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WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii, the premier sports capital of the Pacific, is proud to recognize those select individuals who manifest their God-given talents to exemplify sportsmanship, grace, and goodwill to the people of the State and to the world; and

WHEREAS, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was started in 1993 as a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization offering the premier series of MMA sports events, and in 2001, completely restructured MMA into a highly organized and controlled combat sport with programs offered through cable and satellite providers and distributed throughout the world, including broadcasts on Viewer's Choice in Canada, MAIN EVENT in Australia, Globosat in Brazil, and Setanta and Bravo in the United Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, ultimate fighting is a proprietary term of the UFC and is defined as mixed martial arts competition between high level professional fighters who utilize the disciplines of jiu-jitsu, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and other forms in UFC live events; and

WHEREAS, born in 1978 in Kailua, Oahu, and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, B.J. PENN's mixed martial arts training began at the age of 17 when his neighbor, Tom Callos, initiated him into the technique of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and subsequently introduced him to Ralph Gracie, one of the great Brazilian martial artists and scion of the internationally famous Gracie Family dynasty that owns and operates martial arts academies across the United States and internationally; and

WHEREAS, to further his jiu-jitsu training, B.J. PENN relocated to Mountain View, California in 1997 and studied under Ralph Gracie, completing the phenomenal achievement of earning his black belt status in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in just three years time, and in 2000, just days after earning his black belt, won a gold medal at the Mundial World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for which he merited his nickname of "The Prodigy"; and

WHEREAS, B.J. PENN's accomplishments, skills, and determination caught the attention of the UFC where he launched his MMA career in 2001 and quickly became the number one lightweight contender leading up to his crowning achievement in 2004 at UFC 46 when he challenged the heavily favored five-time defending UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes and soundly won the championship when he applied a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu hold that forced Hughes to submit and relinquish his title just four minutes into the first round; and

WHEREAS, from 2004 to 2005, B.J. PENN left the UFC and entered to fight in the K-1 organization, an organization which combines stand-up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San shou, Kickboxing, and traditional Boxing to determine the single best stand-up fighter in the world, where he competed in welterweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight levels, winning all but one of his matches; and

WHEREAS, in early 2006, B.J. PENN returned to the UFC as a top welterweight contender and rededicated himself to earning an opportunity to compete in the lightweight championship; and

WHEREAS, in a lightweight title bout with Joe Stevenson in January 2008, B.J. PENN defeated his opponent with a rear naked choke at 4:02 of the second round to win the UFC Lightweight Championship, making him the second man (after Randy Couture) to win UFC titles in two different weight classes; and

WHEREAS, over and above being a champion sportsman, B.J. PENN is a perceptive businessman who emulates strong work ethics modeled after parents JD Penn and Lorraine Shin, as he owns a successful on-line store at BJPENN.COM that sells apparel, books, DVDs, and headwear and offers non-stop martial arts entertainment and instruction, and also operates an MMA academy in Hilo with his brothers, Jay, Jaydee, Reagan, and Kalani; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that this body hereby commends and congratulates B.J. PENN for his tremendous achievements as the UFC Lightweight Champion, Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter in the World, Former UFC Welterweight Champion, and First Non-Brazilian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt World Champion, and extends to him its warmest aloha and best wishes for continued success in his quest to be the best fighter that ever lived.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

B.J. Penn

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	312
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII