Tag: motivated Penn

The 27 Most Persistent Myths in MMA


(“I’m telling you people, this is the most stacked UFC card OF ALL TIME!” / Photo via Getty)

Like price sticker residue on a prized picture frame, these myths refused to be scrubbed away. You’ll encounter them on forums, barroom discussions, and even from the mouths of so-called experts. What myths are these? We’re glad you asked…

By CagePotato.com Staff 

1. MMA wouldn’t exist without Dana White. Wrong. See here.

2. Royce Gracie was a humble, respectful warrior. [Ed’s note: Hopefully there’s been enough recent evidence to put this falsehood to bed until the end of time.]

3. Chuck Liddell in his prime would have destroyed ________.

4. MMA has nothing in common with professional wrestling.

5. [Celebrity with zero combat sports experience] would make a great MMA fighter!

6. Motivated BJ Penn could/still can beat anybody.

7. Healthy Shogun could/still can beat anybody.

8. Brock Lesnar could’ve held the belt forever and a day had it not been for diverticulitis.

9. The UFC is not a sports entertainment company.


(“I’m telling you people, this is the most stacked UFC card OF ALL TIME!” / Photo via Getty)

Like price sticker residue on a prized picture frame, these myths refused to be scrubbed away. You’ll encounter them on forums, barroom discussions, and even from the mouths of so-called experts. What myths are these? We’re glad you asked…

By CagePotato.com Staff 

1. MMA wouldn’t exist without Dana White. Wrong. See here.

2. Royce Gracie was a humble, respectful warrior. [Ed’s note: Hopefully there’s been enough recent evidence to put this falsehood to bed until the end of time.]

3. Chuck Liddell in his prime would have destroyed ________.

4. MMA has nothing in common with professional wrestling.

5. [Celebrity with zero combat sports experience] would make a great MMA fighter!

6. Motivated BJ Penn could/still can beat anybody.

7. Healthy Shogun could/still can beat anybody.

8. Brock Lesnar could’ve held the belt forever and a day had it not been for diverticulitis.

9. The UFC is not a sports entertainment company.

10. MMA wouldn’t exist without Bruce Lee.

11. Tito Ortiz held the most UFC light heavyweight wins of all time (too soon?).

12. _____, _____, and _____ will be the toughest test of [insert headliner of next PPV]‘s career so far.

13. Xyience is a thing people use outside of UFC press conferences, where cans of it are used as paper weights.

14. Michael Bisping won the Matt Hamill fight.

15. Rampage Jackson is funny.

16. Forrest Griffin is funny.

17. The low salaries Zuffa pays the fighters are okay because they all get rich off locker room bonuses.

18. The media isn’t on the take.

19. “I used supplements that must have been tainted.”

20. “I was hacked.”

21. “My phone was stolen.”

22. “My PR firm went rogue.”

23. Brazilian events bring out only respectful, educated fans.

24. Women’s fights are always exciting (and no, we don’t hate WMMA. You can criticize something and still like it. Imagine that…)

25. Dana White isn’t an asshole (this behavior is indefensible, no matter how much snow you have imported into your driveway).

26. Boxing is dead. Did you see how many MMA sites covered Mayweather-Maidana?

27. “Fastest growing sport in the world.”

The Potato Nation Speaks: BJ Penn Has No Chance Versus Frankie Edgar


(Herb Dean convincing BJ Penn not to drop to featherweight. / Photo via Getty Images) 

By Matt Saccaro

The majority of CagePotato readers do not give BJ Penn a chance to beat Frankie Edgar in their featherweight meeting next year. Out of nearly 1,000 people who voted on our previous sidebar poll, 55% believe that Penn will get his ass kicked by Edgar and then retire for a 400th time (and then perhaps break a CagePotato ban by unretiring for a 401st time).

33% of the voters had even less confidence in Penn. What could be worse than getting your ass kicked again, you ask? Not even being able to make 145 pounds in the first place. That’s right. A third of our readership is skeptical about Penn’s commitment to fitness and thinks that Penn at featherweight is a pipe dream.

It also appears that 7% of our readers are delusional (or just decided to be trolls and skew our results by voting for the most insane selection). They believe that Penn will become the UFC featherweight champion by the end of 2014. No joke.

And the ultimate minority, the remaining 5%? They think that Penn will get his revenge on Edgar and then retire afterwards.

