Assuming his legal issues back home don’t get in the way (more on that here), B.J. Penn will finally make his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he fights Dennis Siver at UFC 199 on June 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
It’s a return “The Prodigy” says could have only happened with the help of Greg Jackson, the famed trainer who has molded countless champions with the help of the rest of his training team down at Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Under new tutelage and surrounded by a camp full of the best fighters in the world, Penn says come fight night, no one will be able to out-crazy him as long as he has Jackson in his corner.
“Greg Jackson, I mean look at all the great trainers that I’ve had. Me and him, somehow we just click, man. We always did. Greg always wanted me at his gym, from back in the day. He always would say that, even if we were getting along, not getting along, if we were rivals. As soon as my first time meeting Greg, it’s always been great. Then, it comes down to all of the marbles and it’s you and that guy still again. Your harbor feeling because you just want to do best for yourself and family. Everyone just wants to do their best. The way everything worked out, I don’t know what made me pick up the phone and I called Rich, the matchmaker for Bellator and and I said, ‘Rich, what’s Greg Jackson’s number?’ He gave it to me and I texted him and he text me back right away. He knew already where I was, man, he knew. This is an honor. I want to come back and I want to make a living, but this is a fucking honor. And I wouldn’t want to have anyone else but Greg Jackson behind me. No one is going to out-crazy me and fucking Greg Jackson.”
Known for being one of the best trainers in the world, Jackson has not only trained some of the best in the game today, but has also helped other reclaim the glory days of yesteryear, like Andrei Arlovski.
And, it’s no secret as to why other top fighters like Cody Garbrandt and Anthony Pettis, just to name a few, have migrated down to “Duke City” to get some time in with one of the best camps in the world.
Now, the fight world waits on pins and needles to see if Jackson can do the same for a former two-division champion who hasn’t won a fight in nearly six years.