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Penn wins bloody Ultimate Fighting lightweight belt

BJ Penn of Hawaii, top, pounds his way to victory over a bloodied Joe Stevenson of Nevada during their Ultimate Fighting Championship bout at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England, on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

BJ Penn claimed the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight belt at his third attempt on Saturday, breezing past a bloody Joe Stevenson in the second round.

The Hawaiian mixed martial arts star, who picked up the welterweight title in 2004, joins Randy Couture as the only two-division champions in UFC history after dominating, and finally choking, Stevenson (33-8) to snatch the 155-pound crown.

Stevenson was pummeled from the start in Newcastle, England, with Penn taking just five seconds to land a right uppercut to send the California-native crashing to the mat.

"I thought I would ice him right there, I thought that was it," Penn said. "But he came back stronger."

With chants of "easy" booming around the Metro Arena, Stevenson offered little resistance, with futile elbows.

"I was trying to put him away," Penn said. "He stayed strong and he was punching me real hard from back and punching hard from back.

Penn tried to finish off Stevenson with a flurry of hooks, and a vigorous right elbow at 3.15 drew blood from his hairline.

Penn said the blood assisting in lubricating his arm.

"I was worried the fight was going to be stopped, but didn't want to win like that," he said.

With blood splattered across the octagon, Stevenson -- on the back of a four-win streak -- looked in desperate agony at the start of the second round, but adopted a dogged approach.

The wound partially cleaned up, Penn, who defied the critics who doubted his fitness, was biding his time before landing the fatal blow. Stevenson remained on his feet for 2.40 until he was sent crashing down with a left uppercut.

Both fighters were soaked in blood by the time Penn grabbed Stevenson's neck and he was put out of his misery by tap out owing to a rear naked choke hold at 4.02 in the climax of a brutal beating.

In 2002, Penn lost to Jens Pulver in a five-round bout, and the following year, nothing could separate him from Caol Uno.

Penn (13-4-1) immediately vowed to defend his title against Sean Sherk, who is serving a six-month ban after being stripped of the lightweight belt for a positive steroids test.

"He's not a bad person, there's nothing personal," Penn told reporters. "This is my life, this is my dream and I was just disappointed when all that went down ... he will be back stronger than ever."

That bout is likely to take place in Las Vegas in May.
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