Cagewriter - UFC

Cagewriter

Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:30 pm EDT

Penn readies for his Florian fight with ... Kenny Florian?

By Maggie Hendricks

When a fighter prepares for a bout, they will often bring in a training partner who is like their opponent. If you're preparing for a match with Josh Koscheck, you bring in a wrestler; Brandon Vera, a kickboxer; Lyoto Machida, Chuck Norris. In preparing for his fight with Kenny Florian, B.J. Penn took that tactic up a notch, bringing in a fighter who even looks like Florian.

digg delicious
more

27 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. nigron
    1. Posted by nigron Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:59 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    bjs a dope
  2. Robert C
    2. Posted by Robert C Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:14 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I have never, ever ever understood why BJ became so popular and showered with accolades and pound for pound king hype, etc... B.J. is just not as good as everyone makes him out to be.
    He looked good in beating Sherk, but that doesn't make up for his losses in big fights, which are many.
    Hopefully KenFlo will put an end to all the crazy talk about B.J.!
  3. Matthew
    3. Posted by Matthew Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I really never got it either....BJ is good and has a lot of natural talent....but he still has not impressed me in the cage... Maybe he will when he fights KenFlo....I doubt it....KenFlo R2
  4. Tim D
    4. Posted by Tim D Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Kenflo is going to wreck BJ and I'll be there!!!
  5. Timothy V
    5. Posted by Timothy V Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:40 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    The reason there is so much hype is the fact that if he wanted he could be better then anyone. However, BJ never wants to push himself that far. That has always been his issue. He never trains hard like other fighters do. He may have done some stuff to become a tad better but he is not even close to being at his full potential which is sad.
  6. michael m
    6. Posted by michael m Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:06 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Bj almost beat Machida, and he's a lightweight. Granted he was grossly overweight when he fought him. I agree he is a little bit overrated, but the guy is legit. That is where some of the p4p hype comes from. GSP pounded on him and won fair and square, but Penn's greasegate claims aren't completely invalid. Penn is a excellent fighter at lightweight and KenFlo will need to fight mistake free to beat a motivated Penn.
  7. me
    7. Posted by me Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:31 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    penn never even came close to beating machida.
  8. mathiasmorciglio
    8. Posted by mathiasmorciglio Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:41 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    that was one of the stupidest video clips i've ever seen. Do we really need a blog for this?
  9. michael m
    9. Posted by michael m Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:49 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    me are you serious, that was a very close fight. Many folks think it could have gone either way. I'm included in that. Machida didn't finish him, and didn't control him on the ground like GSP did. Go watch the fight and convince yourself that he was blown out, he wasn't. Granted he did look like a Hawaiian doughboy at that weight. Tell me what other guy could hang in a open weight fight with Machida and go on to win the UFC lightweight strap? Who?
  10. CSampson
    10. Posted by CSampson Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:59 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    BJ is considered great because of the credentials of the people he has wins over. I agree that he has never realized his full potential because of his mediocre work ethic. If he trained his str/cardio like gsp/sherk/etc he would be unstoppable (imo). But he still has wins over some top notch fighters:
    Matt Hughes (UFC WW Champ) - beat hughes badly in hughes prime
    Sean Sherk (UFC WW Champ) - beat him badly in sherks prime
    Jens Pulver (UFC LW Champ)
    Takanori Gomi (Pride LW Champ, Shooto WW Champ)
    Matt Serra (UFC WW Champ)
    Renzo Gracie
    Caol Uno
    Add to that the speed with which he attained his black belt and the fact that he was the first non-brazilian to win the JJ world championship at the black belt level, and I think he deserves a lot of the praise he receives.
    All that being said, he isnt the best p4p fighter in the world but I think he could be if he trained like some of the other top guys.
  11. Shaun
    11. Posted by Shaun Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:03 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    KenFlo will put a beatdown on BJ..BJ will be lucky if he make it to the 3rd round..
  12. DaveC
    12. Posted by DaveC Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:09 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Wow. Good level of BJP hate here. I hope he has a good fight with KF. And I hope he proves you all wrong.
