BJ Penn Isn't Playing Games

For fans of BJ "the Prodigy" Penn, this is exactly what we want to hear:

"I'm training a lot harder. Back in the day I used to pride myself on how little I could do and get away with it; now I try to pride myself on how much I do. I try to work real hard, train as much as I can, eat healthy food, and I want to see how far I can take it.

"I guess the wakeup call was December 13, 2006, when I turned 28. I said 'what am I doing, why am I messing around? This is the biggest sport in the world, it’s gonna overtake everything, I’m at the forefront. Why am I playing games?'"

"Something just awoke inside of me where I said 'what are you doing? You can beat every one of these people. You’ve been doing it half-assed all this time and it’s time to finally step up and let’s see it.' If you can’t, you can’t, but at least you know you tried. Words can’t explain how pumped I am about fighting right now. It’s what I am, it’s who I am, and it’s what I want to be."

Wow.

BJ Penn's Not Going Anywhere

"I don’t want to do the five fights a year thing for three years and then I’m done, like all these fighters have done. I want to do one to two fights a year for the next 10 years. I want to keep my name out there for the next 10 years."

It's cool to hear that BJ is committed to a fight or two for another 10 years, but he's not exactly one of those guys who's always climbing into the cage. In fact, he's never fought more than three times a year in his professional career, and he hasn't fought more than twice a year since beating Hughes for the welterweight belt back in 2004.

But as the old show business adage professes, "Always keep them wanting more." BJ is capable of putting on as good a show as anyone in the sport, and when you consider the potential match-ups that could be made for BJ at lightweight or welterweight, we'll always be wanting more from The Prodigy.

Read UFC.com's latest interview with BJ Penn.

The UFC Lightweight Title Picture Is a Mess

This is some of the stupidest shit I’ve heard in a long time.

According to a Yahoo! Sports article, UFC president Dana White said that BJ Penn and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson will fight for a lightweight belt in January at UFC 80, but Sean Sherk is going to remain the champion.

Apparently, White thinks that the way the CSAC has handled Sherk's steroids case “has been a mess,” and White isn’t ready to strip Sherk of his championship.

Instead, Penn and Stevenson will fight for the interim title at UFC 80, and the winner will face Sherk once Sherk's fate has been determined the CSAC.

To recap: BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for the interim lightweight title, and no matter who wins, Sherk still holds his belt. Brilliant.

BJ vs. Sherk or Joe Daddy for the Title

BJ Penn was most recently scheduled to fight for the UFC lightweight belt at UFC 79 on December 29, but it seems now that the UFC is looking to hold this fight sometime in early February, The Fight Network is reporting. Across the cage from BJ will be either (tainted) UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk or top contender Joe Stevenson. Joe Daddy told The Fight Network that if Sherk’s steroid-related suspension is not reduced (he appeals to the CSAC on October 31), he’ll gladly fill in for Sherk. For more on this, click here.

BJ Penn on UFC 79 Card

And all the while I've been waiting to see whom The Prodigy would be facing in November at UFC 78.

Now it seems that between the ongoing Sean Sherk juice circus and the UFC determining a top contender at 155 - and one who'll be healthy and cleared to go - BJ will be fighting on a UFC 79 card (December 29) that also features, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Cheick Kongo, Rodrigo Nogueira, and Wanderlei Silva.

And the odds are that I'll be away on vacation and will miss this card. Fuck me.

BJ Penn Pleads No Contest

In 2005, Waikiki police arrested UFC star BJ Penn after punching a police officer in the face amidst a fight at a night club, and on Friday, Penn pleaded no contest for reduced charges.

In December, Penn will face sentencing for the misdemeanor charges.

Click here for more on this story.

Joe Lauzon to Join BJ in Hawaii

Burgeoning UFC lightweight star Joe Lauzon has accepted an offer from BJ Penn to move to Hawaii and train with the Penn camp.

Joe says that his move to Hawaii will be done in stages. He plans "to take a week in August to see how things are out there, and as long as everything is cool, I’ll go back for two months from about the beginning of September to November."

After that, the Massachusetts native will return home for the holidays before heading back to Hawaii for the start of the new year.

