BJ Penn Reveals Why He Continues To Fight In UFC
Legendary former two-division UFC world champion BJ Penn is still fighting at the age of 38 despite already being a member of the UFC Hall of Fame.
Penn has accomplished so much throughout his career, but he’s recently hit some rough times, as he’s lost four consecutive bouts. He made his return to the Octagon this past January only to be steam rolled by Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Fight Night 103.
“The Prodigy” will look to get back to his winning ways when he takes on Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 112 tomorrow night (June 25, 2017) in Oklahoma City. Recently speaking on the state of his career, Penn explained why he’s still fighting:
“That’s exactly why I’m fighting — I love to do it,” Penn told FOX Sports. “Don’t get me wrong, we believe we can go as far as we want to go, but on the other hand you’d say why do you want to go that far? Because I love it. It’s fun,” Penn said. “I’m not going to sit here and say it’s all that I know, but it’s one of the things that I know very well.
“It’s just too fun. I just love it.”
Prior to his fight with Rodriguez, Penn enlisted the help of highly regarded trainer Greg Jackson, but after the loss, he admitted that he went back to his native Hawaii to prepare for Siver:
“I got with my old trainer Rudy Valentino and I’m back with the Marinovich brothers. Just very happy, very positive training. Very good work,” Penn said. “I definitely felt like I wanted to get back to some comfortable people, some people I knew. Of course, I was with Jason Parillo, who I know very well.
“Right now the camp was done in Hawaii. It was just great. Everybody had a good vibe.”
At the end of the day, Penn simply loves to fight, and while he hopes to put on a good performance tomorrow night, he’s been focused on ‘enjoying the ride’:
“I’m just a fighter and I love this stuff,” Penn said. “I definitely want to get back in there and show everybody how good I am but that’s not what’s on my mind. What’s on my mind is just performing at my highest level and just enjoying the ride.”
Do you expect Penn to bounce back in Oklahoma City?