    (Is that the real Steve Cofield's comment above?)
  13. Maggie Hendricks
    13. Posted by Maggie Hendricks Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:22 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    No, Dave. Yahoo! Sports' bloggers will always have the blue shading around their comments, like this.
  14. Chocolat
    14. Posted by Chocolat Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:33 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I hope he shuts all of you up too. Get off the guys sack, judging his fight with GSP to what he can achieve at LW is crazy. I think Florian has a chance, he's pretty good, but I say it's going to be a hell of a ride watching them fight either way.
  15. Karl A
    15. Posted by Karl A Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:07 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    If BJ would concentrate more on Cardio he would be unstoppable. He will beat Florian and then probably walk away from fighting...again.
  16. mike5o
    16. Posted by mike5o Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:20 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    KenFlo is great. I'll still pick BJ. Hey Nut, who were the "locals" that you talked to. I'm sure you were there on vacation with your Yacht or something? What is your "Fighting " weight? We are having a Combatives elimination tournament here in Iraq, and I am personally inviting you to participate. I'm sure with your wealth of knowledge, you can figure out how to get here? We need someone to hold the pads for the warm ups, and you could even hold a clinic on boxing. I'm sure you could get some time off your 9-5 to help entertain the Troops?
  17. mike5o
    17. Posted by mike5o Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:24 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    Oh, and nut, it's not hard to find BJ. You can find him, easy, and talk your racist $ht to his face, or anyones face for that matter.
  18. Deep Time
    18. Posted by Deep Time Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:27 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    I tend to agree with Karl A...BJ was gifted with ALL kinds of natural abilities yet chooses not to hone his gifts..Lazy to be honest...What a shame lots of guys work extra extra hard to be good and BJ just really dosen't care..
    I would much rather see a sold out champion then a lack of intrest champion...Here's hoping for K-flo to win and send BJ packing...Or anyone but BJ, to think I was a BJ fan but after that quitting thing no more love for Penn...Even Hughes the other REAL legend who got his can handed to him "NEVER" QUIT....Lame..Penn is, Well..A quitter..
  19. Wreckinball
    19. Posted by Wreckinball Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:18 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    Mike, it's never gonna happen.
  20. mike5o
    20. Posted by mike5o Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:44 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    I know.
  21. BOSS
    21. Posted by BOSS Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:49 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    BJ is a hell of champ. He runs the lighweight division hands down. So many haters just because he lost one fight to a superior fighter. He lost to gsp in a welterweight fight, damn people. These are the same people that think gsp can take on anderson silva. Personally i think thiago is gonna run through him. Penn is hardly any of the things you make him out to be. I cant wait to see him destroy another lightweight contender in kenblo
  22. Ted D
    22. Posted by Ted D Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:54 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    Mike5o don't you know Nutcracker is here to stir the pot, but I think he's been smoking it.
  23. mike5o
    23. Posted by mike5o Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:00 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    I know Ted, I know. I just wish he didn't use a $ht covered spoon, and maybe he could add something positive now and then.
  24. The Guru Of Greatness
    24. Posted by The Guru Of Greatness Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:46 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    alright well if your gonna call bj penn a quitter after the gsp2 fight than what do we call gsp after he tapped from punches when under dog matt serra beat his ass? o i know A QUITTER
  25. partypokeraces
    25. Posted by partypokeraces Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:19 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    BJ Penn got beat after 4 rounds by a top 3 pound for pound figher in the world, after moving up a weight class. Really guys?
    And you guys make it sound like the training is easy. These guys are some of the best conditioned athletes on the planet, that train as hard as most of the elite athletes on the planet. And because BJ can't keep up with (or probably more accurately chooses not to) he's not legit?
    Just sayin, MMA training isn't easy.

Cagewriter

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

Steve Cofield

Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
Maggie Hendricks,

Related Photo Gallery

More MMA Photos »

Y! Sports Blogs

Cagewriter Recent Readers

(provided by MyBlogLog)