Author: As told to Megan Olivi

I have been blessed to see so many amazing fights – from knockouts to five round battles to great comebacks. But if you look at the Shogun-Henderson fight in San Jose, that was just a battle between two true legends of mixed martial arts.

For Shogun to take the beating he took from Hendo early on and be able to withstand it is amazing. Then he had Hendo in full mount the entire 5th round but was just too exhausted to finish him, while Hendo on the other hand had just enough in the tank not to be finished. That was a fight.

Think about it – that fight had an Olympian, a PRIDE Champion and a former UFC champion. Just two incredible athletes. On paper it was a dream matchup.

I compare it to when Chuck [Liddell]and Wanderlei [Silva] finally fought — it was one of those fights that was supposed to happen in PRIDE, and then it was supposed to happen years ago in the UFC, but Hendo ended up going to Strikeforce. Then a little bit later we ended up buying Strikeforce. So it was a fight that MMA fans and UFC fans waited so many years for. Not only did it live up to the billing but it exceeded the billing.

With Shogun and Hendo in San Jose, that was just a night of great things
– a great venue and a great night of fights. Before Shogun and
Henderson stepped into the Octagon, Wanderlei and Cung Le had an awesome
battle. And that was another fight where two other legends put on a
great show.

But there’s a certain time while Joe and I are calling the fights that all of a sudden we just become two fans and we get excited like two kids. You could definitely say that Forrest [Griffin] and Stephan [Bonnar] was another one of those fights [at the first-ever TUF Finale]. We kind of sit back and almost want to get out of the way and soak it all in as the crowd reacts. Georges [St-Pierre] and Carlos [Condit] was a recent example of that as well.

In those situations Joe and I really become fans. We will look over at Dana and Lorenzo like “WOAH!” then you start to see them react and almost turn into kids. Then you have legends and dignitaries of UFC in those first couple of rows starting to become kids and loving the action inside the cage. Everybody just becomes a fan, Joe and I included.

So fights like that – we just become two more fans who feel like we are sitting at a bar or in the stands with all the other fans, but we just happen to be talking so people can hear us. Those kinds of fights aren’t work. Those are the last-minute field goals at the Super Bowl. Those fight call themselves.

For me the Octagon moment that jumps out in my mind more than any other fight is when Randy Couture fought Tim Sylvia.

Randy came out there and he dropped Sylvia right off the bat. At the time, I really didn’t like Tim Sylvia — I thought he was a jerk.

A few events before the Couture-Sylvia fight I had made my UFC debut at UFC 63 and beat Jens Pulver. About a month later at the next event, my brother Dan came out and fought Spencer Fisher. My brother took the fight on about 10 days’ notice, and he lost.

Backstage after the fight, Tim was being a jerk and saying some really unnecessary things to my brother about his loss. He kind of kicked Dan when he was down. Tim went over to Dan and said “Nice 2 minutes, ha ha,” and walked away. After that I instantly named him my nemesis, and obviously I had this intense hatred for Tim Sylvia more than any other fighter on the planet.

So a few months later Randy and Tim fought at UFC 68, and we went over to my buddy Chris’ house to watch the fights with friends. Randy was supposed to be the wrestler and Tim Sylvia was supposed to be the elite striker. And there was Couture dropping Sylvia, just putting him on his butt right away.

When that happened, I jumped out of my chair. It’s actually probably the only time I’ve ever jumped out of my chair watching a fight. Randy was my hero from that point on.

As for my own best fight, I think fighters are hesitant to name match-ups they were involved in as their favorite fights because there is so much that goes on leading up to fight night. A lot of people say they enjoyed my fight against Melvin Guillard, and that is always awesome to hear. But I had the most horrid camp ever for that fight. It was basically injury after injury. There was all kinds of crap that went on leading up to the fight.

Everyone else can see it as 45 seconds and an awesome finish, but I see it as three months of trouble and one thing after another. I’m glad other people appreciate it but that’s definitely not one of my favorite fights.

