BJ Penn vs. Rory MacDonald set for UFC 152
Posted on June 9, 2012, 03:17 PM by Anton GurevichUltimate Fighting Championship wasted no time in making BJ Penn's return to the Octagoin official, for a fight with Rory MacDonald at UFC 152.
Penn recently responded to Rory MacDonald's call-out, and will be fighting for the first time since his retirement announcement at UFC 137, after losing to Nick Diaz via unanimous decision. The fight will serve as the co-main event of the night, while Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II is expected to headline.
BJ Penn is 16-8 in his MMA career, with only one victory (Matt Hughes) in his last five fights. Rory MacDonald is 13-1 in his career, losing only to the current Interim champ Carlos Condit.
Here's what "The Prodigy" had to say about his fight with Rory MacDonald. Interview starts at 30:50 minutes mark.
Comments
C'mon Prodigy make it MacDonald's tragedy
The fight will be entertaining. At least the first round will be a war.
Bj, you are the best first rounder out there, but if you do not prepare the fight to last 3 rounds...this kid is no joke
both so skilled, battle of prodigies
I think BJ's problem all along and indeed in this fight is his team:
Strategy Coach: ̶G̶̶r̶̶e̶̶g̶ ̶J̶̶a̶̶c̶̶k̶̶s̶̶o̶̶n̶ BJ Penn
Wrestling Coach: ̶C̶̶h̶̶a̶̶e̶̶l̶ ̶S̶̶o̶̶n̶̶n̶̶e̶̶n̶ BJ Penn
Strength and Conditioning Coach: ̶K̶̶e̶̶v̶̶i̶̶n̶ ̶K̶̶e̶̶a̶̶r̶̶n̶̶s̶ BJ Penn
Nutritionist: ̶M̶̶i̶̶k̶̶e̶ ̶D̶̶o̶̶l̶̶c̶̶e̶ BJ Penn
Boxing Coach: F̶̶r̶̶e̶̶d̶̶d̶̶i̶̶e̶ ̶R̶̶o̶̶a̶̶c̶̶h̶ BJ Penn
Web Site Design: ̶A̶̶n̶̶t̶̶o̶̶n̶ ̶G̶̶u̶̶r̶̶e̶̶v̶̶i̶̶c̶̶h̶ BJ Penn
I think in training BJ does what he wants and in that respect is the opposite of GSP who travels the globe looking for anyone who can help him with that critical missing piece.
Its not completely his fault though, he has 'Yes Men' and not the best staff like Jason Parillo in his team. He needs to change up his camp
lol :)))))))
How can you "weak" Anton. You bunch of ingrates! It's like weaking your parents.
Here's hoping Penn wins and uses the momentum to go down to 155 and make a final run at the title. And yes, neither of these seems too likely to happen but at least us fanboys can dream.
RORY is gonna ragdoll BJ!!!!!!!!!
BJ is more than capabale of pulling off a KO or submission...he is talented and skilled enough to finish any fight from any position at any time, but the reality is, he's facing a guy who is also incredibly talented, athletic and skilled...and probably outweighs him by a good 20 pounds. He will most likely end up on the wrong end of a lopsided unanimous decision.
Im excited for this fight, but BJ should have taken an easy one for his return... Rory is a big challenge . this fight is 50/50 it can go either way
I think it would be worse for BJ to take an easier opponent and risk the potential of a loss. If he loses to Rory there is no shame in this defeat especially if it goes the distance.
BJ can't put his name to no-namers. He would be better off staying retired. If BJ wins then he reignites the prodigy brand.
Bj really wants someone to retire him for good huh?
Rory better not take BJ lightly even though he's got everything to beat the Prodigy. One mistake in the first round and it could be over.
I hope BJ has his gas tank filled up when he fights Rory! He can beat him. A lot of his fights he lost were because he gassed out. He would of beaten fitch with no problem if he didn't gass out.
@ Anton: BJ also got a draw against Fitch and looked dominant in every range including WRESTLING (?!?!) in the first round. With a bigger gas tank BJ would have won that fight. I am not saying he has a bigger gas tank now but saying he only has one W in his last five fights isn't the whole story.
You would also have to take into account that Fitch was likely caught off gaurd for that fight and if he knew BJ was going to abandon the BJ fighter style he would have easily won the wrestling end of things.
bj may not have brains but he has BALLS gentleman!
Yeah, but unless he can hit Rory with them he's in for a long night.
That radio interview was painful.
Rory won't take this fight lightly--Carlos Condit taught him some valuable lessons.
BJ has a chance early in the fight--his hands are better than MacDonald's, but MacDonald has more varied striking and a longer reach. MacDonald will probably not take BJ down in the first round--so he will have to stand with Penn early on.
Barring a flash knockout--I have MacDonald taking this.
I'll be cheering for Bj. Rory can take a set back Bj cannot.
BJ has been around way too long to be blaming coaches about his cardio.
He is one of the few guys who has the money to choose the best high level coaches around the world. At some point you have to be responsible for the coaches you hire and the people around you.
Most guys in the UFC are following a similar recipe when it comes to training. They alternate between weight training, jujitsu, boxing, muay thai and wrestling.
BJ has access to all the top guys for advice and knows the conditioning training of friends like Anderson Silva.
Bj needs to stop pretending his coaches have let him down.
The fight I would like to see is Rory vs Erick Silva. I see that as a number 1 contender fight coming soon . That could be a hell of an evening !
Erik Silva is such a bastard
So Velasquez vs dos Santos 2...hells yee
I can actually see BJ gettin' knocked the hell out in this one....he shoulda stayed "Retired"........