Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva spoke highly about former professional mixed martial artist BJ Penn and called him the greatest MMA fighter he has seen.

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva spoke highly about former professional mixed martial artist BJ Penn and called him the greatest MMA fighter he has seen.

Anderson Silva, who goes by the name of ‘The Spider’, is taking to the boxing ring to fight Vine vlogger and social media personality turned professional boxer, Jake Paul. The Showtime pay-per-view headliner will take place from the Gila River Arena in Arizona. The match will be held on October 29 and it will be contested at 187 pounds over eight three-minute rounds.

Silva, who himself is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in history along with the likes of Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko, and others, has given thought to the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate.

In an interview with Helen Yee Sports, the Brazilian mentioned former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight champion Penn as the greatest of all time. “All right, so. I think BJ Penn is the best MMA fighter I’ve seen a fight in my entire life,” said Anderson Silva in a recent interview with Helen Yee. “I’m a big fan of BJ Penn.” 

Penn isn’t a well-discussed name in MMA and UFC these days given the disappointing latter half of his career. However, older fight fans, such as Silva, still hold him in high regard.

Penn, also known as ‘The Prodigy’ has held both the UFC Lightweight and Welterweight championships and is one of only seven fighters in UFC history to win titles in multiple weight classes. In fact, he was only the second person to accomplish this feat.

Considered one of the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world from the very beginning of his career, he went toe-to-toe with the likes of Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Paul Creighton, and Matt Serra. The 43-year-old is credited with bringing the lower weight divisions into the mainstream of mixed martial arts by UFC supremo Dana White.

Even though he continued to fight well past his prime, which eventually saw several critics and detractors pointing fingers at his eight-fight winless streak between 2011 and 2019, Penn remains as one of the most challenging and most illustrious competitions in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).