BJ Penn
‘The Prodigy’ BJ Penn, made his professional fighting debut at UFC 31 with a TKO win against Joey Gilbert.
The UFC quickly realized they had a star on their hands and over the next couple of years he’d fight twice for the lightweight title while improving his record to 6-1-1.
Penn then moved up to welterweight and shocked the MMA world by submitting dominant champion Matt Hughes in the first round to seize the title.
It was a huge upset and the world was now at Penn’s feet, but then he threw a curveball by signing a far more lucrative deal with Japan’s K-1 promotion.
Dana White was livid, stripping Penn of the title and ranted down the phone at him, “You’re scorched earth, motherf***er. Scorched earth. Don’t call me crying saying you want to come back because you’re f***ing done!”
However, after Penn compiled a 3-1 record fighting for K-1 over the next couple of years, White did then re-sign Penn, where he would compete for well over a decade, winning the lightweight title and defending it three times along the way.
