Issue 034

February 2008

Prodigious talent is a phrase that gets tossed around a little too freely at times. A true prodigy is a rare and amazing thing, and when you see it, you recognise it instantly. To clarify, a prodigy is someone who has an amazing natural talent in something and displays it from a relatively early age. 

This issue features the original prodigy, BJ Penn. At only 29 years old, Penn is already something of a legend. He was the youngest fighter to do some pretty amazing things. He got his Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt in three and a half years. His exploits as the first non-Brazilian to win the BJJ world championships amazed everyone, most of all the prideful Brazilians. He burst onto the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) scene as a brash young 22-year-old and earned a title shot in three fights against a man four years his senior and with ten more fights under his belt. Later, he would capture the welterweight title and then fight opponents of increasing weight until he was finally beaten by a man who was fighting as a heavyweight. 

Why was he so successful? Plenty of people have natural ability, but how can some people focus this ability into amazing success? It’s simple – they live, eat and breathe the sport. 

Penn moved to San Francisco to train full-time with Ralph Gracie by simply outgrowing his first trainer in Hawaii, leaving behind his family and friends to devote his life to the arts. Penn’s example sounds extreme but was not unusual. 

Judo legend Neil Adams did something similar. At the tender age of 16 his coach advised his family that Adams could be one of the best in the world, if he had the appropriate training. Adams did a similar thing to Penn – he left home, went to London to train with Olympians and became one of the greatest British judoka ever. 

I’ve spent time with a fighter I consider to be a true prodigy. I’m hesitant to give his name in case I place a curse on this young professional, but at only 19 years old, I believe him to be the real deal. 

Watching him fight is like watching a Hindu cow stroll through the streets of New Delhi: he is so calm. He has two years of training in mixed martial arts (MMA) and BJJ under his belt, yet taps out black belts with years of experience. When he isn’t training, he is thinking about training, running through moves in his head and playing out strategies. He eats, breathes and lives MMA. 

This young fighter also trains with the best to become the best, and soaks information up like a sponge, another characteristic of a prodigy. BJ Penn famously asked Frank Shamrock to teach him one thing a day, he was that quick at picking things up. Able to assimilate knowledge at a breakneck pace, once he was shown how to do something it would be part of his game forever, a remarkable thing for a fighter to do. 

But for every prodigy there is a wasted talent. Fighters often come from unstable backgrounds, and sometimes these backgrounds swallow up the prospect’s chances before they ever have chance to shine. Gyms see fighters come and go, and the ones who come in with the most talent often leave the biggest holes when they leave. 

Even sadder are the ones who were pushed too hard or too soon, the young talents who were misguided and used by unscrupulous trainers and managers, eager to cash in from the talent in their hands, but little caring of their personal development or longevity. 

One such fighter was ‘The Phenom’, Vitor Belfort. A precociously talented and fast-handed young fighter managed by Carlson Gracie, he blossomed at 19 years old and destroyed his first opponents before being beaten down by the more mature and worldly-wise Randy Couture. 

Since then, lacking guidance, Belfort’s career has gone through ups and downs like no other. At times he appears one of the most gifted fighters to grace the ring, but there are times when he looks like he has no business in there at all. Hot and cold doesn’t even begin to describe his performances. His last outings were nothing short of cringe worthy. Picking up a paycheck, he appeared fat and bloated in his fights with James Zikic and Ivan Serati, yet still glimpses of his talent were still evident. 

Aside from being rare, prodigies are also fragile in their own way. They need looking after by strong trainers and must be handled carefully, lest they waste their chance at making it. After all, you only get so many goes at it in the fight game.