But that fight with Randy vs. Tim is definitely my favorite. Me and my brother Dan still talk about it to this day.

Of course I always say the first Matt Hughes fight when I won the title was the greatest moment in my career. But the moment that sticks out in my head as the most memorable is my first time walking out to the Octagon at UFC 31 in 2001 to fight Joey Gilbert.

We were in Atlantic City for the event and it was just the craziest feeling. I remember my brothers were like, “Okay this is it. It’s time. We have to go to the arena.”

I was so nervous in my room before my fight, I was crying. I knew this was the moment that was going to separate me from just being a street punk. I was actually going to get into the Octagon and fight someone who also trained and knew how to fight.

I was scared because I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was like going onto the scariest rollercoaster ever for the first time.

When I think about that moment now, I still feel those same butterflies I had that night. I remember walking out and listening to the old UFC music. Walking to the Octagon at 22 years old –- that was amazing. What if I would have gotten knocked out and my career was done? That would have been it right there.

I never have thought my life would be anything like this, and it all started on that night walking into the Octagon. I actually just texted Dana the other day to say ‘thank you’ to him and Lorenzo. Because of them and the UFC I’ve gotten to live a life I would have never imagined.

Now I have the BJ Penn UFC Gym in Honolulu and BJPenn.com. I have all these other things that are so amazing. I have the gym and website and my whole UFC career, and I also have my beautiful family. My 4-year-old daughter wears my fight shirts. All the kids around town call me Uncle BJ so she always puts on my Just Scrap shirt and says, “I got Uncle BJ’s shirt! I got Uncle BJ’s shirt!” I got her 20 of them so she can wear them every night to sleep.

Without that moment at UFC 31, none of these amazing things in my life would be possible. So that’s why walking out to that fight is my favorite Octagon moment.

When I think about my favorite fight, honestly, Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit, because I just watched it. It was an amazing fight – just so good. I saw UFC 154 with friends and family at my house in Denver, where I’m doing my training camp for my fight in a few weeks.

It was cool because GSP came off that long layoff and a lot of people doubted him, including people I know in the industry. People were saying “His time is up man, I don’t think he can do it anymore” and “What about ring rust?” They were really talking a lot of smack.

As soon as I saw Georges shoot his first shot and his timing was there I was like, “Oh, Carlos is in trouble.” If he would have shot in and his timing was off, then people would have blamed it on Georges having ring rust and would have immediately said he could no longer compete at this level. But as soon as I saw that double-leg I knew he would be fine. And then I was like “Hell yeah!”

Carlos was so game, too. His face was all bloody and he was clapping at the crowd. He was awesome. And then he almost knocked Georges out. He almost gave me a heart attack! When I get nervous I don’t talk, I just sit there. It’s really weird. So I got really quiet and couldn’t talk then I would just clap when Georges did something good.  Carlos really just gave it 110% and I think he earned a lot of people’s respect that night — he for sure earned my respect.

From Fan to Friend
When GSP came out to California for his rehab we did strength and conditioning at the same place together. I’ve been up to Tristar in Montreal a few times and he has been out to Denver to train a number of times as well.

It’s always great when you can watch one of your friends get a big,
important win. Georges is not only a friend to me, but he is also
someone I try to model myself after. Georges is the blueprint to be a
multiple-time champ in the UFC and I learn a lot from Georges every time
I’m around him. 

The biggest thing I’ve learned from Georges is that it’s about grinding
and getting better but it’s also about getting rest. You go hard and
then when you rest it’s just as important as your training. I now mimic
is the way Georges structures his camps. He has it down to a science, so
now I do my camps the exact same way he does.

Because of my friendship with Georges and the circumstances of such a long layoff, watching his performance and his domination at UFC 154 was really cool. And I liked Georges’ pre-fight cartwheels, too. I might try some of them myself!