October, 19, 2011 – Heading into his scheduled octagon appearance at UFC 137 on October 29th, multiple-time UFC champion BJ Penn as been on as much of a roller coaster as everyone else. First he was supposed to fight Carlos Condit, then he didn’t have an opponent at all after Condit was moved to fight GSP, and finally he was fighting Nick Diaz in the co-main event before an injury this week changed things once again.
Now he’s still fighting Nick Diaz but it’s at the top of the card as the main event of the evening.
Amazingly, BJ said he found out about this latest development the same way everybody else did – through the internet.
“I still have not gotten a call from the UFC or Dana (White) or anyone,” he said on today’s UFC 137 conference call. ” I found out from BJPenn.com that I’m the main event just like everyone else did. This is an everyday part of business. There have been so many changes and it’s been a roller coaster ride but at the end of the day, this is a job.”
Despite the fact that the chain reaction of events which led to him fighting Diaz were catalyzed by his opponent’s inability to make a scheduled press conference, BJ doesn’t seem bitter at all about the lead up.
“Nick is Nick. He’s going to do what he does. For me, I enjoy watching the stuff that Nick Diaz does. Nick is a great character of the sport and he is who is. He’s a gutsy guy and that’s the way it fights.”
Expanding on his thoughts about fighting Diaz, a former training partner, BJ is happy to be fighting in the main event as he did for the very first time against his 4th fight as a pro in 2002 at UFC 35 but also knows he has a challenge on his hands, one where he has to fight at his best in order to win.
“I’ve never really changed much throughout my whole career,” BJ expounded. “I’ll try my best and try to take the other guy out. Nick spars like Andre Ward and Jeff Lacey so I feel he’s the best boxer in MMA today. He’s got a high punch volume and he can stand with anyone. We’re kind of similar because he’s got striking and BJJ and those are my strengths as well. It will be a fun fight and a great fight for the fans. I came here for a fight. I’m ready for a fight. We’re fighters. That’s what we do and I’ve been training for the last fifteen years. I gotta go out and give it my best shot.”
Adding to that, BJ expects fireworks in this fight, one that might include a little trash talk from both men – who are both reputed to be fiery, emotional fighters.
“I probably expect it to happen. A fight’s a fight and there are no friends in the octagon. I expect him to go out there and say a bunch of things and I must say some things myself. That’s the nature of the game, fighting’s a tough sport, and sometimes your emotions get the best of you.”
Should he win, there might be a title fight ahead against the winner of GSP/Condit, now expected to take place sometime in early 2012.
“I don’t want to speak too soon but I’d love to get another title before I step out of the game. If Dana feels I’m impressive in my next fight and wants to grant me that opportunity, I’d be very gracious. For me, it’s always been a love-hate relationship with mixed martial arts and maybe even the UFC sometimes but I’m not planning on going away anytime soon. You never know, I’d love to stick around as long as Randy stuck around if I could do something like that. You could always be in the gym one day saying you don’t want to do this anymore though… I’m sure a lot of fighters feel like that but maybe I’m just more vocal about it.”
With an uncertain future ahead and an uncertain past regarding UFC 137, at the very least BJ only has one thing to worry about for now and that’s getting past Nick Diaz. Just scrap.
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