"Ever since I got home from the show (TUF 5) every day I go to work I hate it. I’m ok with the job and there are good people there, but since I had to do nothing but train for a couple of months, it's killing me just being inside and not going and training. I got used to those double sessions every day and I feel that I could have done more. Every minute I sit at work is a moment I can’t train," says Lauzon.

A Critical Look at BJ Penn at 155

Sam Caplan at FiveOuncesofPain.com has posted a great piece about BJ Penn’s lightweight title shot and what implications it may have on the 155-lb. division and beyond. Caplan brings up some excellent points, the highlights of which are as follows:

1) Penn deserves a shot at the lightweight title only if he’s committed to the 155 pound division.

Well, let's first take a quick look at BJ Penn's UFC passport: Penn joined the UFC in 2001 as a lightweight and moved up to welterweight in 2004. After a two-year absence from the UFC, Penn returned in 2006 as a welterweight, dropped back down to lightweight last month, and is now eyeing a move back up to welterweight.

Expecting BJ Penn to settle into a single division any time soon may ultimately prove fruitless, so I don't love the argument that he needs to be wholly committed to lightweight.

2) What if Penn vacates the title and moves up to 170 if he beats Sherk?

The UFC lightweight division is one of the most exciting in all of mixed martial arts, and it only seems to be getting better. It would be a shame if BJ did not give the lightweight belt the respect it deserves, especially with so many veteran and young lightweight stars gunning hard for their shot at it.

I also feel that a match for a vacant UFC lightweight championship could be a black eye for what is an otherwise outstanding division that has recently grown into one of the sport's best.

3) If Skerk beats Penn, the Hawaiian prodigy would then have three losses in his last four UFC fights. This, Caplan notes, is not the end of the world by any means, but another loss, especially one at lightweight, could be a significant setback in BJ’s road to welterweight gold.

This is a great point. The UFC -- especially the welterweight division -- is a different beast today than it was back in 2004 when BJ Penn got an immediate welterweight title shot against Matt Hughes after fighting to a draw with Caol Uno at lightweight. Today, there are more sharks in the water, a number of which happen to be some of the finest mixed martial artists found anywhere.

Though I agree with Caplan's assessment for the most part, I love the idea of BJ Penn fighting Sean Sherk. Come to think of it, I love the idea of BJ Penn fighting anyone at any weight.

Straight Talk

“B.J. Penn is next for Sherk. In November.”

- Dana White talks UFC lightweight royalty.

Penn-Sanchez Denied; And I Quote...

Earlier, I wrote the following about the reported BJ Penn-Diego Sanchez fight: "This is a big deal, and I hope this news is true."

Well, it turns out that as far as BJ Penn's camp is aware, the UFC never offered the fight for UFC 74 in August.

It seems that someone's been making shit up.

Either way, I really think that BJ has his sights set on the lightweight belt before anything else, and I look forward watching him run through the division.

Possible BJ and Diego UFC 74 Fight?

And I thought that a Diego Sanchez-Hayato Sakurai fight was big!

Sources tell Sherdog that welterweight contender Diego Sanchez and sometimes welterweight BJ Penn have agreed to fight on August 25 at UFC 74. This is a big deal, and I hope this news is true.

My guess is that The Prodigy will be dropping back down to 155 lbs. after the Sanchez fight to face the winner of this weekend's Sean Sherk/Hermes Franca lightweight championship match. With that said, don't be surprised to see a certain Hawaiian UFC lightweight champion gunning for the welterweight belt, as well.

UFC Confirms Three Biggies

- UFC middleweights Kendall Grove and Patrick Cote will face off at UFC 74 on August 5. If Cote couldn’t finish Scott Smith, I don’t see how he’ll manage the much bigger, much more lethal Kendall Grove.

- UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra will make his first title defense against Matt Hughes in Las Vegas on Dec. 31 -– not in New Jersey in November. The change of venue was made public on Hughes’ web site. A New Jersey fight would have been huge for Long Island's Serra.

