UFC
UFC NEWS: B.J. Penn's trainer says he was battling sinus infection at UFC 112
Apr 13, 2010 - 9:16:15 AM UFC NEWS: B.J. Penn's trainer says he was battling sinus infection at UFC 112

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

As the rounds dragged on in the five round UFC Lightweight Title bout at UFC 112 last Saturday, it was becoming increasingly clear that something was off with B.J. Penn. Compared to his previous two Title defenses, against Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian, Penn was slowed, lethargic and just generally didn't look like the fighter he has been at 155 lbs.

Penn's trainer, Rudy Valentino, spoke with CagePotato.com about the fight, and revealed one of the causes for Penn's less than spectacular performance. "One judge scored every round for Edgar but what I saw in the fight when I was watching it, and I haven’t watched it again on tape, but watching it as it happened, I felt that B.J. won the first three rounds," said Valentino. "The fourth round was even and I think he lost the last round. So I feel B.J. won the fight.

"He was also battling a sinus infection and was on antibiotics, so he was not one hundred percent. I’m not making any excuses, that is just what happened. I didn’t see him lose that fight but I did see him lose the last round. As for effectiveness of punches, I thought B.J. had it. Frankie got two takedowns but BJ got up real fast and nothing happened on the ground there, so I don’t know if they could score the fight based on those two takedowns."

Valentino also responded those who will deride his comments as more excuses coming from Penn's camp following a loss, as he said "I’m not taking anything from Frankie Edgar. He fought a real good fight and had a good strategy. His stand-up was good, he was moving a lot in and out real fast. Frankie fought a very good and strategic fight. I don’t want this to be about criticizing Frankie because I like him and he fought well."

Penn and his camp are now hoping to get an immediate rematch with Edgar following the much criticized scorecards from the judges at UFC 112. "I was talking to B.J. and we are looking for a straight automatic rematch," Valentino said. "We don’t know when but we’d like it in Hawaii."

Valentino also added that Penn is not planning to move to welterweight, saying the longtime lightweight king wants to stay at 155 lb. and wants to fight often. "There is no moving up right now. That is not in our plans B.J. wanted to have another fight in 155 after Edgar before trying welterweight again. I just spoke to him and he has no plans to move up again. We want to fight Frankie again as soon as possible."

Link to full CagePotato.com interview with Rudy Valentino

Penick's Analysis: This is going to be taken as his camp just making excuses because of the loss, but from where I see it this is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Penn was slowed throughout the fight. And even with a sinus infection and being slowed by antibiotics I still think Penn won the fight, and I'm not anywhere close to alone in that belief.

Edgar deserves credit and respect for the performance he had and for pushing Penn to the limit, wearing him down and taking over the fight by the end, but I think it makes a big statement for Penn when he wasn't even close to 100% for the fight he still could have pulled off the victory.

I'll be pegged as a blinded Penn fan once again for agreeing with these comments, but the simple fact is the fight I saw on Saturday, and re-watched again on Sunday, was a fight Penn should have won three rounds to two in my opinion. I wasn't in support of him for what I thought were simply unreasonable excuses after the GSP fight last year, but here this is a reasonable excuse for why Penn fought the way he did in Abu Dhabi.

RELATED STORY: PENICK: Frankie Edgar's victory over B.J. Penn not a robbery, still not the correct decision: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]

[B.J. Penn art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]