B.J. Penn

	Name	B.J. Penn
	Nickname	The Prodigy
	Association	BJ Penn's MMA
	Weight Class	Welterweight (170 lbs.) / Lightweight (155 lbs.)
	Height	5' 9" (175 cm)
	Style	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / Boxing
	Birth Date	December 13, 1978
	Fighting Out Of	Hilo, Hawaii, USA
	Country	USA
	B.J. Penn Pictures	Penn's Official Site

Jay Dee "B.J." Penn, best known as, B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn, is a Hawaiian-American mixed martial artist and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who is the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Champion.

In 2000, he became the first American-born winner of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black-belt category. Penn is also a former UFC Welterweight Champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5: Team Penn vs. Team Pulver reality show on SpikeTV. He became the second fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, after he won the Lightweight title at UFC 80: Rapid Fire, by defeating Joe Stevenson.

Penn has only lost five times in his entire mixed martial arts career, all to top-tier opponents. His losses are to former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver, current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida (who weighed substantially more than Penn), former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, and twice to current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.

Professional Record

Record	16 - 9 - 2 (Win – Loss – Draw)
Wins	7 (T)KOs 6 Submissions 3 Decisions
Losses	2 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 7 Decisions

Result	Opponent	Method	Event Title	Date	Round	Time	Notes
Loss	Rory MacDonald	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC on FOX 5: Henderson vs. Diaz	12/8/2012	3	5:00
Loss	Nick Diaz	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz	10/29/2011	3	5:00	Won Fight of the Night
Draw	Jon Fitch	Draw (Majority)	UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch	2/27/2011	3	5:00
Win	Matt Hughes	KO (Punches)	UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida	11/20/2010	1	0:21	Won Knockout of the Night Honors
Loss	Frank Edgar	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2	8/28/2010	5	5:00	For UFC Lightweight Championship
Loss	Frank Edgar	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 112: Invincible	4/10/2010	5	5:00	Lost UFC Lightweight Championship
Win	Diego Sanchez	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez	12/12/2009	5	2:37	Defended UFC Lightweight Championship
Win	Kenny Florian	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	UFC 101: Declaration	8/08/2009	4	3:54	Defended UFC Lightweight Championship; Won Submission of the Night Honors
Loss	Georges St. Pierre	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2	1/31/2009	4	5:00	For the UFC Welterweight Championship; Penn challenged the outcome with the NSAC due to believed "Greasing" by St. Pierre
Win	Sean Sherk	TKO (Knee and Punches)	UFC 84: Ill Will	5/24/2008	3	5:00	Defended UFC Lightweight Championship
Win	Joe Stevenson	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	UFC 80: Rapid Fire	1/19/2008	2	4:02	Won vacant UFC Lightweight Championship
Win	Jens Pulver	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale	6/23/2007	2	3:12	Avenged first career loss
Loss	Matt Hughes	TKO (Punches)	UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn	9/23/2006	3	3:53	For UFC Welterweight Championship (replaced injured number one contender Georges St. Pierre)
Loss	Georges St. Pierre	Decision (Split)	UFC 58: USA vs. Canada	3/04/2006	3	5:00	For the number one contender spot in the UFC Welterweight division
Win	Renzo Gracie	Decision (Unanimous)	K-1: World Grand Prix Hawaii	7/29/2005	3	5:00	Bout was at Middleweight (185 lbs.)
Loss	Lyoto Machida	Decision (Unanimous)	K-1: Hero's 1	3/26/2005	3	5:00	Open-weight bout; Penn weighed in at circa 187 lbs. while Machida fought at his natural weight of circa 215
Win	Rodrigo Gracie	Decision (Unanimous)	ROTR 6: Rumble on the Rock 6	11/20/2004	3	5:00	Bout was at Middleweight (185 lbs.)
Win	Duane Ludwig	Submission (Arm Triangle Choke)	K-1 MMA: ROMANEX	5/22/2004	1	1:45	Welterweight bout
Win	Matt Hughes	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	UFC 46: Supernatural	1/31/2004	1	4:39	Won UFC Welterweight Championship; Stripped of his title when he signed with K-1
Win	Takanori Gomi	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	ROTR 4: Rumble on the Rock 4	10/10/2003	3	2:35	Won Rumble on the Rock Lightweight Championship
Draw	Caol Uno	Draw	UFC 41: Onslaught	2/28/2003	5	5:00	Final round of 4-man UFC Lightweight Championship tournament
Win	Matt Serra	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 39: The Warriors Return	9/27/2002	3	5:00	First round of 4-man UFC Lightweight Championship tournament
Win	Paul Creighton	TKO (Punches)	UFC 37: High Impact	5/10/2002	2	3:23
Loss	Jens Pulver	Decision (Majority)	UFC 35: Throwdown	1/11/2002	5	5:00	For UFC Lightweight Championship
Win	Caol Uno	KO (Punches)	UFC 34: High Voltage	11/02/2001	1	0:11
Win	Din Thomas	TKO (Knee and Punches)	UFC 32: Showdown in the Meadowlands	6/29/2001	1	2:42
Win	Joey Gilbert	TKO (Punches)	UFC 31: Locked & Loaded	5/04/2001	1	4:57

