BJ Penn's Scorched Earth Tactics

I think the UFC will make BJ defend his belt at least twice should he beat Kenny, namely so that they can get a high-profile Hawaii show with BJ against Diego Sanchez.

He’ll probably have to beat a contender at 170, which I think he can do, but I believe we will eventually see a third fight.

If he wins on Saturday, do you think that Dana will put 155 on hold again to give BJ 2 fights at 170? I think Dana believes GSP totally dominated BJ, grease or not, and won’t make a rematch. Diego is getting a title shot against the winner of 101, and if BJ loses then there is no reason for a third fight. I just don’t see a situation with a reasonable time table that would bring about a 3rd fight.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

-Carl Sagan

Did you know he can jump out of a pool?

“It’s just my opinion that he [Penn] uses Midol,” Subo said. “That’s it. My opinion. I do believe it. I can’t hand you any proof, but that’s my opinion.”

people got for fighter bashing during the Fedor stuff, but somehow this is ok.

Good job, I was just trying to enlighten some people about peds in mma

The winner of Swick/Kampmann gets a title shot!!!!!

I really really hope BJ pops positive for something after this.

Maybe BJ should have said “I know a doctor who is certain that GSP is on steroids”, then people would be freaking out as much.

At this point, by making accusations that he, through his own admittance, cannot prove, BJ is basically committing defamation of GSP’s character. Normally I’d want GSP to just ignore BJ cause that kid will never, and I say, NEVER, shut up. But I kinda want to see GSP pound on BJ some more. However, I doubt that 3rd match will ever come about due to how one-sided their last match was. I really hope BJ loses on Saturday.

"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."

What kind of crazy shit will this guy come up with next time. The worst thing is, he could go on for ever, trying to get under GSP’s nerves to get a unmarketable, impossible rematch.

BJ has earned the right to have GSP play basketball with his head for 20 minutes.

Let justice be done!!

Congratulations BJ, you earned your blackbelt in 3 years, your won the SuperBowl of BJJ and your sooooo flexible. Of course none of these things have anything to do with Ultimate Fighting but don’t let that stop you. You also KO’ed Uno and you managed to beat an over the hill Jens Pulver but that is the extent of your accomplishments. I know everyone will claim your a great or even a legend of Ultimate Fighting but i personally don’t see it.

It’s a foul stench and you reek of it bj……..

I really think BJ just cant handle the idea that he lost to someone. He needs to find an excuse so that he can say that he didnt really lose. The greasing thing didnt hold up. This is his new excuse.

and even I’m shaking my head at this. It really does sound like he’s angling for a third fight, and it appears he’s worried the only way it will happen is if GSP asks for it.

I’m kind of surprised by the responses. Not so much on the B.J. hate, but on the overwhelming “GSP isn’t on roids” feeling.

I’ve made it fairly well known that I think the steroids and PED thing is overblown in sports. If GSP is on some juice, whatever. It’s cheating under the rules, BFD.

But I find it interesting that very few people even seem to consider it a possibility. In addition, bringing up such evidence as “his head hasn’t doubled in size”, “he hasn’t put on 30 pounds of muscle”, and “I don’t see no bacne” show a real lack of understanding about steroids and PEDs.

It’s just my opinion that he uses steroids. That’s it. My opinion. I do believe it. I can’t hand you any proof, but that’s my opinion.

It’s really pretty silly to think about… BJ’s basis for GSP taking steroids because he looks to be in such great shape all the time.

Josh barnett is as doughy as they get and he’s been CAUGHT using them, and has possibly been on them most of his career i’d assume.

“Penn’s raging jealousy and bitterness can’t be contained, and he is now resorting to simply making random allegations that he admits he can’t prove.”

Flagged for fighter-bashing.

I’m no fan of BJ Penn, but I happen to share his opinion about GSP and steroids. The difference between BJ and I is that it doesn’t bother me in even the slightest of ways. I operate under the assumption that virtually every fighter/athlete is on some form of PED.

There’s more than enough incentive for these guys to go down that road. So much so that it’s hard for me to believe there is a significant percentage of fighters that aren’t chemically enhancing their bodies in some way.

It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if GSP was using PEDs, namely HGH. In this day and age, it wouldn’t surprise me if any athlete is.