- The winner of the Sean Sherk/Hermes Franca UFC lightweight championship match at UFC 73 next weekend will make his first title defense face BJ Penn, UFC president Dana White told ESPN’s “The Hot List.” Looks like BJ will be picking up a lightweight championship before jumping back up to the UFC's glamorous welterweight class. Not to brag or anything, but once I heard that the BJ Penn/Jens Pulver fight was set, I told my friend Ross that Penn would definitely get a title shot if he were to get past Jens. Damn, I'm good...

The Kodiak Kongratulates

- Hats off to BJ Penn. "The Prodigy" looked his absolute best last night and completely dominated Jens Pulver, getting the better of the stand-up exchanges and controlling the action on the ground. Was it me, or did BJ hold onto that choke a little longer than necessary?

- Roger Huerta, Joe Lauzon, Cole Miller, and Leonard Garcia won fights that they were supposed to win, so kudos to them.

- Kimbo Slice is on his way. He beat "Merciless" Ray Mercer last night with a standing guillotine choke in the first round. Now I want to see him fight a real mized martial artist.

- Mazel tov to Nick "The Mad Monkey" Serra, who took on a very tough Mike Varner and scored a second-round arm bar win to capture the Cage Fury Fighting Championship welterweight title.

Morning Droppings

- 2005 Pride Grand Prix Tournament winner Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will make his UFC debut at UFC 76 in September against the always dangerous TBA. UFC prez Dana White considers Rua an immediate contender for the light-heavyweight belt, which he should. Rua is widely regarded as the best 205-pounder in all of MMA.

- The UFC has confirmed that Michael Bisping will indeed be facing Matt Hamill at UFC 75 in London. Enough of this Ken Shamrock hullaballoo...

- Word on the street is that middleweights Joe Doerksen and Paulo Filho will be fighting on August 5 in Las Vegas as part of the WEC 29 card, which will be broadcast live on Versus Network at 9 p.m. ET.

- Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett was actually released from a Florida jail yesterday morning, and a flight was booked for him to arrive in San Jose in time to weigh in for his scheduled EliteXC fight against Vincent "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela tonight. Unfortunately, Krazy Horse hit traffic on the way to the airport and missed his flight.

- BJ Penn has invited UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon to move to Hawaii and train with BJ and company. BJ even offered his star TUF 5 pupil a spot in a fighters' house for a year or two, and Lauzon is looking into IT jobs in Hawaii. After all, a man's got to pay his bills.

For What It's Worth...

UFC heavyweight champ Randy "The Natural" Couture picks BJ Penn to defeat Jens Pulver in the main event of Saturday's TUF 5 Finale card.

In April, Couture predicted that Gabriel Gonzaga would beat the heavily-favored Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. And he did.

In May, Couture predicted that Rampage Jackson would beat Chuck Liddell for the LHW championship. And he did.

Something to consider before placing your bets...

Morning Droppings

- UFC Hall of Famer and MMA legend Royce Gracie has been suspended for one year and fined $2,500 by the California State Athletic Commission after testing positive for nandrolone metabolite, an anabolic steriod, after his June 2 K-1/EliteXC fight against Kazushi Sakuraba.

- BJ Penn stinks at ping-pong.

- Johnny Morton, a former NFL star and burgeoning mixed martial artist, declined to take a post-fight drug test after his June 2 K-1/EliteXC beating at the hands of Bernard Ackah and was immediately placed on indefinite suspension by the CSAC -- which has withheld his $100,000 purse! Morton faces the revocation of his license and a maximum $2,500 fine.

- Michael "The Count" Bisping will take on Matt "The Hammer" Hamill at UFC 75 on September 8 in London. I like Bisping in this fight.

- Joe "Daddy" Stevenson is rumored to be fighting Kurt Pellegrino in either August or September.

- Rumor has it that American Top Team product Denis Kang (pictured), one of my favorites, is close to signing with bodogFIGHT.

- Don't look now, but Rio-based Black House (Casa Preta) is quickly becoming one of the scariest fight teams around: Big Nog, Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva, Paulo Filho, Lyoto Machida, Assuerio Silva, Antonio "Nino" Schembri, Carlos Barreto, and Rafael Feijao. Hot damn!