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#4. Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn – UFC 46 (2003)
2004 might not have begun with a classic war for a UFC title, but it did begin with one of the promotion’s all-time great upsets. It was a fight that turned BJ Penn into a pound-for-pound superstar.
Prior to UFC 46, ‘The Prodigy’ had always fought in the lightweight division. He'd come close to winning the title there on two occasions only to come up short.
Welterweight kingpin Matt Hughes, by comparison, held his title for over two years and had already defended it successfully on five occasions, equalling the promotion’s record in the process. When Penn was announced as his next challenger, then, it was hardly a surprise to see very few fans giving the Hawaiian a chance.
However, prior to the fight, Penn had promised that not only was he quicker than Hughes, but he was just as strong, too, despite his smaller size. Come fight time, he went about proving that he was correct.
‘The Prodigy’ caught hold of Hughes in an early scramble, and managed to force him to his back. From there, essentially, the fight was over. Penn was able to mount the champion and take his back. Moments later, Hughes, incredibly, was forced to tap out to a rear naked choke.
History now dictates that Penn is renowned as an all-time great, arguably even more so than Hughes. However, at the time, this was a truly enormous upset that nobody really saw coming.
Nearly two decades on, it remains one of the UFC’s most memorable title bouts.
#3. Jens Pulver vs. BJ Penn – UFC 35 (2002)
Not all classic title bouts feature two fighters going toe-to-toe with little in the way of defense. 2002’s first one, for instance, was a more cerebral classic that saw a pair of tremendously skilled fighters go back-and-forth at the top of their game. It ended with a great champion hanging onto his title in a truly gutsy showing.
Despite then-lightweight champion Jens Pulver having far more experience than BJ Penn at the time – he had 14 professional fights to Penn’s three – very few fans expected ‘Little Evil’ to hold onto his title.
After all, ‘The Prodigy’ had burst onto the scene like nobody had ever done before. He entered the octagon with a reputation as a stellar grappler before taking out top fighters Din Thomas and Caol Uno with brutal striking power.
Many observers expected him to blow Pulver out of the water just as easily, but the champion proved that he was made of much tougher stuff. He took the fight to the Hawaiian in the first round, outstriking him before punctuating the stanza with a big bodyslam.
Penn came back in the second, almost submitting ‘Little Evil’ with an armbar that saw the buzzer save the champion. Fom there, however, Pulver took back over. He showcased his impressive boxing skills to stun ‘The Prodigy’ in both the fourth and fifth rounds before taking a decision victory to retain his UFC lightweight title.
The aftermath of the fight saw Pulver get emotional, which was understandable given the pressure he was under after being written off by so many. Despite that, though, he’d produced a career-best performance to defeat his toughest-ever opponent. Quite why the fight’s been largely forgotten in the two decades that have followed remains a mystery.
