BJ Penn to fight in September

By JOHN BURNETT

Tribune-Herald staff writer

BJ Penn, who retired from the UFC octagon after losing a unanimous decision in October to former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, has unretired.

Rory MacDonald, an up-and-coming Canadian welterweight prospect, said on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” podcast, that he would like to fight the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion at UFC 152 on Sept. 22 in Toronto.

MacDonald didn’t have to wait long for a reply, as Penn shot back on Twitter: “Rory, I accept your challenge!”

The papers have not been signed, but Penn told the Tribune-Herald at his Hilo gym on Wednesday that he’s talked about fighting MacDonald with UFC President Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and the bout is a go.

Penn said his motivation was “another crack at Tristar Gym” and Firas Zaharabi, the head trainer of Penn’s arch-nemesis, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who has two wins over Penn, most recently at UFC 94, Jan. 31, 2009, in Las Vegas. MacDonald also trains at Tristar, a Montreal gym.

“I want to show that was a fluke. I wasn’t as motivated as I should have been,” Penn said.

Asked if he was looking to send a message to St. Pierre, Penn replied that he is “in no position to be talking about a title shot.”

“GSP’s the champion right now,” he said. “Not just a message to GSP, but for the whole gym, I’ve thought of them and I’m motivated for this fight.”

He’ll need that motivation. At 22, MacDonald is 11 years younger than the Wainaku warrior and has been fighting professionally since age 15. The only blemish on his 13-1 record is a third-round TKO loss two years ago to Carlos Condit, who has since claimed the UFC interim welterweight title. MacDonald has reeled off three impressive UFC wins since. That includes a unanimous decision over Nate Diaz, a fight that sent the younger Diaz brother scurrying back to the 155-pound division. MacDonald also administered impressive TKO beatdowns to tough-as-nails UFC veteran Mike Pyle and highly touted British import Che Mills.

As for fighting on MacDonald’s home turf, Penn said: “I think that might even be better, going into the belly of the beast.”

Penn (16-8-1) is a bona fide mixed martial arts legend, and is the only fighter not named Randy Couture to have won UFC title belts in two different weight classes. But his record over his last five bouts is 1-3-1, the win a 21-second KO Matt Hughes, who was 37 at the time. The draw was against Jon Fitch, at that time the No. 1 170-pound contender, and even Penn conceded afterwards that the judges may have been in a charitable mood towards him. During that stretch, Penn also lost his UFC lightweight title to Frankie Edgar as well as a rematch with Edgar, who’s since lost the belt to Benson Henderson.

Penn said he has “no concerns at all” about MacDonald, whom MMA insiders have anointed as the future of the welterweight division.

“I respect him,” Penn said. “I respect everything that he’s gonna bring to the table, but I have no concerns about any of that. I’ve been in the ring with a lot of good people and I don’t care what he’s done to his past couple of opponents.”

The talk surrounding MacDonald sounds eerily similar to what was said about Penn when he entered the UFC in 2001 after having won the world jiu-jitsu title the year before. Comparing MacDonald to his younger self, Penn said the Canadian is “stronger, not as technical.”

“I understand people saying he’s good, he’s a prodigy, all that, but (he’s) definitely a different type. He’s like a bulldozer; I was just like a snake.”

Penn earned every penny of his reported $150,000 payday in the Diaz fight. Sporting a bruised and battered face, he said afterwards: “I’ve got a daughter, another daughter on the way. I don’t want to go home looking like this.” His older daughter, Lili‘u, will be 4 on Oct. 25; his younger daughter, Kulia, was born Jan. 8.

“They’re Daddy’s little girls,” he said. “I always thought about having a boy at first, but now, I’m happy with the girls and I wouldn’t mind having all girls — not that I’m planning to have any more kids.”

At 33, Penn is approaching the twilight of a Hall-of-Fame career. Whether he fights or not, he’s still on the UFC payroll as the face of the company’s new Honolulu gym and makes promotional appearances worldwide for the organization. But the real money, the glory and perhaps the very essence of his being are all within the hostile confines of the cage. As a gladiator, he has the adulation of thousands, possibly millions, who have neither the aptitude nor the fortitude to do what he’s done at a world-class level for more than a decade.

That begs the question: If he beats MacDonald, what’s next?

“As of now, this is just a one-time thing. We’ll see how everything goes,” he said. “I’m just thinking about this fight. I don’t have any dreams or aspirations beyond this.”

Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.