Lauzon: Why BJ Penn is the G.O.A.T.
Joe Lauzon: “If Demetrious Johnson was bouncing around like B.J. was, I don’t think he would do as well.”
Who is the greatest fighter of all time? Great UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon appeared recently on MMAjunkie Radio and made the case for BJ Penn. Penn debuted at lightweight in 2001 and less than eight months later, fought for the title. Two years later he beat Matt Hughes for the welterweight title. The next year saw him fighting and taking down a 225 Lyoto Machida. Fight after that he defeated Renzo Gracie at middleweight. Then he dropped to win the lightweight belt. And now he fights on at featherweight. The span from 145 to 225 is without precedent.
He’s had a lot of fights where he didn’t come out looking so great, but he’s also one of the only guys that would go and jump up one, two or three weight classes and bounce all around and do all kinds of stuff, said Lauzon, as transcribed by MMAjunkie. I think that is super impressive. I think it’s B.J. There are some other guys who have been really dominant in their weight class, but they don’t really leave their weight class.
I think ‘GSP’ was awesome. I think Demetrious Johnson is great – he just seems unstoppable. But I don’t know – I guess, if Demetrious Johnson was bouncing around like B.J. was, I don’t think he would do as well. If he tried to jump up two or three weight classes, I don’t think he’d do as well. You’re going to lose fights here and there. But there are so many great fighters you can say are the ‘G.O.A.T.’ and they’d all be credible answers.
Lauzon fights Stevie Ray on April 22, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 108. It will be his 24th UFC fight, which will put him a three-way tie for 7th most fights in league history. He is also tied with Nate Diaz for most overall performance bonuses. One of the brightest people in the sport, with an extraordinarily analytical mind, he would be a natural for commentary – sort of a The Departed meets Anderson Cooper. However, location is an issue, as his son Joey was born with neuroblastoma; although healthy, Lauzon likes to keep Joey and his Boston-based doctors proximate.
It’s something I would definitely like doing, and I think I would do a pretty good job at it, said Lauzon. But all those guys are out in California, they’re all in L.A. and that kind of stuff, so that would be kind of a deal breaker for me a little bit. I’m pretty rooted down here. I’m not moving anywhere else. The hospital for Joey is here, and all of his doctors. I’m not moving anywhere.
I know that would kind of put a kibosh on it and kind of kill the options, but it’s definitely something that I’d like to do. I think I’m pretty good at it. I think I’m pretty good at breaking down film. I’ve seen a lot of footage, I’ve been in all situations, I think I notice smaller things that might not seem that important to someone who hasn’t been there as much.”