Mixed Martial Arts Career

Martial Arts Background

At the age of seventeen, Penn began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after being introduced to it by his neighbor, Tom Callos. Callos had put up fliers in local gyms looking for people to train with, and BJ's father Jay Dee Penn had rung Callos and said his boys were interested. Callos then taught BJ and his brother what he knew.

In 1997 Penn began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ralph Gracie (brother to Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie), eventually earning his purple belt from Gracie. At that point he moved to Nova Uniao where he was eventually awarded his black belt in 2000 by Andre Pederneiras. A few weeks later he became the first non-Brazilian to win the black-belt division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While most people need a decade or more to become a black belt, Penn had, with only three years of training, not only received a black belt but defeated people who had been training their entire lives on his way to winning the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

First UFC Career

His accomplishments in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship caught the attention of Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) who convinced him to move to MMA. Penn made his mixed martial arts debut with the company on May 24, 2001 with a win over Joey Gilbert at UFC 31: Locked & Loaded. He then demonstrated strong striking skills, knocking out Lightweights Din Thomas and Caol Uno before suffering a decision loss in a championship fight against UFC Lightweight Champion, Jens Pulver. In 2003, after Pulver left the UFC and relinquished his title, a tournament to crown a new Lightweight Champion flopped when Penn fought Caol Uno to a draw in the finals at UFC 41: Onslaught, a failure which caused the UFC to later suspend its lightweight division. Penn bounced back later in the year with a victory over Takanori Gomi, future PRIDE Fighting Championship Lightweight Champion, in Rumble on the Rock, an MMA organization promoted by Penn's brother. The win earned him the promotion's Lightweight title.

Penn recieved his first UFC Championship in 2004 at UFC 46: Supernatural. Penn jumped up a weight class to challenge the five-time defending UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes to fill a title contention slot in a division where Hughes had already defeated all the available opposition. Heavily favored to win, Hughes lost the fight four minutes into the first round by Rear Naked Choke after giving up his back with only 23 seconds left in the round.

Fighting for FEG

Shortly after defeating Hughes, Penn signed to fight for the Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group's (FEG) K-1 promotion, citing a lack of challenging fights left for him in the UFC. The UFC promptly stripped him of his Welterweight title, claiming Penn breached his contract and that the signing constituted him refusing to defend his title. Penn filed a suit against the UFC and publicized his side of the conflict, claiming his UFC contract had already expired. Penn filed a motion to stop the UFC from awarding a new welterweight title, but that motion was denied.

In his first fight for FEG, Penn fought again at Welterweight (170 lbs.) and defeated Duane Ludwig at the 2004 K-1 MMA: ROMANEX show in under five minutes by Arm Triangle Choke. Following the Ludwig fight, Penn moved up in weight class to face the undefeated Rodrigo Gracie at Middleweight (185 lbs.). Penn won by decision, extending his winning streak to four fights.

