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Like the majority of autobiographies on the market today, this one starts off with a look at the somewhat crazy childhood of the former UFC Lightweight Champion. BJ Penn goes into great detail about being raised with practically little rules and how that affected him even into adulthood. This is a theme that the author uses for the majority of the book and it describes the fighters psyche as he entered combat sports.
However, one thing that truly sticks out early in the book is when BJ Penn talks about how he and his friends got into tons of fights, both on the streets of Hilo, Hawaii and even in his very own backyard. Initially, BJ Penn talks about how these actions were just about proving who was the toughest and later in the book, it shows how it helped him later in his professional fighting career.
The next portion of the book starts with BJ Penn discussing his start in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by training with a local trainer in Hawaii. The book quickly delves into how BJ Penn was brought to California to work with the world famous Ralph Gracie. It was shortly after moving to California that the future UFC champion would start dominating the local BJJ scene.
BJ Penn then discusses his desire to win the monumental Mundials in Brazil, which affected his mental state in that he never ever thought about anything else other than BJJ. The moment finally happened as BJ Penn would finally go onto win the prestigious tournament, following a nasty split from his former mentor Ralph Gracie.
The nasty split with Ralph Gracie would come after BJ Penn would start training outside of the famed school with other BJJ and MMA schools. The split from Ralph Gracie would cause a still standing feud between BJ Penn and various members of the famous Gracie Family. During his professional MMA career, BJ Penn would wind up fighting and defeating two members of that family.
After reaching the pinnacle of BJJ, BJ Penn would then venture into the world or professional MMA and most notably, the UFC. BJ Penn also gives a great account of how his training camps would be profoundly changed based on the groups acclimation to the growing sport. During his early days in MMA, BJ Penn would talk about training with Lorenzo Fertita and Dana White in Las Vegas.
BJ Penn would then discuss his first run in the UFC, notably how the promotion has changed from the early days until its current rendition. BJ Penn also gives an interesting story about his first UFC Lightweight Title fight, losing to Jens Pulver by submission. The author then talks about being given a chance to move up to the welterweight division to challenge Matt Hughes for the UFC Welterweight Title.
BJ Penn would wind up defeating the UFC Hall Of Famer for the gold, but his nightmare with the UFC would begin after this. Based on his desire to fight others outside the UFC, whom were signed at the time, BJ Penn would leave the promotion. A subsequent legal battle between the embattled fighter and his former promotion would go on for a few years.
Foregoing a longer legal situation, BJ Penn would return to the promotion and his rivalry with Georges St. Pierre would begin. Most notably, BJ Penn would go into great detail about the “Grease-Gate†issue that arose following his UFC 94 loss to the UFC Welterweight Champion. BJ Penn would then get into his fight with Kenny Florian at UFC 101, which is where the autobiography comes to a close.
You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
