[brad1989]

When a major fight gets scrapped due to injury, there is an inevitable letdown, and usually a dip in the quality of the replacement bout. That wasn’t the case this past week though, when the September 23rd welterweight title fight between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre was replaced by an intriguing rematch pitting Hughes against the last man to beat him, BJ Penn.

Penn’s reaction was what you would expect it to be.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna be the world champ again,” he exclaimed last Wednesday afternoon. A groin pull forced St. Pierre out of his long-awaited return bout with Hughes, and when Penn – who was already training for an October 10th UFC bout – got the phone call, his decision to fight the dominant welterweight of this era on a month’s notice was a no-brainer.

“As soon as I got the phone call, I was crying tears of joy for like 15 minutes when it finally hit me,” said Penn. “I’ve got a chance now. I did all these things in my life to get where I am and that’s why I got this shot, but I got a chance now to correct everything, to go back, beat Matt Hughes, get the belt back, beat St. Pierre, and go and do what I have to do. I’ve got a chance to correct everything and fix it all, and I know I’m gonna do it.”

Penn’s career has been a storied one, beginning with his winning of the jiu-jitsu Mundials (he was the first non-Brazilian to do so) and his stirring UFC debut in 2001. Thought to be unbeatable, Penn would lose his first title shot to Jens Pulver, but his legend grew with the upset win over Hughes in 2004, which came in his first fight at 170 pounds. After a contract dispute caused him to abandon the welterweight title, Penn stayed active and finally made a return to the Octagon in March against St. Pierre. Penn would lose a close split decision to the Canadian, but for the pride of Hilo, Hawaii, it was a wake-up call.

“My performance was low against Rodrigo (Gracie), Lyoto (Machida), Renzo (Gracie), and St. Pierre,” admitted Penn, who went 2-2 in that span. “I don’t want to make any excuses because they are all just great fighters and world-class people and I don’t - in any way, shape, or form - take away anything from them, but I just feel like I get burned out. I don’t want to be there, I’m not happy being there, so now I just have to do it like a high school kid – show up and fight after school at the park.”

In response, Penn has given up traditional, or as he calls it ‘professional’ training.

“I just gave up training professionally for a fight,” he said. “Either you’re a fighter, or you’re not. And every time I train professionally I just get so burned out that I don’t want to do it anymore. So I’m just gonna be in shape and train kinda like how I used to train when I won the jiu-jitsu world championships – just go there in the night, train, and go home. I’m not gonna go push myself to go running and do these thousand rounds of sparring and stuff. I fight best when I’m having a good time and after my last fight I was so burned out by the time I got there that now I’m just gonna take it easy and have fun.”

It could be a risky tact to take against a man Penn calls, “the greatest welterweight champion ever in the UFC,” but diehard fans believe that if anyone can pull it off, it’s ‘The Prodigy’, who already stunned the mixed martial arts world once when he submitted Hughes with a rear naked choke at UFC 46. How has the champ improved in Penn’s eyes since their first fight?

“He’s more experienced and he’s had a couple of big fights, but the reason I believe why Matt has stuck around so long and done so well is because he hasn’t changed,” said Penn. “He does what he does well and he doesn’t say ‘okay, today I’m gonna be the kickboxer,’ or ‘today, I’m gonna be this person’. He does what he does and he doesn’t stop. That’s what I attribute his success to, and I also attribute it to the fact that he doesn’t train all year round. He does whatever he does, and then when he hears that he’s got a fight, he goes and works out. So he doesn’t get burnt out.”

Ask Hughes the same question about Penn, and you can tell that the veteran titlist has got more than a little fire in his belly to get some payback.

“Well, he’s coming off a loss, that’s for sure,” said Hughes when asked how Penn has changed as a fighter since their first bout. “I think he’s pretty arrogant and that could be a weakness on his part. I’m sure technically he’s improved from when we fought last, as I have too. It could be a very different fight. I’m actually looking forward to it going the whole time.”

Read between the lines and that could mean that Hughes is looking to deliver a 25 minute beatdown on his rival. Does it add a little more to the motivational pot for the champ to have the opportunity to get even with Penn?

“Sure, everybody wants to avenge a loss, so I get to go back and fight somebody who beat me and somewhat scratch that loss off my record if I can get a win against him, and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing,” said Hughes.

As for Penn, fighting a top-quality fighter like St. Pierre is big, but fighting Hughes for the title is even bigger, and he expects his performance on September 23rd to reflect that.

“You can see it in my performance when I got a big person, when I’m up for something and really want to fight for something,” he said. “I’ll go out there and do it. I thrive on these big fights, and I thrive on pressure. I got my black belt one week before I won the world championships in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and I thrive off that; that’s when I perform my best.”

It’s hard to believe that Penn, at 27, is almost hitting the big 3-0. But his appeal has not diminished in the least, and he still remains one of the sport’s most intriguing fighters. It’s a quality only a select few in the fight game possess, and he knows it.

“It’s because everybody knows a true fighter when they see one,” said Penn. “This fight is bigger than the St.Pierre-Hughes fight and St. Pierre’s a great guy and a great fighter, but there’s just something about BJ Penn that gets people amped up. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, but something’s gonna happen. He might disappoint you, he might make you happy, he might make you cry, he might make you jump out of your chair, but he’ll do something to you.”