Although there has been a lot of speculation that B.J. Penn was considering retirement following his UFC 94 bout with Georges St. Pierre, fueled mostly by the fighter himself, it sounds more and more like he's planning to return.His trainer, Rudy Valentino, told Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross that on their way to Vegas, Penn had indicated to him that a win probably would have meant his retirement.
In an interview with KHON-2 News in Honolulu, Penn himself sounded unclear on his future, saying, "I was going to make this my last fight and finish up fighting GSP. In my head, I was with (the UFC) for nine or ten years and I kind of just wanted to be finished with this whole thing after this. So I don’t know where my head is right now. I just want to thank all the fans that supported me all this time, over this last nine, ten years fighting."
But over the past few days, Penn has made statements to the contrary, initially posting on his Facebook page that he was now looking to a UFC lightweight title defense against Kenny Florian sometime between May and July.
With the whole uproar about inappropriate Vaseline usage by St. Pierre's cornermen during their fight, St. Pierre made a public statement saying that he welcomed a second rematch with Penn to prove that the controversy had nothing to do with his dominating performance in sending Penn packing after the fourth round.
Penn responded in kind on his website, BJPenn.com, accepting a third bout between the two iconic figures. "To the untrained eye the grease might not look like much, but every grappler knows the effect that it has. Being able to apply your submissions and sweeps or just being able to hold on to your opponent to defend yourself from being hit is absolutely critical! ... I hereby accept George St. Pierre and Greg Jackson’s challenge for a fight in the summer 2009. Lets call Dana now and set it up."
So, it doesn't look like Penn is planning on going away anytime soon. It is now more of a question of what is next for the UFC lightweight champion. St. Pierre is expected to defend the welterweight title against Thiago Alves in his next bout. Although a third bout between GSP and Penn could come to fruition, it is more likely that Penn will be required by the UFC to defend his belt against Kenny Florian before anymore rematches.
6 comments:
THAT WILL BE GREAT WE WILL GET TO SEE GSP STOMP PENN AGAIN....
If bj steps in the cage with GSP again. he will be forced to retire. I would hope BJ's camp has some brains, and would shield him from a monumental beating.
I say make Bj fight Florian, and GSP fight Thiago Alves first. Florian and Alves have deserved a title shot for a while now.
If the 3rd fight happens between Penn and GSP and no title shot for atleast Florian. If not Florian and Sherk should compete for atleast an interim LW championship.
He was never going to quit. He needs the spotlight. There's nothing to gain by GSP fighting BJ again. BJ has only won 1 out of the seven rounds faught between the two. He need to just stay at lightweight. I've never heard someone talk about retirement when they've never faught and beaten the best talent in their class. He's 1-3 in WW bouts and a 13-5 recond isn't exactly dominate. They should fight after GSP has done was he has to do in his division. Alves is tough MF and it's possible he could beat GSP. GSP shouldn't worry about a rematch with Penn. Guess what. They fight 2 years later, GSP pounds him, and the excuse would be that BJ was too old. BJ should at least have a winning record against WW before he fights the champ in that class, don't you think? But his road to title shots is just like his training...taking shortcuts.
It's a crying shame that Dana can't make it happen next week at UFC 95. Both Penn and GSP are in top shape and a rematch right away will finally put an end to all the bullcrap. At least B.J. is living up to his "Baby Jay" nickname. It's a crying shame. One of the best in MMA going out like a little whining bum. Don't even get me started on Matt Hughes.
BJ is best built for 55, I mean 17o? Those cats are just too big! It's too big a jump for him, he's just gaining the weight and looking doughey when he steps in there, definately not the lean cut look a guy like GSP achieves, which just screams intense cardio. Even a guy like Anthony Johnson, at 6'2" and probably cutting from 190 or so, Mike Swick, etc. (Alves is a monster too, he can barely make weight at 170), they would all eventually just wear out a guy BJ's size, regardless of his skill set.
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