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[alahyousious]

bjpenn.com


After just arriving back in Hawaii, BJ talks about the outcome of his tough UFC 63 title fight against Matt Hughes which took place yesterday evening at Arrowhead Pond in Anahiem CA.

Interviewer:
So BJ how are you doing?

BJ:
I just got back to Hawaii. I'm resting up, I have some injuries. Other than that I'm okay.

Interviewer:
So you just fought Matt Hughes. Could you walk us through the first round?

BJ:
I felt good, I was happy that I was defending Matt's takedowns. I could see that Matt improved his standup. I wish I tried some takedowns, but other than that I was happy with it.

Interviewer:
You say he improved his standup. How?

BJ:
He was dodging my punches well, and he had a good jab.

Interviewer:
What did you think of his takedowns?

BJ:
His takedowns were good and strong, exactly what I expected.

Interviewer:
Take us through the second round.

BJ:
I felt great going in, Matt started trying to take me down from my right leg, it's something I expected he might do. He got me down against the fence, but I was thinking about this position alot and I was ready. When he went for a big elbow, he missed and I capitalized and started going for his back. At this moment, when I was making the turn towards his back, I felt my ribs seperate on my right side. Although I didn't know the severity of the situation. I was thinking I have to finish him now because I knew something was wrong. Matt defended himself well and got through the round. When I got up to walk to my corner, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to talk about it with my corner. I wanted to be the champ. I wanted to keep fighting.

Interviewer:
What about round 3?

BJ:
I remember standing up out of the corner in pain. But I was thinking, "Earn your title this is what you have to do to get your belt back, fight through the pain". I knew the oppurtunity I had with getting this fight, especially after losing my last fight. I wasn't going to quit on the corner. I kept going because I honestly believed it was destiny. When me and Matt were boxing I felt like I couldn't breathe and had no mobility in my core. But I kept thinking something good is going to happen. When Matt started dominating the stand up I tried for a takedown. I had nothing and pulled to guard. I felt like I couldn't do anything on the ground. But I was still positive. Matt hit me in the ribs from half guard. The pain was so excruciating I had to use my far hand to block it. I would rather Matt pass my guard and punch my face the hit my ribs. When Matt was in his favorite position that he likes. I was still thinking I was going to win somehow. Big John gave me plenty of time. I practiced defending against that position with flexibility, but I had none with my core. Even when Big John stopped the fight, I was still so positive I thought I escaped. Congratulations to Matt, he is a great fighter. It's not his fault that that happened, he fought like the champion he is. He deserved the victory.

Interviewer:
So how are your ribs doing now?

BJ:
There just hurting, I couldn't sleep last night, I couldn't lay down, Every time I breathe it expands my ribcage and aggrevates my ribs.

Interviewer:
How do you think your conditioning was for this fight?

BJ:
I was training great. I trained 5 to 6 rounds a couple times a week. I was also doing explosive cardio and getting proper rest.

Interviewer:
Anything to say to your fans?

BJ:
Thanks for your support. I already got a lot of emails from my fans. Thank you very much.
Keep checking my site and I'll keep you posted.

Interviewer:
So what is next for BJ Penn?

BJ:
I've got to take care of my ribs, so I'm taking 2 months off, and my suspension for the TKO. I talked to Dana and he said to give him a call when I'm ready to fight. It takes a long time to prepare for these fights and I'm very disappointed I got injured like that. I gotta sit down for a couple weeks and clear my head and see where I am in fighting.


This makes more since to me then him gassing.

[liddell316]

That sucks for BJ that happened....but on the other side of the coin when fighters like Syllvia and Liddell said they had major injuries, nobody believed them.

But he'll be back.

[paintstik]

Glad he gave Hughes credit for the win instead of blaming it all on his injury. Sounds painful.

[Punk Ass]

I don't know. I think gassing had a lot to do with that. Fighter's fight through pain all the time, it's the survival of the fittest. As long as BJ could still move he could have kept fighting with more furiousity than he did.

I think it was a combo of gassing and pain, and think he should have trained better still, Look at his body he was flabby, sparring for 5 rounds is not as taxing as really having to exert yourself and leaving it all in the ring to win.

[duran]

okay, that explains some things. I am a Hughes fan, but this explains how a BJJ master gets pinned down like he did. It really doesn't smell like an excuse. I've had those torn cartiledge injuries to my side many times from wrestling and boxing and it takes all aggression out of you and hurts just to breathe, even while you are in the heat of battle with all that adrenaline going. You just want to survive.

[KnowledgeKnown]

classy interview , thanks for posting it.

[tj31atr]

Bottom line is it's an excuse, or at the very least a contributing reason as to why he didn't win. Please understand, i'm not saying that it isn't legitimate. Although I find it funny that whenever he loses, he can't seem to just give the other guy credit. If you listen to him in regards to both the GSP and Pulver fights, he complains that he doesn't know who the judges judge fights. All that being said, GSP had to watching that fight thinking, that is not the same guy I fought. The first two rounds Penn looked unreal, but it's fighting and the bottom line is injuries happen and you need to overcome adversity to win. I just hope we get to see a Hughes/Penn 3.

[tapper]

like i said weeks ago, penn loses, then loses the rematch, then drops in weight(or leaves the ufc), it's 1 excuse after another with him. aa busted up his leg in his last fight and still went 3 more rounds. imo the little rich kid doesn't have the heart.

[Kewl144]

Originally Posted by tapper

like i said weeks ago, penn loses, then loses the rematch, then drops in weight(or leaves the ufc), it's 1 excuse after another with him. aa busted up his leg in his last fight and still went 3 more rounds. imo the little rich kid doesn't have the heart.

to be fair, A.A and Tim went three more rounds of nothing. It was one of the most boring fights ever.

[Ginmortal]

I'm not ruling out a total gas out of Penn, but it just didn't make a whole lot of sense after how he finished the 2nd round, when he came out for the third his whole expression changed, his standup, which at that point had been reasonable, was totally gone, Hughes was just pounding him, gone was the most amazing takedown defense I've ever seen on Hughes, and gone was the will to go on, it was just a totally different BJ at that point. I must admit I'm a huge BJ fan, but I give all the credit to Hughes, he was better prepared. And if indeed BJ got hurt, well, let's hope for Hughes Vs Penn 3, these guys are just awsome fighters. And c'mon Penn did credit Hughes, read the whole thing!