Tag: BJ Penn

Like Many of Us, Oscar De La Hoya Wonders Why Rory MacDonald Didn’t Just Finish BJ Penn [VIDEO]

(Props: YouTube.com/fighthub)

FightHubTV recently got in front of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, and asked him for his thoughts on the Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn fight at UFC on FOX 5, which De La Hoya was apparently live-tweeting. It seems that De La Hoya enjoys that MMA stuff once in a while, although he was a little confused by Rory’s performance:

“Well I wondering like, ‘why don’t you just go finish him?’ Because [MacDonald] looks like he has talents, he looks like he has that little ‘it’ factor…just keep on working on it, keep on working on it. You have to feel that killer instinct. Feel it! And go after it. Grab it, get it…I would love to see him use that jab to the body. If I was in there with that opponent he was fighting against, that jab to the body would have just paralyzed him. I mean, it would have. You could see it. I mean, obviously you could see things from outside, but he’s a talented fighter, my hat goes off to him.”

Dang, I kind of feel bad that Oscar referred to UFC legend BJ Penn simply as “that opponent [Rory] was fighting against,” and I’m sure it would break Penn’s heart to hear that. But honestly, I wondered the same thing during the fight. Particularly in the second round, when Penn was doubled up from body shots, with only his pride and otherworldly toughness keeping him on his feet — could MacDonald have turned it up a notch and beaten Penn to the ground? In the third round, when Rory was, ahem, “trying to mix it up [with] different distances” — what if McDonald just threw more strikes instead of showing off his totally sweet Muhammad Ali shuffle-step impression?


(Props: YouTube.com/fighthub)

FightHubTV recently got in front of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, and asked him for his thoughts on the Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn fight at UFC on FOX 5, which De La Hoya was apparently live-tweeting. It seems that De La Hoya enjoys that MMA stuff once in a while, although he was a little confused by Rory’s performance:

“Well I wondering like, ‘why don’t you just go finish him?’ Because [MacDonald] looks like he has talents, he looks like he has that little ‘it’ factor…just keep on working on it, keep on working on it. You have to feel that killer instinct. Feel it! And go after it. Grab it, get it…I would love to see him use that jab to the body. If I was in there with that opponent he was fighting against, that jab to the body would have just paralyzed him. I mean, it would have. You could see it. I mean, obviously you could see things from outside, but he’s a talented fighter, my hat goes off to him.”

Dang, I kind of feel bad that Oscar referred to UFC legend BJ Penn simply as “that opponent [Rory] was fighting against,” and I’m sure it would break Penn’s heart to hear that. But honestly, I wondered the same thing during the fight. Particularly in the second round, when Penn was doubled up from body shots, with only his pride and otherworldly toughness keeping him on his feet — could MacDonald have turned it up a notch and beaten Penn to the ground? In the third round, when Rory was, ahem, “trying to mix it up [with] different distances” — what if McDonald just threw more strikes instead of showing off his totally sweet Muhammad Ali shuffle-step impression?

As De La Hoya mentioned himself, it’s easy to judge a fighter from outside the cage, and identify the things they could have done. (By the way, Oscar, if you ever want a blogging gig at CagePotato, just say the word.) Still, the fact that DLH cares enough to share his opinion is a nice change from the MMA vs. Boxing cold war that we’re usually subjected to.

BJ Penn Taking Time to Consider Retirement Following MacDonald Loss

BJ Penn still hasn’t decided whether he’ll hang up his gloves for good after his inglorious loss to welterweight Rory MacDonald. The former two-division UFC champion was talking to AXS TV’s Inside MMA when he answered a question, via …

BJ Penn still hasn’t decided whether he’ll hang up his gloves for good after his inglorious loss to welterweight Rory MacDonald.

The former two-division UFC champion was talking to AXS TV’s Inside MMA when he answered a question, via email, about whether he intends to retire (H/T MMA Mania)

“I am taking some time to figure it out,” he said.

His loss to rising star MacDonald at UFC on Fox 5 on Dec. 8 in Seattle was his second straight. After his previous loss to Nick Diaz in October of 2011, Penn dramatically announced his retirement inside the cage in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

However, Penn came out of retirement when the opportunity to face MacDonald—who trains at the same TriStar gym as Georges St-Pierre in Montreal—was dangled in front of him.

GSP beat him twice in previous encounters, and Penn had said he’d love to get his revenge against TriStar with a win over MacDonald.

Instead, the young Canadian battered the former 155-pound and 170-pound champ for three rounds, leaving him dejected and defeated exiting the Octagon.

