10 MMA Champions Who Held World Titles Elsewhere
4. B.J. Penn (BJJ World Champion)
B.J. Penn holds the record for the most successful title defences in the history of the UFC Lightweight Division. When you see how competitive the current crop of talent is in that weight class, you understand just how impressive a feat that is to have on your CV.
Before he became the second of only five fighters to hold titles in different divisions of the UFC (Welterweight and Lightweight), Penn was competing on the global Jiu-Jitsu scene.
In 1998 he found himself with a silver medal at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, only to slip to bronze in 1999. The now 5th degree Black belt didn't let this hamper his passion for Jiu-Jitsu and returned at the turn of the century to win gold at the Championships and became the first American to do so in the process.
Now a UFC Hall of Famer, Penn has earned his right to be in the conversation of best ever to step into Dana White's organization.
It is therefore a shame to see that Penn was released in September of 2019 due to a video of him fighting Patrons in a bar in Hawaii. Hopefully idiotic incidents like this won't cloud the career of one of UFC's all time greats.