Thankfully, it appears that most of our readers have a grip on reality. Penn lost decisively to Edgar two times, largely because he was slower than Edgar and had worse conditioning. These problems will only be exacerbated when Penn, who’s notorious for his poor conditioning and inability to fight to the death, attempts to drop down to featherweight — a weight class Edgar has fought in twice now without any sign that he’s been depleted by the weight cut. Penn, once he realizes that he’s not a young man anymore and that he wasted his prime thinking that he was too good to train hard, will very likely retire again.


(Herb Dean convincing BJ Penn not to drop to featherweight. / Photo via Getty Images) 

By Matt Saccaro

The majority of CagePotato readers do not give BJ Penn a chance to beat Frankie Edgar in their featherweight meeting next year. Out of nearly 1,000 people who voted on our previous sidebar poll, 55% believe that Penn will get his ass kicked by Edgar and then retire for a 400th time (and then perhaps break a CagePotato ban by unretiring for a 401st time).

33% of the voters had even less confidence in Penn. What could be worse than getting your ass kicked again, you ask? Not even being able to make 145 pounds in the first place. That’s right. A third of our readership is skeptical about Penn’s commitment to fitness and thinks that Penn at featherweight is a pipe dream.

It also appears that 7% of our readers are delusional (or just decided to be trolls and skew our results by voting for the most insane selection). They believe that Penn will become the UFC featherweight champion by the end of 2014. No joke.

And the ultimate minority, the remaining 5%? They think that Penn will get his revenge on Edgar and then retire afterwards.

Thankfully, it appears that most of our readers have a grip on reality. Penn lost decisively to Edgar two times, largely because he was slower than Edgar and had worse conditioning. These problems will only be exacerbated when Penn, who’s notorious for his poor conditioning and inability to fight to the death, attempts to drop down to featherweight — a weight class Edgar has fought in twice now without any sign that he’s been depleted by the weight cut. Penn, once he realizes that he’s not a young man anymore and that he wasted his prime thinking that he was too good to train hard, will very likely retire again.

Regarding those who think Penn can’t even make the cut to 145, well, let’s just say that we at CagePotato don’t think that little of Penn. We just think that Edgar is the better fighter. The reasons he beat Penn will still be present (and more apparent) when they face off after their TUF 19 coaching stint.

And Penn winning the title? The 70-odd people who believe that are the last few stragglers that after all this time still believe that the mythical “motivated BJ Penn” is the pound-for-pound GOAT.

Oh, and the 5% of people who think Penn will win and retire? The only part they’re probably right about is the retiring.

Want your voice heard? Be sure to vote in our current sidebar poll “Was Alexander Gustafsson Robbed at UFC 165?” and stay tuned for the next installment of The Potato Nation Speaks!

Related: B.J. Penn Would Rather Finish Trilogy With Frankie Edgar at Lightweight

Rory, Beware: BJ Penn Looking Pretty Damn Motivated Two Weeks Out From ‘UFC on FOX 5?

(Props: 0fficialbjpenn)

Check out the short video above and ask yourself one question: Has BJ Penn ever looked in better shape for a 170-pound fight? The former two-division champ released this video on Thanksgiving — 16 days before his December 8th meeting with Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 5 — and the video title claims that he’s already at 175 pounds, a quick schvitz away from making his welterweight limit. And to borrow an uncomfortable running gag from the UG, that’s 175 pounds of solid, thick, tightness.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Prodigy might be hitting the…actually, I’m not even going to go there. But bottom line, this is what a “motivated Penn” looks like. We found him, you guys. And for comparison, this is what a trench-coat model looks like. Does BJ have one more triumph left in him?


(Props: 0fficialbjpenn)

Check out the short video above and ask yourself one question: Has BJ Penn ever looked in better shape for a 170-pound fight? The former two-division champ released this video on Thanksgiving — 16 days before his December 8th meeting with Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 5 — and the video title claims that he’s already at 175 pounds, a quick schvitz away from making his welterweight limit. And to borrow an uncomfortable running gag from the UG, that’s 175 pounds of solid, thick, tightness.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Prodigy might be hitting the…actually, I’m not even going to go there. But bottom line, this is what a “motivated Penn” looks like. We found him, you guys. And for comparison, this is what a trench-coat model looks like. Does BJ have one more triumph left in him?