarkable feat, meaning that Penn went from white to black belt in less than four years. More was to come though...
At the Mundials Penn fought through to the final where he faced Edson Diniz from Team InFight. Penn was able to dominate the match and so became the first American to win the gold medal at the Brazilian Mundials as a black belt.
After the fight BJ fully intended to return to defend his title and continue fighting for Nova Uniao in the future, but it was a future that was not to be.
At this point Why I Fight I would guess becomes very interesting for the majority of Penn's MMA fans.
After some rest and some time thinking about what he wanted to do next Penn turned to Javier Mendez at the American Kickboxing Academy and announced that he was interested in pursuing MMA. Soon his first fight came up. His opponent would be Caol Uno in a King of the Cage promotion, scheduled for February 2001. Penn was let down though when Caol Uno pulled out...to fight against Jens Pulver in the emerging Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) now owned by a company named Zuffa, which was in turn owned by Lorenzo Fertitta, the super rich businessman Penn had trained with briefly months before.
Penn's turn came next and he was signed to fight Joey Gilbert at UFC 31 and this is where the story of Why I Fight really begins for fans of the UFC and Penn's career in it.
Penn tells us in Why I Fight that he was immediately impressed with the professionalism of the UFC compared to organizations like King of the Cage. His training on the other hand - like every other fighter at the time - was makeshift and exploratory. No one fighting at that time had enough experience to really say what worked and what didn't work plus MMA was illegal at that time in California where the American Kickboxing Academy is located. One thing that made a difference though was the presence of Frank Shamrock who was able to guide Penn and others getting into MMA.
What Penn has to say here is very interesting as he is able to make well-informed comparisons between what we see nowadays with the UFC and MMA and how it was when it was first getting off the ground. There simply were no stars at that time and the promotions were small scale.
Penn of course won his first fight against Joey Gilbert in the first round.
Following his first fight the reader is introduced to what Penn would presumably describe as being the lighter side of Dana White. At the time Penn tells us that White, along with Fertitta, was keen to get the UFC fighters more money for their fights. Penn was obviously encouraged by this but was disappointed later in his career when, as will be revealed, he came to the conclusion that he wasn't getting the kind of money he deserved, thereby souring his relationship with the UFC. Penn concludes that '...in the long run it turned out to be just business for these guys. To them, every fighter is expendable'. There is a lot more that Why I Fight has to offer on this subject in later chapters.
Penn won his second fight against Din Thomas and, following his win, had his first experience of a fan asking him for his autograph, an event that clearly touched the young BJ.
Penn won his third fight against Caol Uno in convincing fashion, taking only 11 seconds to destroy his opponent. Following this came a call from Dana White offering Penn a title fight. Penn was a little hesitant to fight again so soon but accepted. He entered his training camp and again Why I Fight offers tremendous insight into this period that you just can't get anywhere else.
Penn was to fight Jens Pulver and began training...hard. Too hard. He simply added more and more of what he was learning from other fighters rather than replacing less effective training methods with ones that were known to be more effective. Penn became slow, his strength began to desert him and he was feeling the effects of injuries more than he had done in the past.
The fight with Pulver came around and Penn notes that at the beginning of the third round he was done physically. He went on to lose by majority decision at the end of five rounds, thereby suffering his first defeat in the UFC. This was also the first indication of a problem that has haunted Penn to this day: getting his training camp just right so he is ready and fit to fight over all three or five rounds. This becomes a common theme throughout Why I Fight.
Following the loss Penn returned to Hawaii to relax and think about what he wanted to do next.
After some reflection Penn returned to training for this his third fight of his three fight contract with the UFC. He made some changes in his preparation, cutting back on the hours he was doing while also finding a local expert boxing coach. BJ's match would be against UFC-newcomer Paul Creighton and Penn won with no real problems.
Re-negotiations for a contract with the UFC began and this is where Penn's relationship with Dana White began to sour, a fact that is hinted at at this point of Why I Fight. Pulver had already left the UFC to fight in Japan as he didn't feel he had enough money and Penn was already thinking that is was actually costing him money to fly his team from Hawaii to an event on mainland USA for a fight. Penn finally signed another three fight contract paying him $15,000, $20,000 and finally $25,000 for the third fight with the same bonus thrown in if he won. It is these little facts and insights that make Why I Fight such a compelling read. It is not just a collection of training and fighting descriptions.
Penn's first fight would be against Matt Serra and he began preparation which was, by his own admittance, 'dumb'. He simply wasn't working hard enough and his ideas on how to peak for a fight were amateurish. Plus Penn's diet wasn't healthy and he was regularly eating the wrong foods. Why I Fight paints a very vivid picture of a confused Penn trying to bring together his training but just never quite getting there. That said, Penn says he was well-prepared mentally if nothing else and it is a credit to his skill as a fighter that he had gone as far as he has with what is probably poor preparation compared to other fighters.
