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You just don’t run into many people like BJ Penn. Most athletes of similar talent or accomplishment typecast themselves as either gratingly arrogant or so humble as to seem, disingenuous. But the 27 year old former UFC welterweight champion fits no mold, and when he speaks it’s often with a blend of graciousness and outspoken self confidence. BJ is equally sincere in complimenting opponents as he is when he says he can clean out multiple weight divisions.
If ever there was a time to hear what BJ Penn has to say it’s now. In three week’s time, he will face Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight title in Anaheim California. Penn is serving as a short-notice replacement for the man he lost to via split-decision last March in a number one contender’s fight for Hughe’s title, Georges St. Pierre after St. Pierre pulled out of his scheduled fight with Hughes on because of a groin injury.
Penn doesn’t relish that his opportunity is coming at the expense of St. Pierre, a man whom he has a lot of respect for.
“I feel bad for Georges, it’s true that he worked his way back from the bottom (to get another title shot against Hughes). But he made the right choice. It doesn’t make sense to take a fight like that unless you can be one hundred percent. But right now, I can only think about one man and that’s the greatest welterweight of all time, Matt Hughes” says Penn.
There it is. Respect for more than one opponent in a single statement. But without intending to be callous to St. Pierre’s unfortunate circumstances, a Penn/Hughes fight may have a bit more drama to it anyway. When Penn and Hughes meet on September 23rd, it will be for the second time.
The first time, January 31st, Penn was moving up from the lightweight division to face Hughes, the dominant 170lbs UFC champion. In the lead-up to the fight, Hughes talked about feeling disrespected that a fighter from a lighter division was challenging him. Penn, for his part, was largely in “aw, shucks” mode, saying he didn’t mean any disrespect.
Before anyone expected it, however, Penn took the longest running welterweight champion in the UFC’s young history down, choked him out, kissed him on the lips and walked away with his belt in less time than a normal jiu-jitsu class sparring session lasts.
Some people call it dominance on the part of Penn, and others call it a fluke win, refusing to believe that the powerful Hughes was at his best that night. Whatever the case, a lot can be proved in their second fight.
Despite his prior win over Hughes, Penn is nearly a 2-1 odds underdog at this point, and he has said that he is sure Hughes will be underestimating him based on his last fight against St. Pierre where Penn seemed to lose steam after the first round.
Speaking over the phone this week with InsideFighting, Penn himself doesn’t seem impressed with his recent performances.
“Even if you go back 4 fights against Rodrigo (Gracie), I was lackadaisical. I’ve been letting people push me on the fence, defending takedowns. Now I may be good at that, but BJ Penn is best when he is attacking” he says.
After winning the welterweight title in 2004, Penn and the UFC were estranged from each other and often entangled with one another legally, over contract disputes for some time. When Penn returned to the organization this past year, his first fight was with St. Pierre.
Speaking of this, Penn adds, “If I would have come back and fought Hughes right away and fought the way I did I would have gotten hurt” he says.
Let’s be fair, in fighting Rodrigo Gracie, a fight which Penn won, Penn was moving up to a third weight class against an at the time undefeated opponent, and his loss to St. Pierre was a close one where St. Pierre sustained much more damage than Penn did.
But Penn is honest, and he feels that many adjustments need to be made if he is to regain his championship status. One of the areas that is undergoing a lot of change is his training.
“I’m training damn hard, but I’m training different. I’m so happy. I’m not going to try and be a pro athlete, peak at the right time and do all of these things” says Penn who has said in prior interviews that he felt burnt out and unhappy in previous fights after long and arduous training camps.
“It’s (the burn out) both physical and mental. You get injured, you get hurt, and you have non productive workouts. All that sparring you do is just two people beating each other up, and I should be getting paid to do that” Penn laughs.
Penn says he’s going back to basics, in terms of his mindset and preparation for the Hughes fight.
“Either you’re a fighter or you’re not. If I have to fight to the death tonight, then I fight to the death. The idea is just to show up, kick’s someone’s ass and go home” Penn explains.
Penn believes that he will be in top form against Hughes on September 23rd just as he was in 2004 when he upset Hughes for the UFC welterweight title
“Sometimes you evolve away from your game and you have to come back to it. Look at Dan Henderson in his last fight” says Penn speaking of Henderson’s decision loss to Kazuo Misaki in the most recent round of Pride’s 183lbs tournament.
“He (Henderson) is one of the best fighters ever because he is good at what he does. But in his last fight he just kind of kick boxed.”
Penn feels that has had similar difficulties staying true to his style recently, but says he has learned his lesson.
“I feel like I have so many tools, that I don’t know which game plan to bring in sometimes, but now I have a pretty good idea” says Penn.
And where Penn was unimpressed with himself in recent outings, he is optimistic about how he will fare from here on out. When asked if he indeed feels that he has champion Hughes’ number as he has said before, Penn sees his statement and raises it 20.
“Honestly, after this last fight (with St. Pierre) where I realized that I am the best striker, that none of these guys can hurt me, I feel that I’ve got everybody’s number” he says.
Penn fights professionally in order to challenge himself, and as usual, he has a plan in place for not only winning the welterweight title back, but on what to do afterwards.
“Before” says Penn of the time in between his loss to St. Pierre in March and when he got the chance to replace him, “I was dealing with the scenario of if I won 2-3 fights I’d be getting a title shot, and I was so excited to do that. But now, if I win 2-3 fights the whole division is gone” says Penn.
“That’s how I go on and motivate myself. I want to get it (the welterweight title) back again, defend it three times and look for other things. Maybe Hughes doesn’t have goals anymore, but that’s what my goals are.
“I want to beat the best welterweight twice and defend it 3 times then see what’s going on at 155lbs and see what’s going on at 185lbs” Penn goes on.
One sees “what’s going on” when wanting to hang out with friends or after hearing a loud noise. Penn’s unassuming phrasing of the most ambitious goals is remarkable.
Penn seems to view the mixed martial arts landscape as open pages of history where he must inscribe his name indelibly. His ostentatious goals set at no lower standard than to have his accomplishment of them make him the best fighter ever.
How then, with such long-term ambition, can Penn not be overlooking the next fight in front of him, which would surely be a mistake? Because the next fight is the first step and Penn realizes that all legacies begin at square one.
“The best things about fighting are walking in and coming back. That’s where I’m at, I’m coming back, and it’s the best place to be” says Penn.
“I’ve come full circle, back to who I am. My punching power, my takedowns, my jiu-jitsu, my tenacity; Matt Hughes and anyone else is going to have to deal with that when they fight me.”
What are your thoughts?
elias@insidefighting.com
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