BJ Penn has gone insane.

Come in, enjoy the fire, it's low, and if you watch the smoke you can view some season one Buffy with me. But we will pause that as I have a minor issue to deal with that has been going on, and while I don't think it will end the discussion, I do want to make some points very very clear.

So I'm a big MMA fan and I love combative sports. It's still no football, which is my true love, and let anyone who gets between me and it suffer my fury. And I have a few favorite fighters. Unfortunately because of my limited exposure to the overall sport they are mainly fighting in the UFC. They include: Forrest Griffin, Joe Lauzon, Randy Couture, Jorge Rivera, Rich Franklin, Anderson Silva, Kenny Florian, and top of the list is Georges "Rush" St. Pierre.

Now yeah I'm one of those people that will judge not just their athletic prowess, for almost all of those above they all maintain a certain level of humility. A humour about themselves. Or maybe even just a 'nice' guy. They also all are very dedicated to their sport, and come to the ring with more than just 'I'm a fighter' attitudes and tend to come up with a game plan and have a cerebral component to their fighting. And that's my biggest draw.

I was never the biggest guy on the offensive line but I was the guy who knew everything I could about what my team was doing and what my opponents would do. I religiously watched game film, I practiced hard, I mastered the techniques of what I do, and while I know I would probably get my ass KICKED by a professional, I would never fear donning the gear again and stepping onto the gridiron for a one on one with one of them. Because I know what skill level I have, and how best to use it.

So this takes us back to UFC 94. The 'battle for the ages' was how the fight was touted. Two of the best pound for pound fighters, GSP and BJ Penn were going to fight for the Welterweight (170lbs) title. And man was I cheering for GSP to lay a complete ass kicking on BJ Penn, especially after his derogatory comments in the UFC Primetime specials they ran leading up to the fight.

Now BJ Penn has a lot of accolades to his record. First non-Brazilian to win the world BJJ title, second fighter to own titles in the UFC in two different weight classes (not together tho) and so on. But he has always lacked two very big parts of his game. First is his inability to properly prepare for a fight. He doesn't pay attention to the cerebral part of the game. He is referred to as the 'Prodigy' because of his impressive skills at a very young age. The second is his cardiovascular endurance. He always gasses in long fights. Particularly if someone pushes him to work hard, such as uses clinches and a lot of ground work and defense. It takes a lot of energy to prevent yourself from being manhandled by someone else.

So GSP and his trainers, particularly Greg Jackson, came up with a spectacularly detailed game plan that targeted BJ's weaknesses, and played to GSP's strengths, specifically that he is a much larger and stronger man than BJ. They detailed the game plan at the press conferences after the fight to demonstrate that GSP is not just an incredible athlete and fighter, but is a cerebral fighter. He did exactly what was required to take any advantage BJ had and then physically beat the fuck out of him. Fourth round stoppage due to corner and doctor. BJ got thumped on.

But here's where the problem comes in. Despite this masterful performance a hitch occurred. Between rounds one and two, Phil Nurse applied a breathing technique to GSP that allowed for a small amount of Vaseline to be rubbed on the middle of GSPs back. Luckily the Nevada State Athletic Commission saw this, entered the ring, forced GSP to be cleaned off, and the beating of BJ continued.

But because of this one little tiny detail suddenly all the work that GSP, his trainers, his coaches, and everyone else that helped to secure that victory did is nullified. There is a cloud hanging over that victory yet I am unsure how that cloud is even being allowed to continue. For a few specific points.

The very first thing is that they towelled GSP down as soon as they noticed it, and in every subsequent round. The same cannot be said for BJ Penn, and if you read the responses from GSPs camp you will notice that the migration of Vaseline is one of those things you just have to deal with in MMA. Think about it, you apply it to the face, but in any close combat sport, the face will most likely be rubbing against many different body parts. So honestly if anyone had an unfair advantage during the fight it would be Penn himself.

The part I find even funnier in this is that despite the complete lack of impact this 'cheating' had has to do with the actual rule itself, which isn't that clear. It states there may not be an inordinate amount of grease on a fighter's body. That's it. So they may change the rules and that's good.

But to get to the real point here. BJ has turned this into his own personal vendetta. He has screamed and yelled to anyone who will listen that he was unjustly beaten and he wants his fair fight. He refuses to accept that he got his ass handed to him by a fighter who put together a game plan to beat him that badly. No, what does he do? He goes to the NSAC WITH HIS MOM!!
So he's pissing and moaning and bitching to high heaven about this and the best part, the very bestest ever part to this sad little tirade from a rich kid who didn't get what he wanted is this. He launched his 'Live Like a Champion' Project the DAY AFTER. So the vast majority of people who have been watching this are calling BJ Penn a whiner and complainer, and find his antics disgraceful and very un-champion like, and now he's going to teach other people what they're supposed to do?! Wow, reality really isn't a part of this guy's vocabulary huh?

What little respect I had for BJ Penn's talents is gone. He's wasted them expecting to walk through whatever is there to get what he wants, and when he doesn't he expects others to hand it over. And now since he is so great, he plans to tell others how to be just as great. I think the cult suggestion from the article is far more plausible than this camp of his teaching anything useful.

So simply put. Penn, quit being such a fucktard. Take your lumps, live like a champion, defend your belt, and if you can manage it, crawl your sorry ass way back up the Welterweight rankings and try to get another shot. But guess what brah, since GSP has demonstrated to everyone just how to beat your ass, everyone else will be on the bandwagon to do it as well. Suck on that Baby Jay.