UFC 137 Video: B.J. Penn Challenges Cesar Gracie, Admits to Being 'Hookwinked' By Him

B.J. Penn is a mature adult now and doesn't want to talk smack. That's fine, and I applaud that decision. Penn is usually a pretty honest guy though, and in an interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, he aims his honesty in the direction of a guy that he thinks might have 'hoodwinked' him - Cesar Gracie, manager of Nick Diaz and a guy B.J. has trained with in the past. He even offers to go five rounds with him. Here's the telling quote:

"Dana called us...it's a funny story actually. Dana called us and said 'Cesar just called me and said they would love that they would love to fight Nick Diaz. I mean, that him and Nick Diaz would love to fight you, and that's the fight they want. So I texted Cesar. I said 'Dana just said you would love to fight us, and this and that's the fight you want'. And I guess, I don't know, maybe Cesar didn't wanna say that he said that. He texted me back and said 'Laugh out loud, Dana just told us the same thing'. So I ended up thinking Dana's trying to set me up and make it into a personal thing, but it was really Cesar. Cesar was...Cesar hoodwinked me, I guess."

He goes onto explain that he talked it out with Dana and White made it clear that it was Cesar's idea. This stuff with Cesar and Dana actually led to the drama surrounding Penn's comments about White during the whole Countdown fiasco last month. But as B.J puts it, "it was Cesar all along". He also responded to Gracie's talk about wanting a five round fight between Penn and Diaz:

"If Cesar wants the five rounds so bad, me and Cesar can do a five round fight. Any time, anywhere, whenever he feels like it."

Penn goes on to discuss why he likes watching Nick Diaz, the possibility of going back to 155, and even admits he's a huge Hulk Hogan fan and sings some of his theme song. You can check the video after the jump.

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