By Tim Furious
This interview, for me at least, reflects not the BJ Penn that we’re ready to side with or against in
UFC 123 betting. Instead, it’s the real BJ Penn. A lot of the time we really don’t know who fighters are, and all we get is those edited hype videos where fighters all they do is trash talk and talk about ripping off someone’s head. Just like the close contact we see in the octagon, what makes the UFC so great is how intimate fans and fighters can get.
Get up close and personal by watching the video below:
http://video.betus.com/ufcmma/ufc-123-bj-penn.htmlWe know a lot about these guys, perhaps more than we know about other major sports stars these days. We’re flooded with interviews, gossip and hyperbole about guys like Randy Moss, Kobe Bryant and Manny Ramirez, leaving us to just make up our own informed assumptions.
The stage for UFC betting is so much smaller, and not from a scale point of view because this is a massive action generator in that regard. We simply get to see fighters in more humble settings. Rarely are they in front of a press room giving post-game interviews where they’re just playing up to certain personas.
I’ve questioned Penn’s mindset leading up to this fight. I’ll admit that. He’s come off as arrogant, nonchalant and sometimes lazy. Yet in this interview, you can’t help but feel that he’s at peace with his place in the sport. He may not be an underdog in
UFC 123 betting anymore, but he’s certainly an underdog in the grander landscape.
Penn’s inability to challenge Frankie Edgar in back-to-back title bouts has given rise to a lot of speculation that he’s no longer the fighter that he once was. Though he has switched weight classes, and is now fighting at welterweight, it’s hard to justify any a fighter like Penn is in a downward spiral at just 31-years old.
The only thing that allows fighter’s to keep waging war in the octagon is maturity. They must keep their spirits intact, while also adapting their skill sets and talents to their aging bodies, which might not be as fast or as strong as they once were. Penn’s admission that he has the utmost respect for Hughes, and that this is his favorite rivalry in his career, shows that Penn has turned the corner from being a self entitled prodigy to a more humble fighter.
The kid is all grown up.
Now let’s see if he can translate all those life lessons in to a beatdown against Matt Hughes, who is 37-years old himself. If anyone can show Penn that age means nothing in
UFC betting, it’s Hughes. Let’s get it on.
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