Penn and Serra were well matched but by the end of the second round Penn was done in but he did enough in the closing round to take a unanimous decision.
The next match would be a re-match with Caol Uno for the championship owing to Pulver now being absent, and Penn again made changes in his camp, taking a kickboxing coach over his boxing coach. Despite the preparation Penn again felt tired going into the third round but held on until the end of round five after which the fight was announced a draw through a split decision.
An announcement for Penn's next fight was slow in coming but one fighter BJ was after was Takanori Gomi. Jay Dee, Penn's older brother, decided to bring the Japanese fighter to Hawaii in a new promotion he had started: Rumble on the Rock. At this stage the UFC contracts were far less limiting than they are today, and Dana White gave his full support to BJ. In Penn's mind this fight would decide who the best lightweight fighter in the world was, something that many people would probably not know without reading Why I Fight.
Penn won the match which made him, as far as he was concerned, the top lightweight fighter in the world. Returning to the UFC Penn's next match would be against Matt Hughes for the welterweight title.
Penn took the title and was dismayed to see that, in his eyes, Dana White was not happy about it that Matt had lost. Again, Why I Fight provides this kind of insight you can't get anywhere else. Nothing could stop Penn going home with the belt though.
Immediately following his victory (literally!) Penn was approached, via his brother, by a representative from the Japanese K-1 fight promotion. K-1 is huge in Japan and specializes in its version of kickboxing. They were planning to expand on this into something called K-1 Romenex, which was their move into the world of MMA. Penn was interested for the simple reason that they were prepared to pay him $187,500 for a single fight. A lot of the UFC's top fighters that are household names nowadays fought in Japan, though usually for the now defunct Pride organization. People like Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson all fought over there. Why I Fight makes it clear why: the money and the career opportunities were just a lot better. K-1 fighters enjoy a certain popular celebrity that UFC fighters have only begun to realize over the last few years.
BJ told Joe Rogan about his plans who he met at the airport the day after the Hughes fight. Penn believed the conversation to have been innocent enough but Dana White found out and went ballistic. The root of the problem was the cash Penn wasn't receiving for his fights. Hughes was making more and even after attempts at renegotiation White wasn't prepared to match what Hughes was making. From the perspective of the UFC they believed the exposure they were giving Penn was itself a business opportunity that BJ could capitalize on. Free advertising for himself as a brand. Penn comments on White in Why I Fight that 'Things between us would never be the same.'
Eventually Penn heard that if he fought for another organization the UFC would strip him of his title. He wasn't impressed. To make matters worse Penn was notified that White demanded a public apology at the next UFC event. Neither side would back down and finally Penn was stripped of his title and decided to fight in Japan. White went berserk and you can read his 'colorful' language in the book.
Penn fought Genki Sudo in Saitama and won in the first round. He next fought Rodrigo Gracie in a Rumble on the Rock event and won a unanimous decision while Hughes fought the emerging Georges Saint Pierre and won making him the champion again. Going back to Japan Penn next faced Lyoto Machida and lost a unanimous decision, though Lyoto was something in the region of 40-50 pound heavier.
Penn's third - and final - fight with K-1 Romanex would be against Renzo Gracie, though the match would be held in Honolulu. Penn took his second victory against the Gracie family with a unanimous decision. Penn closes this chapter with some respectful words to the Gracie's, remembering his earlier experiences when he went to Nova Uniao.
Penn was still caught up in legal issues with the UFC but in the meantime the company had launched The Ultimate Fighter, a reality TV show...and Penn wanted in on the action.
Mediation followed and Penn and White thrashed out an agreement in a one-on-one meeting. BJ would return to the UFC in a quest to get his title back. It is this latter period, detailed well in Why I Fight, that really established Penn as a firm fan favorite alongside other notable names that have enjoyed consistent success.
Penn announced his return at UFC 56 before settling back to watch Sean Sherk and Georges St-Pierre go at it. St-Pierre won the match in convincing fashion but Penn overhead the defeated Muscle Shark comment that the Canadian fighter had been greased up and that he couldn't hold him. Penn dismissed this at the time but the memory would come back to him later. In Penn's next match he would face St-Pierre with the winner getting a shot at Hughes.
The fight came quickly and Penn lost by split decision after dominating St-Pierre in the first round.
Months passed with no opponent available for Penn until St-Pierre injured himself in training for his match with Hughes. Penn became the replacement and had to hurry through a training camp. Penn was badly beaten up and suffered two cracked ribs and other problems. Hughes remained the champion. The book gives a very good description of the match from BJ's point of view.
The next big event in Penn's life was him being selected as a coach on Season Five of The Ultimate Fighter. His opposing coach was none other than Jens Pulver. For those that don't know, part of the allure of The Ultimate Fighter is that the coaches face off in a UFC event after the season has finished. Penn wanted the match to avenge what he saw as being the biggest loss of his life.
