PHILADELPHIA — Here in the Cradle of Liberty, just a few blocks from where our nation was born, two of the biggest little men from the 50th State took center stage yesterday.

But both Hilo's BJ Penn and Maui's Shane Victorino have learned one thing this tumultuous year in which Hawai'i's other favorite native son, Barack Obama, now runs the country.

Hawai'i athletes are making their presence felt everywhere.

"It's so amazing,'' said Penn, who will be putting his UFC lightweight world title on the line against Boston's Kenny Florian Saturday night at the Wachovia Center in the main event of UFC 101: Declaration.

"With Barack Obama, Shane Victorino, (decathlete) Bryan Clay and Michelle Wie, I'm just blown away.

"It's very important for us to represent Hawai'i. It's great to have so many doing well from such a small place.''

And they stick together, which is why Victorino made it a point to stop by the makeshift gym where the fighters were working out to wish Penn well.

"I met him on a couple of occasions,'' said Victorino, who plans to attend the fight — assuming the Phillies game with Florida that night is over in time.

"When you come from a place like Hawai'i, being a fan who understands what that sport is about, it's exciting to see what BJ has done.''

Victorino, who lives in Las Vegas — where UFC is headquartered — during the off-season, has been following the sport for nearly a decade. He takes exception to those who ridicule mixed martial arts, calling it "human dog fighting."

In the Flyin' Hawaiian's mind, what Penn and fellow Islanders Kendall Grove and "Sugar" Shane Nelson —who will fight on Saturday's undercard against Ricardo Almeida and Aaron Riley, respectively — do is much more difficult than people think.

"This sport has evolved,'' said Victorino, the National League's eighth leading hitter at .317. "It's definitely gone to a different level since I've been following it.

"There are big misconceptions about what this sport is about. It's frustrating, being an athlete myself and knowing how hard they train. People hear about the sport and think it's no holds barred. They don't understand it at all."

That aside, Victorino says it's not by accident that Hawai'i athletes have become so proficient at mixed martial arts.

"I think it's become the No. 1 sport in Hawai'i because of the way Hawaiian people are,'' said Victorino, who likely won't have the 30-year-old Penn come out to the ballpark this week to cheer him, since it would disrupt his training regimen. "We have a hot temper and this sport brings out that side of us.

"To have all the Hawaiians on the card makes me feel proud. Now we have people in baseball (Victorino, Kurt Suzuki, Brandon League, Tyler Yates), football (Olin Kreutz, etc.) and this (MMA). And having the No. 1 man in the world (Obama) being from Hawai'i is special.''

Both Nelson and Grove support Victorino's thinking, feeling their aggressive upbringing made MMA the perfect sport.

"I think fighting is in our culture,'' said the 6-foot-6, 185-pound Grove, who grew up just down the road from Victorino in Maui.

"We learned to settle things with our fists.

"When this sport came along it made sense to try it."

And both of them credit Penn as their role model.

"He's my hero,'' said Nelson, matter of factly. "BJ gave me respect.

"If there was no BJ Penn there probably wouldn't be a Shane where he is now.''

So when Penn steps into the octagon Saturday night (around 4 p.m. Hawai'i time) he'll be fighting for more than just a championship belt.

He'll also be carrying the banner for the breathless following back home, where he hasn't been for two months while honing his body into top condition.

"The previous fight (a loss to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre) I got my butt kicked,'' said Penn, 13-5-1 for his career. "Now I want to get back to form, go out and defend my title."

And in the process chalk up yet another success story for Hawai'i.