Immediately after Penn’s loss, UFC president Dana White also called for the Hilo native to hang up his gloves (via MMA Mania):

“He didn’t say it tonight but I think BJ is probably going to retire. I wouldn’t mind seeing that. He came back with a fire lit under him. BJ is a warrior. Talk about a guy who doesn‘t give up, doesn‘t quit, and just keeps coming. I have so much respect for BJ. I always have, even through the good times and bad times. I‘d like to see him retire. He’s got plenty of money, he’s got a great family that loves him, he’s got babies, a beautiful wife … He has nothing left to prove to anybody, and everybody loves him. You heard the arena here tonight. I’d like to see BJ retire.”

At 34, he’s far from over the hill. Other fighters, still at the top of their game, are older than him, such as Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Fabricio Werdum, Lyoto Machida, Jon Fitch, Chael Sonnen and, of course, the middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

But in both of his recent fights at 170 pounds, Penn looked dwarfed and out-muscled. Before moving back up to welterweight, he had great success at lightweight, winning the belt and defending it multiple times.

However, even if it does go back to 155 pounds one last time, he’ll find a division much more stacked than the one he walked away from in 2010. With men such as Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis, soon-to-be Gilbert Melendez and perhaps Eddie Alvarez battling for recognition, there doesn’t seem to be much room for Penn inside the UFC anymore.

This, and more, will likely play on his mind as he considers the next step in his career.

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UFC’s Rory MacDonald on Taunting BJ Penn: ‘I Never Said One Word to Him’

Although Rory MacDonald issued a one-sided beating on BJ Penn during their bout at UFC on FOX 5, the Tristar Gym talent earned some critics in Seattle.MacDonald peppered the UFC legend with combinations and sharp kicks over three rounds, nearly stoppin…

Although Rory MacDonald issued a one-sided beating on BJ Penn during their bout at UFC on FOX 5, the Tristar Gym talent earned some critics in Seattle.

MacDonald peppered the UFC legend with combinations and sharp kicks over three rounds, nearly stopping Penn on the feet. However, the Canadian drew criticism from those who thought he was purposely dragging on the match to make a point.

But to make matters worse, MacDonald is also being accused of verbally taunting Penn and doing the “Ali Shuffle” for added insult.

But when MMAInterviews.TV‘s Spencer Lazara asked Rory Mac about his tactics during the fight, MacDonald claimed that nothing Penn said in the buildup changed his game plan at all:

Lazara: I know [Penn] had said that you were a “bulldozer” and that you didn’t have the technique. ‘That something that really bothered you, that you wanted to go out there and showcase?

MacDonald: No, I just fought the way I fought. His words didn’t change anything. I’m sure now he has a different opinion on my technique, but y’know—it’s cool.

Additionally, Lazara asked MacDonald about what he said to Penn during the fight, likely referring to some occurrences when both fighters were in the clinch during Round 3:

Lazara: There were some times [when] you were saying a couple times to him during the fight…

MacDonald: No, no I wasn’t. That’s one thing [I saw] when I was watching the fight. They said that I was talking to [Penn], but I never said one word to him.

Trash-talking or not, footwork, grappling and striking more than spoke for “Ares” during his 14th career win and fourth straight victory.

MacDonald will return to action at UFC 158 against Carlos Condit, whom he challenged to a rematch from their bout at UFC 155. Citing that he was “embarrassed” in defeat, MacDonald narrowly lost that fight via a comeback TKO in the third and final round with just three seconds left on the clock.

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Rory MacDonald Wasn’t Showboating Against BJ Penn, Says Trainer

Sorry MMA fans, you’ve got Rory MacDonald figured all wrong.During his UFC on FOX 5 bout with BJ Penn, MacDonald seemed to be adding insult to injury when he started imitating the “Ali Shuffle” in the middle of the fight.By the time MacDonald apparentl…

Sorry MMA fans, you’ve got Rory MacDonald figured all wrong.

During his UFC on FOX 5 bout with BJ Penn, MacDonald seemed to be adding insult to injury when he started imitating the “Ali Shuffle” in the middle of the fight.

By the time MacDonald apparently started to taunt his veteran opponent, Penn was already far behind on the judges’ scorecards and barely weathering the assault.  This caused some fans to call out MacDonald for unnecessarily bullying the former two-division champion.

However, Firas Zahabi, MacDonald’s head trainer at the Tristar Gym, tells Sherdog that really wasn’t the case at all:

“I can’t believe people perceived it that way,” Zahabi told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show on Wednesday. “It makes no sense to me because the shuffle is a technique. It’s a way to draw your opponent’s attention. Rory did the technique three or four times, and he followed it up with a superman punch. It’s exactly what we drilled. He was trained to do that. He was not just doing it to showboat. He was doing it to execute a strike.”

According to Zahabi, he was actually worried that MacDonald wouldn’t be dominant enough against Penn, due to the “aura” around “The Prodigy” and his legacy.

