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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
When B.J. Penn returned to Hilo, Hawaii, in August following his second straight loss to Frankie Edgar, he was anxious to get back into action after realizing he didn't have a whole lot to do back home.
"I drove around the town one day and I was like, 'Man there's nothing to do,'" Penn said in a pre-fight teleconference for his bout with Matt Hughes this Saturday at UFC 123. "I would rather be training to fight in the Octagon... I don't want to go in the bar and drink. There's not much to do in Hilo. There's nothing to do. I'd way rather be training to fight in the Octagon.
"I think once you've been where me, Lyoto Machida, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Matt Hughes have been, a lot of other stuff, it just seems boring. This is the only thing that keeps me feeling like I have something to live for. As soon as Dana gave me that text, he said, you want to take a fight with Matt Hughes, I got chicken skin all over my body and I was like, 'I got to a reason to live for a couple more months.' I think fighters are just used to that adrenaline."
Penn wasn't in a position to be looking for any specific fights following two disappointing performances against Edgar, so he felt the offer of a third fight with Hughes was a gift.
"Coming off two losses I probably would have accepted anyone Dana would have offered me," he said. "But offering me Matt, Dana kind of gave me a gift because I've always hoped we could fight again."
As for what the future holds for Penn past this fight, he said first it's dependent on how he feels back at welterweight for the first time since his second loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94. But he did express a desire to take fights at both lightweight and welterweight.
"If I go out there and do well against Matt and I feel great at welterweight, there's no doubt that I would love to fight the best welterweights out there," Penn said. "You know, 155 lbs., 170 lbs., a lot of people are doing it. I'm not the only guy. I don't think that's out of the question."
Penick's Analysis: I think the best thing for Penn to do is find a weight that works for him and try to make a run there. He's been dominant as a lightweight up through his fights with Edgar, but if he feels better equipped for success at welterweight and performs well against Hughes, he should stick with it, at least for a few fights. Jumping up and down isn't good for any fighter, even though there are some that are attempting to do just that. He can't be truly effective at both if he's going up and down, so hopefully we can see him stick to one or the other.
[B.J. Penn art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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