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BJ Penn really loves James Toney and admits first Edgar fight was a bad fight for him
By Zach Arnold | August 25, 2010
If you thought Ariel Helwani’s interview with Mayhem Miller was classic, this interview with BJ Penn ranks right up there but for many different reasons. At the start of the interview, Penn asks Ariel Helwani if he really dislikes him and Ariel has to reassure him that he likes him, which ends up with a handshake and a man hug. From there, Penn is like a kid at Christmas talking about being in Boston. Just like the Mayhem interview, read the transcript first and then watch the video.
One thing very notable during the interview is how frayed the relationship is between Penn and Dana White.
Transcript available in full-page mode.
ARIEL HELWANI: “All right, let’s talk about the history. I know you’re a history buff. This is pretty cool, right?”
BJ PENN: “This is awesome, man! We’re in Boston, this is where they came over right where America started and the, uh, the first thing I did, uh, got here, I was like c’mon you gotta take me, I got Lauzon on the phone, took me down to see Plymouth Rock, went to see The Mayflower, too, and look at this, look at this press conference where we get to do this at. Amazing!”
ARIEL HELWANI: “You’ve been around the sport a long time. Did you ever think you’d be, not only you know Boston all that stuff, you were in Abu Dhabi, but to me this feels a little extra special, right?”
BJ PENN: “This is, this is amazing, man. You know I never get to come to someplace like Boston. I’m all the way in Hawaii. We have such a different history and to come back and really see the American history, it’s a trip.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “All right, so let’s talk about this fight. Obviously, Abu Dhabi very disappointing for you. I’m sure you had a chance to watch the fight since then. How did you score it?”
BJ PENN: “Ummm… you know… you know what? I fought a bad fight. You know what? At the end of the day, I fought a bad fight. If I would have won that fight, I would have had to call Dana and get him on the phone and say, Dana, I gotta rematch that guy. I can’t live with that and we got to do this again, you know? People can say BJ you won, BJ you lost, c’mon, let’s not play games. I didn’t fight a great fight. Frankie fought a great fight, you know. Frankie’s in the position he’s in now and I got a chance to erase things on Saturday.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Well a lot of people said you weren’t 100% going into that fight. How banged up were you?”
BJ PENN: “I would never answer on something like that and the one reason why is because Frankie Edgar’s a good guy. He’s just here to do his best, he’s a human being, he’s a father, you know. Who cares about any of that stuff? Frankie Edgar fought that fight, Frankie Edgar ended up with the decision and here we are right now in Boston.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Was there something about his style that gave you trouble out there?”
BJ PENN: “I don’t know if it was his exact style but I would say is that Frankie got into great shape, Frankie had a great camp, there was great people behind him and they put together a great game plan and they ended up walking away with the victory.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “After that fight, a lot of people were wondering what would you do next. Then, the UFC gave you that rematch. But going into the fight, there was a lot of talk that it might be your last fight at 155. Considering the fact now that you have to win the belt and of course maybe defend it a couple of times, is it safe to assume that you’re sticking around at Lightweight for a long time now?”
BJ PENN: “I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow when I wake up, you know? We’ll see. I definitely, you know what? I just want to fight. I want to fight the #1 contender to the #15 contender, I’ll fight all of them. If someone’s hurt and they can’t give me a fight, I’ll ask Dana to give me a fight at Welterweight, I got a few things in my head and it ain’t only about the champion, there’s some other guys up there I want to fight, too.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Can you share a couple of names with us?”
BJ PENN: “Not right now. I gotta keep my eye on Frankie Edgar.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “OK. Are you expecting him to be the same Frankie Edgar, the same one that you fought on UFC 112 on Saturday night?”
BJ PENN: “I’m expecting him to be a little better. Not a lot better, a little better. He might try to kick more. He’s got smart guys, you know? He’s got Phil Nurse. He’s got his boxing coach. He’s got all these other people, so, you know, you got to be really careful about these guys, man, they’re really tricky.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “You said on the Countdown show that it kind of bugged you the way he celebrated because really, you know, you could say that maybe he didn’t win that fight decisively. Looking back now, because it was such a big deal for him to beat a guy like you, a legend such as yourself, can you understand why he celebrated that way?”
BJ PENN: “I think that celebration should have came out after the victory, not before the victory.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “You thought he was maybe…”
BJ PENN: “After the decision.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “You thought he was trying to sway the judges maybe?”
BJ PENN: “I mean, don’t we all think that? Right?”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Right. After the fight, your book came out and there were some rumors that your relationship with Dana White and the UFC was a little strained as a result. How is it now?”
BJ PENN: “Uh… it’s…. it’s, I wish it was better.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Do you like to maybe talk with him and try to, you know, smooth everything out, maybe after the fight?”
BJ PENN: “I love Dana White. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Bottom line.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “OK. And final question, I know you’re a big boxing fan, right? And it seems as though you’re really enjoying James Toney. The stuff that he said. You sat next to him at the press conference. What do you think this means for the sport? I mean, if he beats Randy Couture, a lot of people, ooooohhh MMA will take three steps back. Would it really be all that bad if James knocks out Randy?”
BJ PENN: “What’s worse than having the WWF champ as our heavyweight champ? That ain’t worse than having James Toney come on and win a fight.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “So it’s all not that bad for the sport, right? He’s bringing a little hype. Can’t be worse, right?”
BJ PENN: “It’s great for the sport. James Toney is God’s gift to MMA right now. He’s promoting the sport. He’s telling everybody to go out and buy tickets. You can’t ask for a better person. What James Toney is doing is putting more money into everybody’s pockets.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
BJ Penn is like a breath of fresh air. He crushes Dana in his book, praises Kimbo and Toney to the rafters, wont make excuses but at the same time thinks that Edgar celebrated prematurely (and given that BJ easily won at least 3 rounds of that fight, he is right).