If you’re like me, when you see that Joe Rogan or Mike Goldberg are about to launch into one of their interview segments during the Spike prelims, you likely use the opportunity to grab a beer, take a piss, or switch over to Comedy Central to re-watch the end of last week’s Workaholics episode (the exception to this is of course,when Jason Mamoa is around). Because let’s be honest, who wants to listen to Dana White scream over a blaring DMX song about how great the upcoming card that you can’t afford is going to be?
But in the case of last weekend’s ProElite 2-Big Guns event, Michael Schiavello’s interview with B.J. Penn felt like the first breath after awakening from a seven year coma. Penn, who has apparently mastered the technology behind Wolverine’s healing powers, showed few signs of the damage Nick Diaz inflicted upon him just over a week ago. At the event to support his brother Reagan, “The Prodigy” discussed how retiring had been on his mind for some time:
I think this is something I should’ve did after the first Frankie Edgar fight…a bunch of my coaches pleaded with me to step away from the sport, take some time off. I was just in the mix…trying to push myself. I don’t really like the results I’ve been getting. If I ever feel it again, I’ll come back, if [a fight] interests me, it excites me…I don’t want to be sitting in the locker room saying ‘I can’t believe I’m still doing this.’
Let’s just hope a fight doesn’t pop up on a regional circuit somewhere that forces Penn to go back on his word.
“The Voice” also picked Penn’s brain on the upcoming Diaz/GSP bout, now that Penn has fought them both. His analysis seemed pretty spot on:
I think it’s gonna be very, very tough for Nick Diaz to defend Georges St. Pierre’s takedowns, and if [GSP] wants to turn this into a takedown type fight, I think he’s definitely gonna have an advantage.
When asked on what kind of game-plan Diaz would need to beat GSP, Penn stated that “People get broken mentally in fights…if Nick Diaz can make GSP break somehow than the fight’s his. But, other than that, it’s gonna be a long night.”
Doesn’t he know that GSP said he really wants to finish this fight? For reals this time.
-Danga