BJ Penn is going all-out on the training camp for his upcoming comeback fight against Frankie Edgar.
The fight will be Penn’s first since losing to Rory Macdonald in a December 2012 welterweight fight. It will be his and Edgar’s third fight, with Edgar 2-0 in the series.
“I’m bringing in one of my old coaches, Nova Uniao founder Andre Pederneiras, who gave me my black belt, to train me again. I’m also talking to Mike Dolce to help me make weight,” says Penn.
“I’m making changes to my camp, but keeping the core for values. I’m going to train with Jose Aldo. I’m hooking up with my roots and getting some great training for this fight. I’m coming to beat Frankie Edgar.
“I want this fight. Frankie is the man. He hasn’t really lost, if you ask me. He’s had close fights at 155 and at 145. If I’m the greatest of all time, and he beat me, what does that make him? Frankie, bring your A game and let’s do this.
“I got nothing wrong with Frankie. He’s a great person. I don’t think he has a bad bone in his body. All I know is he’s the one thing standing in the way of everybody saying that BJ Penn was the greatest lightweight fighter ever.”
Penn’s loss to Macdonald put him on a 2-0 run and put him into unofficial retirement. He had only returned to welterweight after losing back-to-back fights at lightweight to Edgar.
With a 1-4-1 record in his last six, Penn has serious question marks hanging over his ability to win this trilogy fight with Edgar. On the other hand, the mythical ‘motivated Penn’ has proved to be a powerful force on the rare occasions it has been witnessed. Could this be one of those times?
