PHILADELPHIA — BJ Penn will be the first to say this wasn't any Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel or Da Vinci's immortalizing Mona Lisa.

But the bottom line is what counts. And the bottom line coming from the announcer inside the Octagon at 3:54 of the fourth round said it all.

"Winner and still lightweight champion of the UFC, Beeeee Jayyyy Pennnnn."

"I woke up this morning saying to myself, 'I've been in this for nine years. What the hell am I doing?' " Penn admitted to a packed house inside the Wachovia Center and a pay-per-view audience moments after he wore down a game but overmatched challenger, Kenny Florian. "But then I realized this has been my dream as a kid.

"To come out and live my dream — and be a UFC champion," Penn added.

Not to mention a national hero back home in Hilo.

"I love the fans! I love Hawai'i!" said Penn, whose next title defense could be against Diego Sanchez.

"It's good to be taking the belt back to Hawai'i I've gotten a lot of flak the last couple of months (since losing to Georges St-Pierre)," Penn added. "But now Hawai'i has a champion. That makes me happy.''

The love affair here thousands of miles from home was just as strong, despite the fact that Florian grew up just a few hundred miles from here in Boston, not half a world away. Going for the upset in his first title shot since October, 2006, the 33-year-old Florian tried to take it to the champ.

But he never really came close. On the other hand, Penn seemed content to bide his time, letting his three years older opponent flail away and sap his energy. Only on occasion in the first few rounds did the 30-year-old Penn force the issue.

That's when he got the cue from his corner to go for broke. "I didn't want to go for it too quickly and take a chance of tiring myself out," Penn explained, moments after UFC Commissioner Dana White announced he'd won "Submission of the Night" for the first time in his career, which will add $60,000 to his winnings. "It worked out well for me.

"My brother, JD, after the third round gave me the word to look for an opening," Penn added. "I was able to get a clean takedown.

"After losing last time it was very important to come back like this," Penn said. "I'm not used to going places and hearing fans boo me. I wanted to show the fans I am a fighter."

Mission accomplished.

"Kenny was confident and stayed strong the whole fight," said Penn, who was cheered on by a crowd that included Maui native and recent National League all-star Shane Victorino of the hometown Phillies. "Our game plan was to take away his kicks and fight him elbow-to-elbow. We had a feeling he was going to try to kick us all night long."

But Florian never mounted much of a charge, though he was able to hold off Penn for over 15 minutes. Late in the first round Penn landed a quick right that seemed to stagger Florian. But the challenger recovered to make it to the horn.

In the second round Florian tried to counterattack, driving Penn into the cage. But Penn tied him up to prevent any serious damage.

Their cat-and-mouse waiting game continued in the third round, drawing a chorus of boos from the crowd craving action. Hours earlier those fans had made their feeling known that this kind of fighting was unacceptable, booing Jesse Lennox and Danillo Villefort just 11 seconds into the first bout of the night.

Few could've suspected at this point the end was near.

But it became apparent early in what proved to be the final round Florian was exhausted. After spending the first three rounds mostly on his feet, Penn finally got some leverage, lifted Florian off the canvas and threw him to the ground with Penn landing on top.

It wasn't long after that before the referee kneeled down to get a better angle, seeing Penn had wrapped his arm around Florian's neck in a rear-naked choke. That's when he gave the signal that the bout — the night in Philadelphia — was over, triggering a wild celebration in Penn's corner.

Entering the Octagon both Penn and Florian knew they had an impossible act to follow. Wearing "Penn State" on his T-shirt, as Penn made his way out of the dressing room into the Octagon at shortly after midnight, the building was still buzzing.

They had just witnessed middleweight champ Anderson Silva — stepping up to the light-heavyweight class — and taking Forrest Griffin apart in the co-main event. Silva swarmed Griffin from the outset, pummeling him into a quick TKO just 3:23 into the opening round.

"I heard everyone yelling," said Penn, who purposely stayed away from the Octagon to focus on his fight. "Then I saw Anderson walk into the dressing room and say 'Now it's your turn."

Moments later Penn had taken care of business, meaning it'll soon be time for his real celebration. The day he gets back home — after two months training in California — to hold his 10-month-old infant daughter Avea in his arms.

A moment not even a Rembrandt or Van Gogh would truly be able to do justice.

Meanwhile, long before Penn stepped inside the Octagon, UFC Commissioner White decided to juggle his lineup. With the prelims, most of which were uninspiring affairs, running long, White moved Maui native "Sugar" Shane Nelson from the undercard into the main event, slotting him just before the Silva-Griffin co-main event.

That meant Hilo's Kendall Grove was the first Hawai'i fighter to enter the Octagon in a middleweight bout. Ricardo Almeida of Hamilton, N.J., beat Grove by a unanimous decision, 30-27, on all the judges' cards.

Nelson lost to Aaron Riley of Washington by a unanimous decision, 30-27, in a lightweight bout.