On March 26, 2005, at the inaugural event of FEG's new MMA promotion Hero's, Penn faced future UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida, losing by unanimous decision at K-1: Hero's 1. The fight happened at an open weight class, which led to Penn being extremely under-weight compared to his opponent. Later that year at K-1: World Grand Prix Hawaii, Penn returned to Middleweight to face Renzo Gracie and won by unanimous decision.

Return to the UFC

In early 2006 at UFC 56: Full Force, UFC president Dana White announced that Penn and the UFC had agreed to a settlement and Penn was to return as a top Welterweight contender. Penn re-debuted on March 4 at UFC 58: USA vs. Canada, losing to Georges St. Pierre by split decision in a fight that determined the number one welterweight contender.

After new top contender St. Pierre injured himself during training, the UFC announced that Penn would replace St. Pierre in an upcoming title fight, setting up a highly anticipated rematch with Matt Hughes for UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn on September 23, 2006. In the bout Penn controlled the first two rounds, but sustained a rib injury during the scramble to take Hughes' back in round two. He was visibly different in the third round, appearing exhausted and missing punches he was landing earlier. Hughes was able to take Penn to the mat, and in side control crucifix position rained punches on Penn's head until referee "Big" John McCarthy stopped the fight at 3:53 of the third round, making this the first time that Penn had been stopped in a fight. In an interview found on Penn's personal website, Penn stated that by round three he could hardly breathe and had no "mobility in his core." Despite the injury, Penn congratulated Hughes, calling him a great fighter and saying he deserved the victory.

Penn was next a coach for The Ultimate Fighter 5: Team Penn vs. Team Pulver, which aired on April 5, 2007. Penn lead a team of eight lightweight fighters, and fought a rematch against Jens Pulver at the conclusion of the series on June 23, 2007. He won with a rear naked choke in the second round after controlling Pulver from the mount and then taking Pulver's back. Although he held the choke for a moment after Pulver tapped out, the two then embraced, with both later saying they no longer held any ill will against each other.

On July 7, 2007, during the post-fight press conference of UFC 73: Stacked, UFC president Dana White announced that Penn would stay at lightweight to fight current UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk. However, Sherk subsequently was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission, and the status of the possible title fight was left in limbo as he pursued his appeals. With Sherk's title status still in limbo after months of hearings, the UFC scheduled Penn to fight Joe Stevenson at UFC 80: Rapid Fire on January 19, 2008 for an interim lightweight title. The subsequent final decision by the California State Athletic Commission, which did not overturn Sherk's suspension, led to the title being stripped from Sherk and the Penn-Stevenson fight being upgraded to a full title bout, with the winner facing Sherk in their first defense.

Reign as Lightweight Champion

Penn defeated former Champion Sean Sherk.

Penn knocked Joe Stevenson down seconds into the first round with a right uppercut, then took Stevenson down, eventually inflicting a serious cut near Stevenson's hairline. In the second round, Stevenson fought more aggressively but was still unable to threaten Penn. Penn worked to back mount and defeated him by rear naked choke at 4:02 of the second round to win the UFC Lightweight Championship. He celebrated the win by licking Joe Stevenson's blood off of his gloves. With this win, Penn became the second man (after Randy Couture) to win UFC titles in two different weight classes.

On May 24, 2008 at UFC 84: Ill Will at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Penn fought former champion Sean Sherk in his first title defense bout. Sherk attempted to take Penn down only once (in the first round), instead the fighters traded punches and leg kicks for the remainder of the fight. Penn landed jabs several times, utilizing his reach advantage over Sherk. In the closing seconds of the third round, Penn threw a punch and a hook that backed Sherk into the cage. Sherk then ducked under another punch, when he was hit in the head by a left knee from Penn. Sherk went down and Penn continued with strikes, but the round ended before the referee stopped the fight. However, Sherk was unable to continue and Penn was declared the victor by TKO (Strikes). After the fight, in response to a question by Joe Rogan about his future, Penn asked the crowd if they wanted to see him fight Georges St. Pierre and was answered with a loud ovation. Later, Penn told Fighters Club TV that he would face the winner of UFC 87: Seek and Destroy Welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, which St-Pierre ended up winning by unanimous decision. St-Pierre's victory led to the scheduling of BJ's next fight as a Welterweight Championship fight.

