I'm quickly losing respect for BJ Penn
I have always been a huge BJ Penn fan. But to be a fan doesn't mean that I must hate his opponent, sight unseen.
Throughout his career, it has often been noted that BJ lacked commitment during training and lazily relied on natural ability. He has always been brash and arrogant but his jiu jitsu and striking were so damn good, you had to love the kid.
Unfortunately, BJ is beginning to lose some of his luster. His constant disrespect for GSP during the UFC 94 pre-fight hype could on one hand be viewed as his attempt to be the 'bad guy' and 'sell' the fight. But let's be honest, Penn vs. GSP needed no help or hype. Some fights are such intriguing stories that they sell themselves (Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture is another perfect example). But another explanation is maybe BJ is just an ass.
BJ's obsession with 'Vaseline gate' is wearing thin with me. I get his point (the rules are the rules) but during grappling Vaseline, sweat and natural body oil get on both fighters. Why didn't he utilize another technique? And apparently GSP had absolutely no problem hanging on to him and punishing that ass.
Now BJ has produced a Vaseline music video to further bolster his position and mine.
BJ is a great fighter, no doubt. But he is an equally poor loser.
I really don't understand the anger BJ is garnering in pursuing the investigation to the grease incident. As fans of the sport we should all hold fighters to the highest standard to ensure that our sport suffers no blight. I honestly believe that BJ owes it to his fans, himself and the sport to see that an investigation is followed through on.
It would be one thing if this were an isolated incident but complaints of GSP being greasy predate this fight and the evidence this fight presented us. Hughes, Serra, Sherk, and Miller made comments about Georges being slippery before this happened. Imagine for a moment these allegation and proof were made against another lesser liked fighter like Koschek or Sylvia for a moment. Is there any doubt this incident would be viewed differently?
The amount of anger directed toward BJ is astounding. People are blaming BJ and even Chuck Liddell for the incident ... it's almost as if they believe that both guys climbed into the octagon and slathered Georges with grease on their own. The fact is, GSP and his corner committed this infraction between every round of the fight. The fact is GSP had an advantage, however slight, during this fight. MMA is fighting for credibility with the mainstream media. Glossing over this incident because you dislike BJ's prefight comments (which in my mind are done in a poor Ali fashion and an attempt to sell the fight) , BJ himself, or because you love GSP is wrong. Infractions like this no matter their size should not be tolerated.
Reply to this
Thank you for publically saying what I felt. As a patriotic American, I have a hard time rooting for non-Americans in MMA fights, but I was all for GSP in this fight. I didn't like all the smack talk Penn said, GSP while not American is has always been a true gentleman who doesn't engage in a loto of that talk. Penn's profane attacks on him were way out of line and had me hoping GSP would whope his tail long before the fight even started. Now Penn is just being a sad pathetic looser who has isolated his fan base. Thanks for publically calling Penn what he is.
Mike in Ohio
Reply to this
i agree with the doc, why did bj not try another defense or technique if he had been warned before hand that this might happen? the reason is because he was simply outclassed and over-powered. period.
i do think that what gsp's corner did was stupid, though, as it allows a weasle like bj a chance to cry foul. the reason bj complaining about it pisses me off is because he was burning out after 1 round (a round where any greese on gsp made zero diff) because he is not in good enough shape to compete wiht a bigge man. so he talks all kind of smack, comes in to fight in poor condition, gets his ass handed to him, then cries foul when he loses. he owes his fans and gsp's fans an apology for coming in to this fight out of shape. thats what pisses me off.
Reply to this