Penn won the match and also struck a blow for his independence. In the habitual post-fight walk through with Joe Rogan Penn told people to simply check his own website for news about him. He was snubbing the UFC and Dana White wasn't happy. Penn concludes this chapter with some personal observations on how he believes the lack of an independent fighter ranking system is problematic.
Before the Pulver fight Sean Sherk had become champion and was the person Penn next wanted to fight. Before that could happen though Sean had to defend his title against Hermes Franca, which he did successfully. Unfortunately drug tests for both fighters revealed that they had used anabolic steroids. Sherk denied the willful use of banned substances but it meant Penn would fight Joe Stevenson for an interim title. Penn won the fight and when Sherk was found guilty of using drugs the 'interim' was removed from the title and Penn became the lightweight champion.
Sherk made a comeback to face Penn for the title. Penn is scathing in his treatment of Sherk here and has little sympathy for a man he brands a 'cheat'. Whatever the case with the drug use, Sherk lost and BJ defended his title, finally, he writes, proving himself.
Next Penn set himself an even greater challenge: he would move up in weight to face Georges St-Pierre once again and for the first time in UFC history two current champions would fight.
Penn was keen for the fight but far less enthusiastic about the media that went with it. To make the situation worse he had his first child - a daughter named Aeva Lili'u - and BJ's life became hectic. He had another run in with Dana White over the Countdown show but otherwise he came to the fight well prepared.
The tone of Why I Fight makes a major change at this point and it is difficult to know what to make of it. Penn introduces the reader to the idea of 'greasing', or 'painting' the body with some chemical that makes it difficult to hold onto. You will remember that Penn noted about how he heard Sean Sherk saying after his loss to St-Pierre that he couldn't get a grip...well, the same challenges to St-Pierre's honesty arise here. The problem I have with this is that Penn offers no evidence against St-Pierre despite these very serious allegations. It is difficult to know therefore whether he is telling the truth or if he is just trying to make excuses. Whatever the real reason, it is the closing pages of the book that are the most shocking.
Penn first recites a pre-fight conversation between his co-author David Weintraub and the UFC fighter Kenny Florian. According to Penn Florian later sent a text to Weintraub saying that St-Pierre was a 'greaser'. He returns to the topic following his match.
The fight itself belonged to St-Pierre all the way. It is one for the connoisseur as St-Pierre used his weight and wrestling skills to force Penn to carry his weight around for the first couple of rounds before switching to stand up...with Penn's arms now too tired to box effectively. Penn was exhausted at the close of the fourth and was facing a severe beating in the fifth so one of his corner called the match and the victory went to St-Pierre. Penn's perspective in Why I Fight is very interesting and could be a testament to the effectiveness of St-Pierre's game plan or an explanation for it GSP's dominance.
Returning to the subject of greasing, back in the locker room commissioners were claiming that they had caught St-Pierre in the act of cheating and one of his team wanted BJ's shorts to conduct a chemical analysis to determine if a foreign (and banned) substance could be traced on them. What happened to the chemical test is not disclosed.
Penn was definitely hurt after the fight and needed to go to hospital and he suffered from his injuries in the weeks after. Legal action against St-Pierre began and included a hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The media cast Penn as the villain in the piece though, something he was not happy about and he seems to blame the MMA media for this. Personally, with the lack of evidence, I don't see how Penn could expect the public to react any other way. Unfortunately this isn't discussed in Why I Fight. There is only time for Penn's personal views.
Penn wasn't happy but he moved on.
He tells that he became happier when he learned his next match would be with Kenny Florian for the lightweight title. In the press coverage of the St-Pierre greasing incident Florian, despite Penn's claims that he had first tipped them off about the Canadian fighter's tactic of 'greasing', denied all knowledge of it. Penn felt that Florian was trying to make him '...look like an idiot' and he lost all respect for the guy.
Penn began working with Marv Marinovich, a professional trainer and famous for his work with NFL superstar Troy Polamalu (and someone whose work I strongly suggest you look at if you are a practicing martial artist). Penn was fascinated by the blend of different exercises using different machines and water-based workouts designed to improve the responsiveness of the nervous system. Penn was over the moon with the results and came into UFC 101 in tip-top condition. Penn wanted little else than to beat up Florian, something he did until Florian tapped out in round four, meaning Penn had successfully defended his lightweight title.
Thus Why I Fight comes to a close. Penn's career declined in the following years but his place among the legends of MMA was already sealed.
Why I Fight is a great read, most notably of course for fans of BJ Penn but also for anyone with an interest in the UFC and BJJ. Anyone aspiring to become a professional fighter would also do well to take a look to get an insight into the business side of the fight game. There is so much more that I would have liked to have read, such as more descriptions of Penn's training, his mental preparation and the role his parents played in shaping him and helping him, but the word count would have risen and perhaps much of what else I would have liked to have seen belongs best in a 'How to train like BJ Penn' type of book. Overall, Why I Fight is very highly recommended.