Challenge for the Welterweight Title

Penn challenged Georges St. Pierre for St. Pierre's welterweight title on January 31, 2009, the night before the Super Bowl. The date led UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2 to be billed as the the "UFC Super Bowl Weekend," and it was anticipated to be the biggest UFC pay-per-view event ever. Before the fight with St-Pierre, Penn made a controversial comment that he was going to try and kill St-Pierre in the ring, but he later explained that he was speaking figuratively.

The first round of the fight was somewhat even, with Penn exercising elusive head movement, fast hands, and good take-down defense while St-Pierre preferred to grapple. In the ensuing three rounds, however, Penn turned out a lackluster performance. St. Pierre scored his first take-down of the night midway through the second round, and by the end of the round Penn was visibly tired. At the start of round three, St-Pierre landed a "superman punch" that bloodied Penn's nose and shortly took Penn down again. From that point on, St. Pierre took Penn down almost at will, repeatedly passed Penn's renowned guard, and persistently punished the Hawaiian with a ground-and-pound attack. Penn later admitted that he couldnt recall anything that happened during the 3rd and 4th rounds because "I was probably borderline knocked out or something." At the end of the fourth round, after more of St. Pierre's ground-and-pound onslaught, Penn's brother requested that the referee stop the fight. After the fight, Penn failed to attend the post-fight press conference due to having stayed in the hospital. Subsequently in an interview he revealed that had he won, he would have retired "on top", while holding the lightweight and the welterweight belts.

A controversy arose during the fight as St. Pierre's corner-men were spotted rubbing St-Pierre's back immediately after applying Vaseline to his face. Members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) came into the octagon and wiped St-Pierre's torso down, though no significant amounts of Vaseline were discovered. Immediately after the fight, on ESPN's MMA show, St. Pierre claimed that the rubbing was part of a routine to line up his energy for improved breathing, and he apologized for any Vaseline that may have been transferred to his body. Penn, however, sent a formal request to the NSAC, asking them to investigate.

In response to the incident, the rules of the UFC were been modified so that only the official "cut" men will be allowed to have or apply Vaseline to the fighters. The procedures governing the transition from the fighters walk-in to the cage and while in the cage have been changed. Previously fighters would walk into the cage, see the cut-men who would apply Vaseline, have an opportunity to speak with their coaches or cornermen, and then have the referee check them before entering the cage. To prevent an opportunity for the fighters to have Vaseline applied, fighters now must part from any company, see the cut-men, and then go directly to the referee and the cage. Finally, no cornermen will be allowed to have Vaseline in the cage between rounds. In this way, the fighters contact with Vaseline is fully controlled by the cut-men and referee, who work independently for the UFC.

UFC President Dana White said that the incident had no effect on the outcome of the fight although he wished the incident had not happened. St. Pierre responded to the allegations by offering to fight a rematch against Penn. In his first post-fight interview Penn spoke of his belief that if St. Pierre were found to have been "greased" that he would lose all respect for him, while admitting that "I definitely got my butt kicked. I hate to say that." He also claims that before the match he warned the NSAC that St-Pierre might use grease intentionally. He also went on record as accepting the offer for a re-match. However St. Pierre and Penn each had a championship to defend before a rematch could occur. Accordingly, Penn began negotiations to fight Kenny Florian in the summer of 2009.

