VIDEO | BJ Penn vs. Lyoto Machida

VIDEO | BJ Penn vs. Lyoto Machida

In March of 2005, our namesake BJ Penn took on future UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida under the K1 fight banner in Saitama, Japan.

The fight took place at an open weight class with Penn weighing in at 191 pounds and “The Dragon” weighing in at 225 pounds.

The Machida vs. Penn bout went the distance and after fifteen minutes of action Machida was awarded the unanimous decision victory from the judges in attendance.

BJ had some great moments in the fight, especially in the first-round, where he rocked Lyoto with a left hand followed by a hard right hook and eventually took the fight to the floor.

Unfortunately for Penn fans, Machida was able to utilize his size in the latter portion of the fight on route to the decision win.

Penn would go 3-1 while fighting under the K1 banner, scoring victories over Duane Ludwig, Rodrigo Gracie and Renzo Gracie respectively.

The former UFC welterweight champion, Penn, would return to the promotions octagon in March of 2006 where he lost a controversial split-decision to future welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre.

“The Prodigy” would eventually go on to capture the UFC’s coveted lightweight title by submitting Joe Stevenson at UFC 80, becoming only the second fighter in the promotions history to have won belts in two different weight classes.

Penn would go on to defend his UFC lightweight title on three occasions, scoring finishes over Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez.

BJ would eventually surrender his title to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, dropping a razor close decision to “The Answer”.

As for Lyoto Machida, the Brazilian karate specialist would make his octagon debut UFC 67 in February of 2007 where he earned a unanimous decision victory over Sam Hoger.

After scoring five more victories in a row, the then undefeated Machida would earn a shot at Rashad Evans for the UFC’s light heavyweight championship.

Lyoto made good on his title shot knocking out Evans in the second-round of their main event fight at UFC 98.

Machida would eventually lose his strap to “Shogun” Rua at UFC 113 in Montreal via first-round knockout.

BJ Penn will return to the UFC octagon this June in Oklahoma where he will square off with fellow veteran Dennis Siver in a featherweight bout.