In an interview prior to yesterday's world championship bout, Hilo's BJ Penn said half-jokingly: "I only want to be known as the best ever. Is that too much to ask?"

After a convincing victory over California's Joe Stevenson, Penn can now be seriously considered as one of the best ever in the sport of mixed martial arts.

Penn defeated Stevenson by choke submission in the second round to win the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight world title in the main event of the UFC 80: Rapid Fire card at Newcastle, England.

In the process, Penn became just the second fighter to win world championships in two divisions of the prestigious UFC organization.

Yesterday's title came in the 155-pound division; Penn won the welterweight (170 pounds) championship in 2004.

"Joe is a great guy," Penn said. "I knew he was gonna be tough, but I put everything into this. I wanted to make sure it was three times the charm and not three strikes you're out."

Penn had a loss and a draw in two previous attempts to win the lightweight world championship.

Oregon's Randy Couture — who won the heavyweight and light-heavyweight titles — was the first to win UFC world championships in two different divisions.

Penn dominated the action in yesterday's bout, which ended with Stevenson's face covered with blood. Penn set the tone early, dropping Stevenson with a right uppercut.

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

Late in the first round, a right elbow from Penn opened a gruesome gash on Stevenson's forehead.

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

The ringside doctor allowed the bout to continue after checking Stevenson's cut after the first round.

The blood continued to flow down Stevenson's face in the second round, and Penn dropped him again with a left uppercut midway through the round.

Moments later, Penn worked his way to Stevenson's back, and then applied a rear-naked choke. Stevenson tapped out — the signal for submission — 4:02 into the second round.

The bout was scheduled for five five-minute rounds.

Penn, who improved his record to 13-4-1, immediately vowed to defend his title against Sean Sherk. Penn and Stevenson fought for the vacant lightweight title because Sherk was stripped of it after testing positive for steroids.

In a post-fight interview televised internationally on pay-per-view, Penn said: "Sean Sherk, you're dead."

Sherk, who was a guest commentator for the bout, then entered the cage and said, "BJ can talk all the crap he wants ... that belt still belongs to me."

Penn is expected to defend the title against Sherk later this year.

Stevenson dropped to 33-8.

On the undercard, Maui's Kendall Grove lost to Jorge Rivera of Massachusetts by TKO in the first round of a middleweight (185 pounds) bout.

Rivera scored a takedown early in the bout, then unloaded a series of punches. Grove got back to his feet, but then got dropped by a left-hand punch from Rivera.

The referee stopped it, 1:20 into the first round.

Grove, who won The Ultimate Fighter 3 television series, dropped to 10-5 with his second consecutive loss in the UFC. Rivera improved to 15-6.