Third Time’s The Charm as Penn Beats Stevenson to Win Lightweight Crown

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By Thomas Gerbasi

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, January 19 – It took BJ Penn more than 11 rounds – 59 minutes and two seconds to be exact. But finally, in his third try, BJ Penn made history, submitting Joe Stevenson in the second round tonight at the Metro Radio Arena to become the UFC Lightweight Champion and join Randy Couture as the only two men in UFC history to win titles in two different weight classes.

“Joe is a great guy,” said Penn, who fought Stevenson for the title vacated by the suspension of Sean Sherk. “I knew he was gonna be tough, but I put everything into this. I wanted to make sure it was three times the charm and not three strikes you're out."

Penn had fallen short in two previous 155-pound title tries, losing to Jens Pulver 2002 and drawing with Caol Uno in 2003. He held the UFC welterweight title briefly in 2004, submitting Matt Hughes to win the belt.

Not surprisingly, Penn’s next opponent, Sherk - who was stripped of his title after a positive test for nandrolone after a win over Hermes Franca last July – took issue with Penn’s claim to the belt.

“That belt belongs to me,” said Sherk. “(Addressing Penn) You’ve got one more fight before you can be called UFC lightweight champ.”

The packed house of 8,412, which set a box office record of $1.25 million, beating the previous record held by Luciano Pavarotti, roared.

And while that bout will obviously be one that will have its day in front of the world, tonight was all about the world-class effort by Penn and the grit and determination of the 25-year old Stevenson, who gamely battled through a nasty cut suffered in the first round to still give Penn a fight.

It was a fight that almost ended as soon as it began though, as Penn rocked and dropped Stevenson with a right hand that finished his opening barrage of the bout. He immediately looked for an opening on the mat to finish, but Stevenson’s 40 fights of experience kicked in and he got his way out of danger. Penn never stopped working though, and his subsequent ground and pound attack scored points and kept Stevenson from mounting an offensive, and with under two minutes left, it looked like Penn was starting to inch closer to victory. But just when the outlook seemed bleak, Stevenson fought back with strikes from the bottom, letting Penn know that he was still in the fight. This only seemed to wake up Penn, who opened up a nasty cut on his opponent’s forehead with a right elbow moments before the bell rang to end the round.

With blood streaming down his forehead, Stevenson came out with a sense of urgency to begin the second, closing the gap quickly and attempting to land with big shots when inside. The heavy-handed Penn kept his cool, countering Stevenson well and trying to keep him at the end of his punches. After a short break two minutes in for the Octagonside physician to check on Stevenson’s cut, the action resumed and Penn tried to make sure the outcome wouldn’t be decided by anyone but him, and after jarring Stevenson and following him to the mat, he got in the full mount position and began to rain blows on the Californian, who showed the heart of a lion in continuing to battle against the odds. The fight would end shortly thereafter though, as Stevenson gave up his back and Penn sunk in a rear naked choke, producing the tap out and the victory at 4:02 of the second round.

With the win, Penn improves to 13-4-1. Stevenson falls to 33-8.

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