Written by:
Ariel Helwani
May 18, 20081
MMARated.com: Are you more determined, amped up and excited for this particular fight against Sean Sherk than ever before?
BJ Penn: Without a doubt. I want to keep the title and I want to keep the title legitimate. Keep it in somebody's hands who's not out there cheating, who's just put in all this hard work. You know, who's completely natural. I'm going to fight extra hard to not let that belt get in someone else's hands that would use steroids and use growth hormone or blood doping or any of that other stuff.
MMARated.com: I recently spoke to Sean Sherk and he's still very adamant that everything he did was kosher. Obviously, you don't believe him, right?
Penn: Well I asked him, "Did you do steroids?" He said no. I said, "Did you do growth hormone?" He didn't answer. I said, "Did you blood dope?" He didn't answer. Then somebody asked me, "So do you think he did steroids when he fought Hermes (Franca)? I said, "Well, if he didn't do steroids, then his test should come out the same way with his nandrolone and testosterone level." I'm sure he trained just as hard for this fight as he did for the Hermes fight. So if he didn't do anything, he should be exactly the same as last time. So we'll see. We know there's more people than just him on performance-enhancement drugs in the UFC. You know what? It's time to just focus on myself. A lot of smack talk has been going back and forth, but come Saturday it's all going to end the next time I get in the ring.
MMARated.com: What do you think the athletic commissions aren't doing to catch the steroid abusers?
Penn: I think the athletic commission and the UFC are doing everything in their power that they possibly can, but the thing is these guys go and get steroids from their doctor. So they're constantly taking the test. They're constantly passing. They know what to do; they know how to beat it. All the UFC can hope is to catch somebody if they do and hopefully it's not one of the big draws for the UFC and where it'd hurt them financially.
MMARated.com: A lot has been said as to whether or not Sean Sherk deserves a title shot coming off of suspension. Some have wondered, including myself, that maybe he should build himself up a little bit before getting another chance at the title. How do you feel about him getting a shot at your belt right off the bat?
Penn: I'm all about fighting the best people out there, the biggest names, you know what I mean? So, I feel great that it's Sean Sherk that I got to go up against because that's what this sport is about. This sport is about is about stars fighting stars. Sean Sherk is a star and it's great to have a monumental fight of this caliber put together. So as far as Sherk getting the title shot, I'm glad I'm fighting Sherk and, you know what, I guess I'll shut him up, you know? He wants to sit there and say I got no heart and this and that. Come on, let's not confuse performance-enhancement drugs with heart. (That's) two different things. If I had no heart I would have gone down that road a long time ago.
MMARated.com: When I asked Sean to respond to your comments on his suspension he said that you have a lot of demons in your closest as well and you should probably put a lid on it. Do you think all this has gotten a little too personal or is that all part of hyping a fight?
Penn: You know what's funny? A couple of guys — me, (UFC President) Dana White and Sherk — were sitting on the phone and somebody asked that question and what I should have said was I'm not the only one on the phone here with an assault charge, you know? This is more like he's taking money out of my pocket. To me, he's stealing is what he's doing. If I'm going to go and self destruct myself, yeah, that's one thing. But he's over there taking money out of people's pockets and that's just ridiculous.
MMARated.com: When the topic of steroids is brought up, today's professional athlete usually shies away from it. You, on the other hand, are the opposite. You have been very outspoken when discussing steroids in MMA. Is this a topic that you've always felt strongly about? Has something happened where you've lost a fight and found out that someone was cheating behind the scenes?
Penn: Fighting is my life. It's the most important thing in the world to me and it's such a pure thing. Then someone goes and perverts it. Fighting takes so much effort — it's not just standing there trying to hit a ball or trying to throw a ball through a net or whatever. It takes so much technique, so much of all these other things that go into it and then when you're doing that someone else starts cheating and doing all these other things, you're just like, "Whoa." You're a f—ing (expletive). You're a coward. You got to take steroids or you wouldn't even step in the ring in the first place. You know what I mean? They want to call themselves real fighters ... that's not a real fighter.
MMARated.com: It seems like, right now, that the BJ Penn I'm talking to is BJ Penn version 2.0. You're a totally different fighter than just a couple years ago. What exactly happened? Even in your interviews, your demeanor has completely changed.
Penn: I lost to Matt Hughes (in September 2006) and (was) hanging out and still partying in the bar four or five days a week. (On) my 28th birthday I'm just lying down in bed and I just I wake up and (think), "What am I doing, man? Why am I doing this greatest sport in the world? You're still blowing up. You're still at the forefront, you still got a chance." I just realized why (I) fight. I figured it out. Before it was just like, "Oh, don't put pressure on me." And then I started to enjoy it. I want people behind me. I want people saying he's the best. I just started understanding what this thing's all about. It's about fighting, man. That's all it's about.
MMARated.com: We've heard you say that you're still interested in moving back up to welterweight at some point. Is this something you are looking to do right after the Sean Sherk fight or would you like to hopefully defend the title a few more times at lightweight and then move up?
Penn: I'm sure I will fight at welterweight again, but I can't look past Sean Sherk right now. I used to do (that) in the past all the time (and say), "OK, after I beat (Georges) St. Pierre, I'm going to fight (Matt) Hughes or after I beat Hughes I'm going to do this and that. Experience has told me to just take care of what's in front of you and that door will open in due time.
MMARated.com: Let me ask you about your UFC 80 fight against Joe Stevenson. After defeating him you licked the blood of your gloves. What's the symbolism behind licking the blood off the gloves because I find it fascinating?
Penn: [laughs] I don't know, man. You know sometimes like you cross over and it's just hard to come back. You cross over and then you're on that side where you could kill somebody and it's just hard to get back to the other side, so I was stuck over on that side when that happened.
MMARated.com: Afterwards we're you like, "What the hell did I just do?" Or do you mind licking another man's blood?
Penn: No, I think as a fighter you're always just two different people. So when that side of me comes out I just accept it because I got my one side who's just humble, cruising, hanging out, help out my friends, or this and that. Then I got my other side where I snap and I'm just on the other side and it takes a while for me to come back.
MMARated.com: Following the Stevenson victory all you had to say was, "Sean Sherk, you're dead." Did you plan on saying that or was that a spur-of-the-moment thing? I have got to give you props, that was an original one.
Penn: Well, as kids in Hawaii that's what we would always say, like "You're f---ing dead, man." It's just a normal thing. Everybody keeps asking me, "Why did you say he's dead?" That's just, that just how we talk, I guess. I don't know, I guess it just came out.
MMARated.com: Do you regret anything that you've said leading up to this bout?
Penn: I've done a lot of things in my life and I don't regret any of them. Good or bad.
