Issue 086
March 2012
With flyweights up next, FO recalls how the last true UFC tournament, for the lightweight title, nearly killed off an entire weight division
As the black-clad BJ Penn made his way to the Octagon, the anticipation in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall was palpable. The UFC 41 crowd had turned out to see the coronation of a new lightweight champion. Penn was up against Caol Uno, a man he had destroyed in 11 seconds at UFC 34. Everyone was expecting history to be made in a spectacularly violent fashion.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship was built on the concept of the one-night tournament. As the sport matured, the idea of fighters having multiple fights at one event was deemed unacceptable, but the tournament format lived on. When champion Randy Couture jumped ship following a contract dispute in 1998, his successor was decided via the Road to the Heavyweight Title series; which spanned four events and culminated with Bas Rutten taking the belt at UFC 20. In 2002, another charismatic champ opted to leave the promotion to seek bigger paydays elsewhere. Holding a tournament to fill the gap left by Jens Pulver at 155lb seemed the logical thing to do.
The brackets were set and the four contenders gathered at UFC 39 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Caol Uno sneaked a decision win over Din Thomas. The second semi-final featured the man most fans expected to win the lot: BJ Penn. Since being snapped up by the UFC, ‘The Prodigy’ had been a revelation; smashing all comers until he dropped a decision in a title challenge against Pulver. With ‘Lil Evil’ off the scene, the Hawaiian’s aggressive striking and top-of-the-tree ground skills made him a clear favorite to win the lot, but he struggled on his way to a points win over Matt Serra. Although boos rang out for the decision, most observers were still convinced they were looking at the next champ.
The final showdown between Penn and Uno occurred on February 28, 2003. Uno was constantly on the move, determined not to get steamrollered again. As he danced around, the Japanese submission wrestler consistently scored with leg kicks. The pair both secured takedowns but neither came close to finding a finish on the canvas. Penn looked out of sorts and many of his strikes missed. In the fourth, he took Uno down and landed punches which opened a cut. With Uno tiring, less mobile and bleeding from the nose, BJ pushed the pace in the final round.
Uno had worked out how to contain the fire without coming up with a plan for snuffing it out. The scores were announced: 48-47 Penn, 48-46 Uno, 48-48 a draw.
After the hype, the distinct lack of shock and awe left a bitter taste in the mouth. The inconclusive result was a disaster for all concerned. Rather than showcasing the lightweight division and creating a new superstar champion, the tournament had a negative effect. Both semi-finals and the final had been uninspiring affairs that had gone the distance. By association, the whole of the 155lb weight class was tarred with the same brush: a division of little guys who were unlikely to provide fireworks. With the UFC in financial dire straits and looking to draw in more casual viewers, the management decided to focus their efforts elsewhere. No plans were made for a Penn-Uno rematch or a new tournament. Instead the lightweight belt was parked and the whole division was dropped after UFC 49 in August 2004. The 155lb’ers did not feature again until March 2006 at UFC 58 and it was another seven months before the title was reinstated, with Sean Sherk defeating Kenny Florian to take the vacant belt at UFC 64.
The whole affair was emblematic of BJ Penn’s undulating career. In the aftermath, he scored back-to-back rear naked choke victories; dispatching Takanori Gomi then moving up to upset the odds by ripping the UFC lelterweight belt from Matt Hughes. Penn later struggled against the elite and critics would claim that his conditioning was below that of other leading lights - perhaps due to the fact he did not have to push himself to make the weight.
Only when the UFC reinstated his natural weight class did we see the resurgence of the dynamic BJ of old. He finally got his hands on the lightweight belt at UFC 80, five years after the draw with Uno, when he battered and choked Joe Stevenson in Newcastle, United Kingdom. Baby Jay brutally dismissed the challenges of Sherk, Florian and Sanchez; giving a snapshot of what we had missed. If the lightweight division had survived the inconclusive tournament, maybe we would have seen the most dominant UFC champion of all time. Or history Penn could have struggled, displaying a lack-luster performance in a major fight he was expected to win – like he did against Pulver, Frankie Edgar and, of course, Caol Uno.
The unsatisfying outcome at UFC 41 meant that the tournament format fell out of favor. Though, it was halfway resurrected in 2008 when another Randy contract dispute left a mess of interim and returning champions – straightened out by putting Couture, Frank Mir, ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira and Brock Lesnar in a four-man knockout competition after Mir had already been confirmed to fight Nogueira. Now four flyweights have their turn to determine their first UFC champion. If they want their weight division to prosper, they should do everything in their power to make sure there is a definite result.