Fighters hear things, know things and are privy to information that we aren’t. It also wouldn’t surprise me if this was the case here, making his statements, perhaps, true but unable to be proven.

Unfortunately, I think that BJ’s statements were made out of bitterness and anger, rather than trying to “clean the sport up” or anything along those lines. Sometimes, you are just better keeping your mouth shut unless you can substantiate it.

This seems to be a big point of contention lately, with Barnett testing positive, Fedor signing outside of the UFC and now BJ accusing GSP of PED usage. So, what is worse, calling BJ jealous and so on, or saying that GSP may in fact be juiced? Is either bashing? Is both? What about saying Fedor is scared? Is it the sentiment that is bashing or is it the way we word our statements?

I think we should be able to discuss all of this and more, by doing so intelligently. It shouldn’t really be called bashing, imo, unless someone is saying oh they are a “pussy” or other name calling things like that. Pondering if BJ is emotionally distracted should be ok, but calling him things like a spoiled, rich sore loser, should probably be left for places like Sherdog.

I’ve heard this word before, usually about cycling, but didn’t really know what it meant.

It’s essentially increasing your red blood cell count and can be accomplished numerous ways. But basically the night before a competition you add a couple extra pints of blood and thus your cardio goes way up.

To me this would be the best PED in MMA. Fighting is 90% cardio and to my knowledge the state commisions do not test for elevated red blood count. Plus, it sounds really safe…no long term side effects….

I’m not accusing any athlete. I thought it was a really interesting topic. Maybe it deserves its own fan post

1) Use of PEDs isn’t uniform across all sports. The risk vs. reward math varies depending on the degree to which performance is enhanced. 15 years ago I wrote a high school biology paper on steroids and every single source dismissed the likelihood of PED use by baseball players. The logic was that sports which require a high degree of special skill development (e.g. hitting a major league slider) blunted the benefits of steroids. While baseball was absolutely a false example, the logic does hold: steroid use among weightlifters, sprinters, and cyclists is much higher than it is amongst, say, figure skaters or curlers. That said, MMA clearly doesn’t fall on the figure skating side of the wall. There is real upside for an MMA fighter in terms of artificially boosting his strength and endurance.

2) GSP won his first UFC title in Sacramento in November 2006. CSAC retroactively released a list of positive tests after Diego Sanchez tested positive in 2007. I wasn’t able to confirm via google that the CSAC tests in 2006 included a negative test for GSP but I have no reason to assume otherwise. Since CSAC testing has netted many more positive tests than has NSAC and at this point the conventional wisdom is that Zuffa plans to steer clear of California, my conclusion is that CSAC testing policies are more stringent and/or comprehensive than are NSAC’s. This certainly doesn’t prove that GSP has never used PEDs but it is, in my opinion, a key data point in GSP’s favor.

3) I absolutely agree with Foxskinrug that the recent discussions of Fedor & BJ have strayed into a skewed place that begins to deny each man’s own agency over his behavior. I think this is something we should very much guard against.

4) It seems clear to me (and to many others who have commented here) that BJ’s motivation for making this accusation is to provoke a third match which even with a hyped up angle such as this one, has little or no chance of occurring. Absent this angle, there is no real upside for GSP in giving BJ a third fight. My conclusion about this whole incident is heavily informed by my appreciation of kayfabe. The easiest way to sell sequel programs is to tweek the angle but not upset the underlying dynamic. While I have no real desire to see GSP-BJ III, the hype surrounding it would be epic, especially given that the two would presumably need to tear through other opponents in order justify it. As someone who will always maintain a cynical enthusiasm for the kayfabe elements of MMA, I appreciate this as spectacle with my only reservation being that the Barkley-esque qualities that we ascribe to BJ may not crossover to the mainstream. It would be an awful and terrible thing for GSP to suffer in any way from BJ’s comments.

Hecrawdaline.

Is a pretty pointless thing to do unless they have tested positive for a banned substance, or their name has appeared on a doping schedule, i.e. BALCO.
 
Personally, I was accused of steroid use by my head basketball coach at the NCAA Div. 3 level simply because I worked out a lot, was large and lean, and I also had a quick temper. None of these things were related to any PED use.

To dismiss all the hard work that dedicated athletes put in to achieve their goals is a pretty slimy thing to do, especially when your claims of them cheating is based solely on your own assumptions.