Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:15 pm EDT
Sanchez interview: If Penn drops out of UFC 101, he'll be ready
Diego Sanchez was a lot of fun to cover around The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. Between the rambling trash talking, the fight itself and his mean-man face during the weigh-in and the start of the fight, Sanchez gave us plenty to smile about. Some of the best stuff came during the prefight when he was asked about his long relationship with former UFC Octagon girl Ali Sonoma. Sanchez told Cagewriter that he's been single for two weeks. It's over for now with the fabulous Sonoma said Sanchez, because there are too many big things on the horizon. As Sanchez gave the explanation, he also included an odd statement about being ready if the UFC needed a fill-in come August 8:
"I'm gonna get ready and I'm gonna train hard and just get ready for whatever UFC gives me," Sanchez told Cagewriter. "Say something happens and B.J. isn't ready to defend his title and he vacates, Diego Sanchez is going to be right there saying 'Joe Silva, let's get it homie. Bring Kenny Florian one more time. Let's do this!'"
Watch Sanchez talk about his future with Cagewriter before the fight (4:00 mark):
Penn is slated to defend his UFC lightweight belt against Kenny Florian at UFC 101. Rumors are flying again about Penn's lack of interest in fighting Ken-Flo and fighting in general. He just added a baby daughter to his family and may be lacking motivation. How hard is he training and how much does he weight today, a little over six weeks away from the fight? If he's thinking that he may have to fill in, it sounds like Sanchez is hearing the same thing.
UPDATE: Odd timing on this weight update VIDEO from B.J. Penn. Maybe he heard about Sanchez's comments. Penn certainly isn't letting himself get fat, weighing in at a healthy 167 pounds.
Sanchez speaks early on in the video (shot shortly after his TUF 9 win over Clay Guida) about fighting with the same determination he did as a youngster before he was on the Ultimate Fighter. He also commented that today's Diego would crush the 185-pound Diego from TUF 1 days.
B.J. Penn update via MMAConvert
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- Dong Hyun Kim vs. Chris Lytle set for UFC 110 in Australia
- Despite illness, UFC broadcaster Mike Goldberg says he's ready for UFC 106 duties
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- "Strikeforce Challengers V: Woodley vs. Bears" weigh-in results
- Strikeforce to Florida in 2010 with Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos and Herschel Walker
- Dustin Hazelett "disappointed" by UFC 106 cancellation but ready for quick return
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Steve Cofield
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.
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48 Comments
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That is probably because all of your Silicon Valley colleagues are a bunch of wimps who don't have the intestinal fortitude to see real athletics. Here's then thing, who cares if MMA is mainstream or not? It is the most entertaining sport with real drama, pure guts and the greatest athletes in the world. Who gives a crap about what your colleagues think about sports anyway. Tell them to go make some computer chips and cool animation movies. Let the rest of us barbarians enjoy the greatest sport around today. Yahtzee anyone?
BTW, your demographic is about as far off of where the rest of America is morally and culturally. I should know, I was born and raised in the great city of San Francisco.
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B.J. Penn looks washed up. Let's face it. He was a great fighter with unparalleled skills in BJJ and boxing back in the day but he is no longer a guy who is cleaning out divisions. The Greasegate fiasco did not help him any in the eyes of fans and the fighting community. If you lose you lose. Plain and simple.
It is really sad because B.J. is so talented and could really have achieved top tier, hall of fame greatness if he just trained hard. It is just a shame that he is so lazy and has a sense of entitlement.
I like Kenny Florian. I think he deserves to fight B.J. Penn and if he backs out I think he should retire from the sport. It shows a lack of integrity and heart. I think a Sanchez/Florian fight would be awesome.
However, I do want to see B.J. Penn fight Ken/Flo. I will be a close fight. I think if B.J. trains hard he will win.
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I don't disagree with you. I'm just saying that the sport is not mainstream yet, and that 10 years seems like an inaccurate claim on White’s part. I wish that it were mainstream so that we would not have to pay to see most events. I wish White’s prophecy would come true tomorrow. I love MMA and agree that it is the most entertaining sport. I have been to four live events and will go again. I was just making a simple claim about it being “mainstream.”
