Penn III (born December 13, 1978)[2] is an American former professional mixed martial art fighter and 5th degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner.

In mixed martial arts, Penn has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and in K-1 in the Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight/Openweight divisions.

[8] Penn was considered one of the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world early in his career and holds victories over opponents such as Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Paul Creighton, and Matt Serra.

moved to San Jose, California, to begin training at the Ralph Gracie BJJ academy with Dave Camarillo, with whom he lived and became close friends.

[21] Penn bounced back later in the year with a victory over future PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi to earn his first MMA championship, the Rumble on the Rock Lightweight Championship, in K-1 Fighting Network's Rumble on the Rock, an MMA organization promoted by Penn's brother, and Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), the parent company of the largest kickboxing organization, K-1.

[28] In his second fight for FEG, Penn fought again at welterweight and defeated Duane Ludwig at the 2004 K-1 MMA Romanex show in under five minutes by arm triangle choke.

[31] Later that year at K-1 World Grand Prix Hawaii, Penn returned to middleweight to face Pride Fighting Championship veteran Renzo Gracie, which he won by unanimous decision.

Penn re-debuted on March 4 at UFC 58, losing to Georges St-Pierre by split decision in a fight that determined the number one welterweight contender.

Although St. Pierre was declared the winner after a three-round decision, some believed that Penn had done enough to earn himself the victory, causing noticeably more damage throughout the fight, as Joe Rogan described St-Pierre's face being "a bloody mess" while B.J.

However, Sean Sherk subsequently was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission, and the status of the possible title fight was left in limbo as he pursued his appeals.

[43] On May 24, 2008, at UFC 84 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Penn fought former champion Sean Sherk in his first title defense bout.

But that corner man was rubbing grease on him.The rules of the UFC were modified so that only the official "cut men" would be allowed to have or apply Vaseline to the fighters.

In addition, Penn unsuccessfully requested the suspension of St-Pierre's cornermen, Greg Jackson and Phil Nurse, a fine of $250,000, and overturning the result of the fight to a no-contest.

Penn looked noticeably in better physical shape than his previous outings at 155 lbs and negated any sort of takedown offense from Florian the entire match despite his opponent's persistence in grappling and engaging the clinch.

On his feet, Penn avoided virtually any damage, constantly stuffing or evading any attempts of a left high kick, punches, or elbows from Florian when the two departed from the clinch.

In a measured performance, Penn preferred to pace himself in his standup, occasionally showing explosive bursts of striking up until the fourth round, where he executed a powerful takedown and quickly assumed the half guard position, punishing the contender with elbows until gaining the full mount, where punches followed to continue the ground and pound assault from the BJJ specialist.

[60] Penn negated virtually any offense from the contender, exercising good footwork and elusive head movement whilst remaining flawless in his takedown defense on 27 attempts from Sanchez.

Penn, showing good conditioning for the duration of the bout, continued to stuff all takedowns, punches and left high kicks from Sanchez and dominated with aggressive bursts of striking throughout.

The kick opened up a huge cut on Sanchez's forehead above his left eye, causing the fight to be halted on doctor's advice at 2:47 of the fifth round with a TKO.

The victory marked only the second fight in UFC history to end in the fifth round, and also earned Penn the distinction of being the only man to have stopped Sanchez.

Despite being an overwhelming favorite coming into the fight, Penn lost the closely contested bout by unanimous decision; breaking his eight-year undefeated streak in the lightweight division.

[80] Dana White stated that Penn will fight Nick Diaz in the main event at UFC 137 after GSP pulled out due to knee injury.

Penn deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame, stating that he was a pioneer for the lightweight division, at a time when many believed that there couldn't be any stars at 155 pounds.

"[90] An announcement was made on UFC Tonight in September 2013 that Penn will return from his hiatus and move to the Featherweight division to coach against rival, Frankie Edgar for the 19th season of The Ultimate Fighter.

That’s his legacy.In January 2016, after an 18-month hiatus, the 37 year old Penn announced his intentions to return to active competition with plans to continue in the UFC's featherweight division.

According to local media, Penn was allegedly speeding when he lost control of his pickup truck and his vehicle flipped in front of a Hilo shopping mall.

Penn was regarded as one of the most controversial and outspoken players in the history of mixed martial arts whose influence was considered instrumental in popularizing the UFC around the world in the 2000s and 2010s.

[144][3] His biography on the UFC website expressed this accomplishment as "an astonishing achievement in a sport where it takes the average athlete ten years or more to reach black belt status.

[152][153] Penn was also simultaneously ranked number one in both of these divisions following his back-to-back submission victories over Takanori Gomi and Matt Hughes, where he is the only fighter to hold such an honor.

[156][157] Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, has said on numerous occasions that he believes Penn to be the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport.