HansonBro
Registered User
- May 3, 2006
- 4,906
- 3,470
I think a lot of people feel the same way about BJ Penn.I agree with the points being made. I guess the thread title is a bit misleading. He's my biggest disappointment because I liked him so much, he was my favorite fighter for a long time. But watching a guy with so much talent show up to a fight out of shape, try to box with people he had no business doing so and then gassing himself by the end of the first round was a shame to watch sometimes. The guy had a gift in his bjj not many heavyweights had but I don't think he utilized it enough.
I think a lot of people feel the same way about BJ Penn.
He seemed to wilt in big fights in his career, at least in the latter 1/2 of his career. He was just never quite good enough. Not quite strong enough, boxing not quite good enough and his wrestling wasn't good enough.
I think he had the most dangerous ground game I've ever seen from a UFC fighter though. Not necessarily the best all around, but scariest. If he was able to get a limb you were either tapping or he was taking it with him.
Difference is that BJ Penn was the best lightweight in the world for a significant period of time. I'm not sure Mir was ever the best heavyweight.
I'll even go one step further; Penn was largely considered the best P4P fighter in the world at one point, before the term was regularly thrown around. To me, that makes Penn even more of a disappointment than Mir.Difference is that BJ Penn was the best lightweight in the world for a significant period of time. I'm not sure Mir was ever the best heavyweight. I guess when he beat Sylvia, but we'll never really know because he never had a chance to defend the title.
It just depends how you want to define "disappointment". Frank Mir exceeded expectations. Jon Jones is the best fighter of all-time. Hard to call them disappointments.
A few guys that meet my requirements:
Brandon Vera. Really seemed like he would be the new breed of fighter. You look at his losses, and his career really isn't that bad.. he's mainly lost to the best. Got robbed vs Couture, too. He just never really showed the killer instinct in the cage you would have wanted.
Anthony Pettis. Hard to call a guy who was UFC champion in the deepest division in the sport a disappointment, but I really thought he was going to hold the belt for a long time. The way RDA just took him down and dominated him for 25 minutes was one of the more surprising things I've seen in the UFC.
I also remember a prospects thread in this forum years ago, where people mentioned some guys they thought would be future stars. I picked two - Renan Barao (hit) and Maximo Blanco (miss). So, Blanco makes my personal list. Thought he would be a future elite guy.
I've never liked Mir, but his career is far from disappointing. Sure, it could have been a bit better. 2 things derailed more success, the accident, and Brock Lesnar.
The accident is obvious.
Brock - era brought in big dudes. Mir was never a huge HW. Once Brock won the title, Mir started his "help" cycles and put on 30lbs of muscles. He had limited success against older fighters and guys that didn't move, but abandoned his successful style and was unable to compete against the best of the division.
What I was about to say. Lesnar broke him in their 2nd fight, physically and mentally.
I'll even go one step further; Penn was largely considered the best P4P fighter in the world at one point, before the term was regularly thrown around. To me, that makes Penn even more of a disappointment than Mir.
Penn is easily the biggest disappointment of all time in MMA. An all-world talent with awful motivation.