By Chris Howie
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

BJ Penn was a guest on FUEL TV's UFC Tonight this week and discussed his upcoming bout with Rory MacDonald this September. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Penn on if his upcoming fight with Rory MacDonald is about redemption: “I definitely want redemption for UFC 94. Win, loose, or draw, I want to let them know who I am. Everyone who shows up to the arena in Toronto that night, I want to show them who the hell BJ Penn is. I know that they [Tristar] have a lot of good fighters coming out of that gym, but I am going to use my inner fighter. I always felt that I wasn’t an athlete, that I was a fighter. I’m going to go out there and fight my heart out.”

Penn on why Rory MacDonald drew him back into the Octagon: “I think Rory is a great fighter. He has a lot of hype surrounding him. I think the hype is well placed, it’s justified, and he is doing really well. But, I wanted to go up against him and the whole Tristar team. They have a lot of good stuff going on up there and I really want to go up against them. When I fought last time, I thought I could have done better and I want to give it a shot again and walk away better.”

Penn on whether Rory calling him out was what he needed to get back in the Octagon: “Yes, this is exactly what I needed. It has everything that interests me. I am going to go up to Canada. I have a lot of Canadian fans who stop by my gym, but there are also a lot of Canadians that don’t like me because I said some stuff about Firas Zahabi and GSP and I know that stuff has passed. I want to go up there and show them that I am someone to be reckoned with. When I’m standing across from you in the Octagon it is going to be hard, and I’m not just going to be pushed up against the fence. I have a lot coming up in this training camp and it’s going to be a good fight for the fans.”

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