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Are you a fat retarded heifer who is incapable of any sort of logical reasoning? You have nothing to say, nothing. You can’t even read. Let me count the wheelbarrow of fallacies that you just unloaded: You pull nothing put non sequitur and ad hominems. You cannot even follow the simplicity of arguments:
Claim: “White says MMA will be the biggest sport in the world in ten years.”
White’s claim is not likely.
Evidence: College students, the most likely age group, are not particularly entranced by MMA. Other sports dominate their entertainment interests. This is also true of adults in general.
Conclusion: White’s claim is not likely to be true
Can you not follow that simple argument, retard fat heifer? I’d tell you to go paint your toe nails, but we all know that your 500 tons of fun could not reach them.
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Interesting "ad hominems" that you are using...Hmmm...
Fat, retarded heifer? That doesn't sound "logical."
Here is the deal: MMA is a fast growing sport. Will it surpass the NFL in 10 years? I doubt it but it is possible.
I do wonder if you really are a true MMA fan based on what I have read from your..um...interesting comments.
So far there is no evidence that B.J. will back out. I doubt that he will this close to a huge fight. I hope he doesn't. I want to see how his boxing-jitsu works against Florians Muay-jitsu. I can't imagine Florian beating Penn on the ground at his size. However, he could knee the crap out of Penn but Penn's clinch is no joke.
Once again, I think it will come down to conditioning. If Penn doesn't submit him early I see great possibilities of Florian winning this fight the longer it goes.
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Why do you think Penn's striking is better than Kenny's? If Penn stands and bangs, it is not obvious to me that he will win. If it hits the mat, the edge goes to Penn (if he is in condition). I would bet Kenny on this one. His mental game is also on cue, but BJ is not so much so.
Why do you think I am not an MMA fan? Because I said White's claim is unlikely to be true? You do not even disagree with me. So what the fukk?? Or has the Heifer's comments incapacitated your ability to think? Did her blog even make logical sense to you? She was too stupid to understand that my Tyson comment was referring to ages long ago before he was a criminal
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For how long have we been in lame fights? And for what reason? We blog back and forth with insults, and you are no better than myself (so don’t act innocent or as if you keep a calm composure). I bet you could not even recall the original reason for our fights. Was it about MMA striking and who is better than whom? At this point I do not even recall your beef. So if you want to fight with me, at least remind me what we are fighting about?
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I think KenFlo can take it, and Ali is freakin hot, bad move by Diego.
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when we start to see at least one of the those types of fighters in MMA then we can talk about it reaching mainstream status. hopefully it will happen soon.
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Just curious what type of professor you are? MMa may not be the most popular sport in ten years, however you are a fool to think that it is not rapidly growing to head in that direction. I don't live in Cali, I live in Tennessee. Have ever gone to a buffalo wild wings for a ufc event? Try going to this so called sports bar during the Nba finals next year and compare that to the crowd you see there on a UFC fight night. Your argument is rediculous. It is obvious mma will not be the most popular sport in ten years. However it will far surpass any popularity that boxing once had. The only thing boxing has to brag about is the Ray mercer versus Tim Sylvia fight, which was a total fluke. So in a sense your right it will not be the most popular in ten years, but it is becoming more mainstream. The fact that dilliards department stores sale tapout and affliction t shirts is proof. Your non statistical analysis is not a direct representation of the entire population of the united states. Your claim that college students are the main audience, I disagree. I would say beer drinking rednecks are more likely to watch ufc than a college student (no offense guys but I am from the south so I can say that). I hope you don't base the popularity of everything based off your college classroom. Otherwise your gonna think rainbow flip flops and fraternities are cool too! Perhaps you should take a class in probability and stats at your university so next time you will know better than compare your college classroom to the rest of the united states.
Glad your students don't follow mma, that should be busy studying anyway right?
Honestly I don't want mma to get very huge. Look what espn did to poker. They made it popular overnight but now everyone is burnt out from hearing about poker.
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