BJ Penn: Yair, Manager Conspired For This Fight
UFC Hall Of Famer BJ Penn will make his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon this weekend (Sunday, January 15, 2017), when he takes on No. 10-ranked featherweight Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Phoenix.
Rodriguez and Penn used to train at the same gym, Jackson-Wink, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Penn tells MMA Fighting that he believes the young Mexican conspired with his manager to push for a fight against him:
“I think Yair and his manager saw me training at the gym (at Jackson-Winkeljohn) and thought, ‘this guy doesn’t have it anymore. Let’s fight this guy. He’s a big name, and let’s try to make our name off his.’ And that’s exactly how this fight got put together,” Penn said.
“Some people from the gym said, ‘hey, Yair is a p*ssy, he’s going to try to fight you because he thinks you’re older,’ and this and that. ‘His manager is trying to push for the fight.’ And I go, really, huh? I was talking to my buddies in Albuquerque, and then the UFC called me two weeks later and offered me Yair. That’s what it was.
“I don’t take it as disrespect,” Penn said. “I just laugh. And let’s just see. Let’s see if his intuition was correct.”
Penn’s last Octagon appearance saw him suffer a third round knockout defeat to Frankie Edgar in 2014, marking the Hawaiian’s third loss in a row at the time. ‘The Prodigy’s’ last victory inside the cage came in 2010 when he knocked out Matt Hughes in just 21 seconds at UFC 123.
Despite having one of the best careers in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA), Penn has not watched any of his fights for years now as he rather focus on the task ahead:
“I used to watch [my old fights] before, back in the day. I don’t know how many times I watched that first fight, me when I fought (Matt) Hughes and got the belt. I must’ve watched that so many times. But I haven’t seen any of my fights for years, and I haven’t been watching my fights that I lost, the fights that happened in the last five years,” Penn said.
“I wouldn’t want to sit there and just talk about the past, and say ‘oh, look how good I was,’ or, ‘I could’ve kicked your ass if it was back then.’ No, and I don’t [want to think] of excuses. I mean, look at Dan Henderson, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum. All those guys. How can I have an excuse? They’re all in there. They’re all in their forties.”
Although he’ll be stepping into the cage with Rodriguez to go to war come Sunday night, Penn holds a great deal of respect for his opponent, or anyone who decides to make the walk to the Octagon for that matter, but believes that the experience and skill gap will be very visible when it’s time to throw-down:
“I’m a fan of everybody, I respect everyone. I’m proud of everybody who decides to take this path in life and chooses this profession. And I think he’s very good, a very solid opponent,” Penn said.
“But a lot of people are going to be surprised when I get out there. It’s going to look like a professional against an amateur. That’s what’s going to happen, and Yair is going to be surprised, his coaches are going to be surprised. They’re going be like, ‘oh, I thought this we were going to come between this easy fighter and his big name.’ But we’re going to see. They’re going to see.”
Rodriguez and Penn will meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night 103 on FS1, from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona this Sunday night (January 15, 2017).