Return to Defend Lightweight Title

Penn would defend his title against Kenny Florian at UFC 101: Declaration on August 9, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn looked in noticebly better physical shape than his previous outings at 155 lbs., and negated any sort of takedown offence from Florian the entire match despite his opponent's persistence in grappling and engaging the clinch. On his feet Penn avoiding almost any damage, constantly stuffing or evading any attempts of a left high kick, punches, or elbows from Florian when the two departed from the clinch. In a measured performance, Penn preferred to pace himself on the feet, avoiding any damage and occasionaly showing explosive bursts of striking up until the fourth round, where he executed a takedown and quickly assumed the half guard position, punishing the contender with elbows untill gaining the full mount, where punches followed to continue the ground and pound assault from the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist. A scramble ensued, where Florian gave up his back twice but was unable to escape Penn's mount, the second time Penn took his opponent's back, where he looked to trap Florian's arm with one of his legs (a trademark and a testament to his flexibility; he used this technique to finish former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulverin their second meeting), but was unable to do so, instead striking the body of Florian with his heel. He eventually secured a Rear Naked Choke at 3:54 of the fourth round, to round off a masterful perfomance and defence of his championship. The submission awarded him the Submission of the Night Honors.

Facing off against title challenger Diego Sanchez.

Soon after his successful title defense, it was learned that Penn would defend his title against former Middleweight and Welterweight Diego Sanchez, who recently moved to Lightweight, where he was on a two-fight win streak, defeating Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida to earn the #1 Contender spot. The bout took place December 12, 2009 at UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez. In another measured performance, Penn negated virtually any offense from the contender, exercising good footwork and elusive head movement whilst remaining flawless with his takedown defence on several attempts from Sanchez. He stalked his opponent for large periods of the match, and stunned Sanchez early, dropping him; following up with multiple clean shots, which Sanchez showed good durability in weathering.

Penn, showing good conditioning for the duration of the bout, continued to stuff all takedowns, punches and left high kicks from Sanchez, and dominated with aggressive bursts of superior striking throughout. He hurt Sanchez multiple times, until finally rocking him with a flurry in the final round, swarming to finish the combo with a rare right high kick. The kick opened up a huge cut on Sanchez's forehead, causing the fight to be halted on doctor's advice at 2:47 of the fifth round with a TKO. The impervious performance marked the third occasion Penn had successfully finished a fight in defending his UFC Lightweight Championship.

Though Dana White went on record to say he was not against Penn returning to compete at Welterweight after such a dominant performance over Diego Sanchez, he said he would rather Penn defend his title a few more times and even then, White would not give him an immediate title shot, but would give him tune-up fights at Welterweight.

Losing the Title and Re-match

At the time of his win over Sanchez, there were two names floating around as the next possible title challengers; Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar. Edgar had been showing quite dominant performances in his last three outings, after dropping a decision to Maynard back in 2008. Maynard, on the other hand, earned a lackluster Decision (Split) over Nate Diaz on January 11, 2010 at UFC Fight Night 20, making the title picture a bit clearer. Only a day after Maynard defeated Diaz, it was announced that Edgar would be the next opponent to challenge Penn's Lightweight title. The bout took place at UFC 112: Invincible in Abu Dhabi.

With Penn sporting a knee brace that left questions regarding his fitness heading into the fight, the former champion looked uninterested in working the fight to the ground. In fact, the two times the fight did hit the floor, albeit momentarily, were at Edgar's choosing. Penn countered well on the feet and seemed to be landing the more powerful shots in the early stages of the fight. But Penn's nemesis, conditioning, looked to play a role in the final three rounds while Edgar only improved as time went on. The action stayed tight throughout, and scoring the fight at times seemed reminiscent of the challenges presented by Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's October 2009 bout. But in the end, though all three judges delivered different scores, they reached one conclusion: Edgar had unseated one of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters. Edgar won the UFC Lightweight Championship with a Decision (Unanimous).

Penn and his camp came forward stating that the fighter was not at full potential for the fight with Edgar due to sinus problems and that he took anti-botics that weakend him.