That’s exactly why Zahabi didn’t want MacDonald to show Penn too much respect, saying that it was all part of a game plan to utilize the Canadian’s natural athletic abilities.

Regardless, MacDonald cruised to an extremely one-sided decision win against Penn, beating him up so badly that referee Herb Dean nearly stopped the fight standing in the second round.

Currently, MacDonald is rumored to be heading towards a fight with former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit in a rematch of their UFC 155 “Fight of the Night” bout from June 2010. In their first match, Condit rallied late in the third round to finish MacDonald by TKO with only seven seconds left on the fight clock.

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Top 10 Lightweight Title Fights in MMA History

So this past Saturday, we saw another chapter added to the legend of Benson Henderson. In a dominating performance, Henderson defeated Nate Diaz and let the world know that he intended to keep his lightweight belt for a very long time. With that develo…

So this past Saturday, we saw another chapter added to the legend of Benson Henderson. In a dominating performance, Henderson defeated Nate Diaz and let the world know that he intended to keep his lightweight belt for a very long time.

With that development, many of us have been looking back on other great moments in the lightweight division and, naturally, that leads us to looking at title fights. So what are the greatest bouts where the belt was on the line?

What are the fights that made us love this division, and who are the great fighters who have reigned over a weight class that is widely considered the best in the sport today? Find out right here, as we whittle things down to the Top 10 Lightweight Title Fights in MMA History.

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Rory MacDonald Just Turned Heel Against BJ Penn at UFC on Fox 5

Saturday night we witnessed another case of a proud old lion in BJ Penn being overtaken by a young, up-and-coming lion in Rory MacDonald.  Actually, not just a younger lion, but a younger, bigger, stronger, faster, and quite possibly a more well-n…

Saturday night we witnessed another case of a proud old lion in BJ Penn being overtaken by a young, up-and-coming lion in Rory MacDonald.  Actually, not just a younger lion, but a younger, bigger, stronger, faster, and quite possibly a more well-nourished lion. 

A young lion who evidently enjoyed doing the Ali shuffle in the face of an all-time great, which in turn ignited quite the boo-storm in the arena.  As this all unfolded, I asked myself, did we just witness Rory MacDonald go heel?

As far as the action in the fight, Saturday night went as most folks expected.  While some folks hoped a motivated BJ would be too much for the less experienced MacDonald, that was just nostalgia talking. 

From the opening bell, MacDonald dominated Penn in what was very close to a flawless performance as MacDonald continues to earn the respect of fans and the rest of the welterweight division.  While Rory looked more comfortable on the feet than ever, Penn never looked like much of a threat, and as with recent fallen greats like Chuck Liddell and Fedor Emelianenko, it can be tough to watch a once-proud lion take a beating. 

But even if the face of three rounds of consistent and ruthless punishment, Penn would not be finished, and could walk out of the Octagon with his head held high, knowing that he always stepped up and went toe to toe with bigger foes, never playing a points game, never bathing in Vaseline between rounds, and always looking to finish.  

Moving up in weight to battle Georges St Pierre and Lyoto Machida illustrated that BJ Penn would never back down, never talked catch-weight, and always fought with the spirit of a warrior.  Even ‘brawler’ Nick Diaz took to cage leaning to tire out Penn before turning their fight into a one-sided affair on the feet.

Penn truly is a fighter’s fighter, and for the reasons listed above, BJ Penn will retire a legend with the utmost respect, and the all time Pound for Pound fighter in my book.

 

That brings us to MacDonald.  Even in the midst of watching Rory impressively dismantle a legend, there were a great many boos raining down when he was shuffling his feet, dropping his hands, and otherwise illustrating the lengths to which he was manhandling The Prodigy.  

Although at the post-fight presser he said he meant no disrespect to Penn, it can be tough for some to see it that way.  Many folks thought it was a move to make a fighter who has been accused of being a bit reserved seem more unpredictable and zany.

Others thought it may have been rooted in a feeling of resentment at Penn’s insinuation that MacDonald was on illegal performance enhancers and Penn’s insistence on blood tests leading up to the fight.  McDonald said it was more a way to get Penn off-balance. 

I wonder if there’s a bit of all three in there.  It’s not as if he was having trouble connecting on Penn before doing the showboating bits.  But even if he meant no disrespect, he could not be oblivious to how it looks.

When Bigfoot Silva defeated Fedor Emlienanko, he burst into tears and spoke of the dream it was to defeat such a legend.  When MacDonald defeated Penn, he repeatedly did the Ali Shuffle, and that’s an image that fans could have a tough time forgetting. 

Time will tell if MacDonald heads further down that path or if it was all a big misunderstanding. One thing is for certain.  The guy is a hell of a fighter and if he keeps dominating folks and improving his game, he may one day live to be destroyed and humiliated by a young lion.  And it’s quite likely no one will boo.

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