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.

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.