With the win, there were numerous rumors about who Edgar's first title defense would be against. It was a possibility that Penn could get an immediate re-match, but Gray Maynard's name was also in the mix, as he was still the only fighter to hand Edgar a loss, and was in title contention. In the end, Penn was given an immediate re-match at Edgar, and the chance to regain his title, and Maynard was scheduled against Kenny Florian in a #1 contender matchup.

The re-match with Frankie Edgar took place on August 27, 2010 at UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2. Edgar picked up where he left off in April and continued battering the Hawaiian with strikes from all angles. He really set the tone early, though, with a cage-rattling slam-takedown. Fearing additional trips to the mat, Penn became a bit flatfooted, and Edgar moved in and out with punches and kicks from all angles. Though Penn attempted his own offense, including takedown attempts, it was ultimately Edgar dominating the fight, earning a Decision (Unanimous) on all the judges scorecards to retain his title.

"Frankie fought a great fight," said Penn, who's unsure if he'll remain at lightweight or try his luck at 170 pounds. "He fought me twice, and he walked away with a decision twice. What can I say?"

Film Career

Penn appeared in the film "Never Surrender" which was released by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2009.

Personal Life

His nickname "B.J." is a shortened version of another nickname "Baby Jay", which itself derives from the fact that Penn is the youngest of his brothers all named "Jay Dee Penn". BJ's father, who is Irish and English, named 3 of his 4 children "Jay Dee", while the fourth is named Reagan. In order to avoid confusion each of the sons named "Jay Dee" goes by a nicknames "Jay", "Jay Dee", and "Baby Jay". Penn's mother, Lorraine Shin, is a 3rd generation Korean-American.

Penn takes much pride in his Hawaiian heritage, his trainer Rudy Valentino had stated once that Penn played Hawaiian music during his entrances as a tribute to it. Penn has also stated that he identifies strongly with his Korean roots and has traveled to Korea to hold seminars. He also said that he gets his hot temper from his Korean side which helps him use this energy in his fights.

Penn's girlfriend, Shealen Uaiwa, gave birth to their daughter, Aeva Lili'u, in October 25, 2008.

B.J. Penn is the co-author of "Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge", an instructional book on mixed martial arts fighting.

Legal Troubles

B.J. Penn was arrested on May 8, 2005 outside a nightclub in Waikiki, Honolulu after he allegedly hit a police officer. Penn was among a crowd outside the club when he grabbed the officer and struck his face. According to his lawyer, Penn was trying to retrieve his brother from the fracas and shoved someone to his side to get into the crowd, who turned out to be the policeman. Penn plead no contest to the charges in August 2007, and received one year of probation on December 11, 2007

Ranks and Titles

• Former UFC Lightweight Champion (Won vacant title by defeating Joe Stevenson)
• Former UFC World Welterweight Champion (Won title by defeating Matt Hughes)
• Former Rumble on the Rock Lightweight Champion (Won title by defeating Takanori Gomi)
• Most decorated jiu-jitsu athlete in America
• First non-Brazilian to win the world championships at the black belt level
• Received Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from Andre Pederneiras

Jiu-Jitsu Career Highlights

• May 1997 - Enters first tournament in Bakersfield, CA and wins both his weight and the open weight class.
• June 1997 - Enters the Joe Moreira tournament as a blue belt winning his weight class.
• June 1997 - Wins submission grappling tournament
• 1997 - Receives blue belt from Ralph Gracie
• 1997 - Enters Brasileiro and places 4th in his weight class, blue belt category
• 1997 - Continues to enter tournaments upon return from Brazil placing first consistently
• 1998 - Silver medal at Brazilian Mundials competition in his weight division; receives purple belt upon return
• 1999 - Bronze medal at Brazilian Mundials in heavier weight class as a newly promoted Nova Uniao brown belt.
• 1999 - Gold medal, Copa Pacifica Tournament in Los Angeles, California
• 1999 - Receives Black belt from Andre Pederneiras just 3 weeks before the 2000 Mundials
• 1999 - Joins Nova Uniao Competition Team (reserved for the four top team competitors)
• 2000 - First non-Brazilian to win gold medal in black belt division of the Mundial World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.