Do you notice something as BJ Penn approaches the third defense of his lightweight championship this Saturday in Memphis against Diego Sanchez? It’s the sound of silence, of peace.
Unlike most of the Hawaiian icon’s bouts, there is no drama, no heated war of words, no incendiary statements that go straight from Penn’s mouth to his opponent’s bulletin board. This weekend’s fight is just what it is – a fight - and the champion is pleased with that fact, though he’s not guaranteeing it will stay that way until the bell rings.
“I’m sure I’ll get into it with somebody sooner or later,” laughed Penn during an interview with UFC.com, “but I think Diego’s a tough opponent, so I’m just concentrating on his skills. I know he brings a lot to the table and I’m just really focused.”
But it’s more than that for the 30-year old Penn, who seems to have turned a corner in his career and his life in the months following a bitter loss to Georges St-Pierre in January. That loss, the fifth of his storied career, left a bad taste in his mouth and had taken whatever joy he derived from fighting out of his life. That all changed in the days before his successful title defense over Kenny Florian at UFC 101 in August.
“Over time you realize that you can’t judge success by championships,” he said. “One day you’re at the top of the world and the next day you’re at the bottom, and you’ve got to keep pushing through and keep moving forward no matter happens. And I’m kinda in that mindset. I’ve got a lot of wins and I’ve got a few losses, and I realize that anything can happen when you step in the ring and give it your all against someone else who’s giving their all. So I’m in the mindset that I’m just trying to go out and do my best and let the cards fall where they may, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the night. It definitely took a long time to get that point though. Before I was always about ‘I gotta win, I gotta win, I gotta win,’ and a lot of times when you have that attitude, you end up doing less than your best. Now all I gotta do is go out there and do my best and everything will happen the way it should.”
Yet while he says that you can’t judge success by championships, for most observers, it was when Penn finally won the lightweight title in 2008 by submitting Joe Stevenson that his legacy was secured. With that win, he not only joined Randy Couture as the only two fighters to win UFC titles in two weight classes, but he did it by winning the title that had eluded him twice before. It was like coming full circle for ‘The Prodigy’, but his status as the greatest lightweight fighter in history will truly be cemented with a win over Sanchez.
Let’s just look at the numbers:
If Penn beats Sanchez, he will break a tie with Jens Pulver for most successful 155-pound title defenses, most successful consecutive title defenses, and most lightweight championship fights won. Penn already owns the UFC lightweight records for most title fights (currently 5), most championship rounds (19), most KOs in title fights (1) and most submissions in title fights (2). It’s a dizzying array of accomplishments, and a list that stunned Penn a bit when it was brought to his attention.
“Before I used to sit there and think about all these things all the time, but now I’m just trying to stay around,” he said. “It’s amazing and it’s the kinda thing where I don’t want to talk too soon. I’d rather talk about all this when I’m fat, I’m hanging out, and not fighting anymore, and then I’ll tell everybody how great I was.”
He laughs, and even though he has stopped talking about legacy in his recent interviews, it’s clear that he doesn’t want to walk away from this sport as just another fighter. That means adding to his game, refining what’s already there, and finding new methods of motivation and training. And training-wise, it was clear in the Florian fight that Penn’s relocation of his training camp to California was a smart move. But it was more than Marv Marinovich’s conditioning methods that made the trip worth it for Penn.
“I really think a big part of it is that we have the private gym that we train at,” he said. “I’m not the only one, but any UFC fighter can tell you that as the sport grows bigger there are constantly people who want to talk to you and who want to watch you work out and take pictures. They’re fans, but they don’t know what you’re going through or how hard you’re working at that time, and they’re trying to jump in there to take pictures or just say hi. All that stuff’s cut out now and I think that’s the most important thing about being in California and training at a private gym.”
And then there is Marinovich, who had Penn barely breathing heavy into the fourth round of the Florian fight. Of course, against Sanchez – who is known for his cardio – a full gas tank is even more essential.
“I think people will always bring up my cardio,” said Penn. “Everybody wants an idea of ‘how can we beat him?’ And they’re not thinking, ‘oh, I‘m gonna submit him’ or ‘I’m gonna knock him out.’ They’re looking for anything they can, so they bring up the cardio issue. These guys got to remember that I fought Sean Sherk and he’s supposed to be a cardio machine. I fought Kenny Florian and he doesn’t get tired. I fought Caol Uno and he doesn’t get tired. I fought so many people over the years, but they just pick that one thing. Nobody wants anybody to be perfect and they want to look for something to talk about. I’m in great shape, but even after this fight, I’m sure the next guy who fights me, that will be his way to beat me too.”
Penn smiles, secure in his place on top of the lightweight division, perhaps the sport’s toughest weight class. And at the same time, you get the impression that despite the quality of Sanchez as an opponent and Penn’s attitude that he’s just going to enjoy the ride now and not pressure himself too much, there is still a fire in the Hawaiian’s belly, and that the prospect of a hungry challenger trying to take his belt is all it really takes to get him sufficiently motivated.
“He (Sanchez) tells everybody that he’s this cardio machine and that he’s someone who’s gonna try to hit me hard when we’re standing up and then he’s going to take me down and ground and pound me,” muses Penn. “And he thinks he’s going to break my will. So I see somebody who’s trying to come and do that. I think he would be a lot more dangerous for me if I didn’t know all these things, but I know that his number one thing is that he’s gonna try to break my will, and since knowing is half the battle and I really know how to fight against that, I have to show this man of will what will really is.”
He chuckles.
“Just like the usual suspects.”