As history dictates it, BJ Penn is a kind of fighter who takes on all comers. During his heyday, “The Prodigy” even went as far as jumping up to heavyweight to face Lyoto Machida back in 2005.
Penn, of course, has been out of the fighting limelight since 2014, and the trend among his contemporaries today has been making demands for “big money fights.” It was a progression that essentially began with Conor McGregor and his penchant for talking his way into match-ups, which some earlier argued were fights that he did not deserve.
Now slated for his UFC return, Penn also bears with him the old school mentality on approaching fights. For him, the best way of succeeding in the business is still by building a name up through sheer hard work.
“I’ll tell you this, I’m not the guy to go out there and say ‘oh give me this money fight, give me that money fight’. I look at all these guys doing that and I’m like why don’t you go knock out a 100 guys and become the money fight yourself? (Expletive) (expletive),” Penn told FOX Sports.
“‘Oh I want to fight this money fight, this money fight’ — why don’t you make yourself the money fight? How’s about that one? Let’s just start there,” he added.
Penn will be headlining UFC Fight Night 103 on Saturday, January 15th, against Yair Rodriguez in Phoenix.