By E. Spencer Kyte (espencerkyte@mmaratings.net)
Over these last few weeks, I’ve actually started to find myself defending B.J. Penn a great deal.
As I’ve stated time and again, I’ve never been one of the many crazed B.J. fans who thinks he can do no wrong; I acknowledge his talents, but he’s always been, well, the way he is that sends the other half of the MMA community to websites and message boards galore to criticize him relentlessly.
But lately, I’ve been migrating a little towards Team Penn amidst the nonsensical “Kenny Florian is going to kill him because he’s a whiner” type logic floating about. And remember, this is coming from a guy who just had the best interview of his life with Kenny Florian not two weeks ago.
However, all of that growing support has now gone out the window with Penn’s latest bout with verbal diarrhea. Sorry, I can’t cheer for an idiot.
The title quote comes courtesy of “The Prodigy” in Kevin Iole’s latest effort asking whether B.J. Penn is misunderstood.
While I know the legions of B.J. Penn supporters are going to stand and be counted in agreement with their favorite Hawaiian, when you follow up a statement – slash – allegation like that with, “I can’t hand you any proof, but that’s my opinion,” maybe you should think about keeping your opinion to yourself for once?
Damn editing having me all fooled. Here I thought, after watching UFC Countdown for a second time tonight that B.J. was focused on beating Kenny Florian, silencing the critics and making a dominant run through the lightweight division.
Clearly, that isn’t the case.
If it was, he wouldn’t be dropping accusations like this two days and change before his fight with Florian.
For a guy who has come out recently and declared that he won’t do business with the websites he feels haven’t given him a fair shake over the years, making claims like this with absolutely nothing to back it up is what fuels those fires.
And what brilliance reasoning does Baby Jay have for his steadfast belief that St-Pierre uses performance-enhancers?
“In my opinion, he doesn’t play by the rules when it comes to steroids and growth hormones and that stuff. Look at him. He’s the worst. He looks like that every day. That’s cheating. There is a reason why there are rules against using steroids. The rest of us, we get fat, then we train and get skinny and the cycle goes over and over again. He looks the same way all the time. Come on.”
Wow.
Most of us get fat because we don’t workout as diligently as we should, eat a whole bunch of crap and spend more time on the couch than we do a treadmill.
Did it ever occur to Penn that while he’s hanging out in Hilo following a fight, getting fat so he can train and drop the weight again, GSP is the kind of guy who just trains every day and approaches each day the same way, fight or no fight?
I know a ton of people who are workout freaks that stick to their programs 365-24-7. None of them are ever fat and none of them are in consideration as the best fighter in the business today.
If guys I grew up with are able to maintain a consistent weight and physique through diet and training, is it not entirely possible that a high-performance athlete like GSP could do the same?
Apparently not in the mind of B.J. Penn.
What a strange and terrifying place that must be.
Baby Jay (hah – cute!) appears to be one of "those" types of people who have never been held accountable for their actions. That type of person, when they lose at anything, truly cannot see that the fault lies within, and must find someone else to blame.
You can see it in his mother's actions when she went to court for him. I mean, a mom's a mom and should always stand behind her kids, but that was going to far. Looks like she's still making it hard for BJ to learn that life lesson: you screw up, you admit it, deal with it, and move on.
I like what Spencer says about "maybe you should think about keeping your opinion to yourself for once."
Put aside the issue of potentially making excuses. What if this is just Penn's opinion? What if it was Mayhem Miller stating the opinion? Without any evidence, "maybe you should keep it to yourself." Penn should consider that maybe he's wrong. What could that potentially do to GSP's reputation? Especially after the greasing scandal. What if the roles were reversed? Imagine getting falely accused of taking steroids…
Exactly why this baffles me so much Eric.
If anyone says this, it's bad news. Like when Garth randomly claimed Lesnar uses 'roids after 100. It's baseless and you'd hate if someone said something like that about you, so shut your mouth or be held accountable.
You don't just get to say shit like this about people and not have to own up to your accusations.
At least that's the way it should be.
Of course the fip side is "can't I speak my mind" – I can see both sides.
But the more important question in my mind is, obviously you're cheering for Florian, but does this mean you're picking him to win?
No comment.
Of course the fip side is "can't I speak my mind" – I can see both sides.
But the more important question in my mind is, obviously you're cheering for Florian, but does this mean you're picking him to win?