Updated at 3:47 p.m., Saturday, January 19, 2008
Hilo's BJ Penn wins UFC lightweight world title
By ROB HARRIS
Associated Press Writer
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The Hilo, Hawai'i mixed martial arts star, who picked up the welterweight title in 2004, joins Randy Couture as the only two-division champions in UFC history after dominating and finally choking Stevenson (33-8) to take the 155-pound crown.
Stevenson was pummeled from the start, with Penn taking just 5 seconds to land a right uppercut that sent the Californian crashing to the mat.
"I thought I would ice him right there. I thought that was it," Penn said. "But he came back stronger."
With chants of "Easy! "Easy!" booming around the Metro Arena, Stevenson offered little resistance, with futile elbows.
"I was trying to put him away," Penn said. "He stayed strong and he was punching me real hard from back and punching hard from back.
Penn tried to finish off the former reality TV star off with a flurry of hooks, and a right elbow drew blood from Stevenson's hairline.
With blood splattered across the octagon, Stevenson — on the back of a four-win streak — adopted a dogged approach.
The wound partially cleaned up, Penn, who defied the critics who doubted his fitness, was biding his time before landing the fatal blow. Stevenson remained on his feet for 2:40 until he was sent crashing down with a left uppercut.
Both fighters were soaked in blood by the time Penn grabbed Stevenson's neck and put him in a choke hold at 4:02 at the climax of a brutal beating.
In 2002, Penn lost to Jens Pulver in a five-round bout, and the following year, nothing could separate him from Caol Uno.
Penn (13-4-1) immediately vowed to defend his title against Sean Sherk, who is serving a six-month ban after being stripped of the lightweight belt for a positive steroids test.
"He's not a bad person, there's nothing personal," Penn told reporters. "This is my life, this is my dream and I was just disappointed when all that went down .... he will be back stronger than ever."
That bout is likely to take place in Las Vegas in May when the California State Athletic Commission ban will have expired.
Sherk earlier entered the cage to say: "I don't have any respect for BJ."
In the night's all-Brazilian heavyweight contest, Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1) added to his 2003 victory over Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) by TKO at 4:34 in the second round.
After being dominated by Gonzaga's flurry of right foot kicks in the first round, Werdum recovered to spray his compatriot with right jabs and pounding him against the cage.
In the welterweight bout on the main card, Marcus Davis (19-4) took just 64 seconds to see off Jess Liaudin (12-9) and extend his unbeaten streak to 11. After throwing a body kick, a vicious left hook sent Liaudin crashing down in the octagon, where the Frenchman was wincing and finished off before the fight was halted.
While a capacity crowd of more than 8,000 brought in $1.25 million at the box office, mixed martial arts struggled to compete with the return of Kevin Keegan as manager at English Premier League soccer club Newcastle United, which was playing near the arena.
Britain is being used as the launchpad for global expansion plans, with UFC organizers hoping to extend events into continental Europe by the end of 2008 and further challenge boxing's supremacy.
Germany and Croatia are in the pipeline and the next event in Britain is planned for June at London's 02 Arena.
Maui's Grove loses by TKO
On the undercard, Maui's Kendall Grove lost to Jorge Rivera of Massachusetts by TKO in the first round of a middleweight (185 pounds) bout.
Rivera scored a takedown of Grove early in the bout, then unloaded a series of punches. Grove got back to his feet, but then got dropped by a left-hand punch from Rivera.
The referee stopped it, 1:20 into the first round.
Grove, who won The Ultimate Fighter 3 reality television series, dropped to 10-5 with his second consecutive loss in the UFC. Rivera improved to 15-6.
Advertiser staff writer Dayton Morinaga contributed to this report.
