Floyd Mayweather Joins UFC: BJ Penn Shocker
By Sean Farrell
BJ Penn, the man many thought was past his prime after dropping two consecutive fights to UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar has got his groove back. With Penn coming off a dazzling :21 second rubber match KO of future, UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes has gotten a fight on February 27th at UFC 127 against Jon Fitch.
Penn who has always been known for his excellent boxing skills, has signed on a trainer many in the boxing world know very well, none other than Floyd Mayweather, SR. Mayweather, SR. liked Penn so much., that he extended his training visit by an entire week. Mayweather, SR., stated in an interview:
“Well, you know his strength and conditioning coach is Robert Garcia. Robert was Oscar [De La Hoya]’s strength coach when I was with him, so he brought BJ down and we doing some stuff together,” Mayweather also spoke of his and Penn’s meeting. “He was only supposed to be down here for a week, but he said he’s learning so much that he’s gonna stay two. If they really want him to win this thing and look good, I would like to have him for three to four weeks, but trust me, the stuff I’m showing him in these two weeks will work if he uses it…trust me. BJ Penn is a cool dude, man. I’ll be honest, at first, it didn’t seem like he could fight that good. I mean, I don’t know about his ground game and all of that stuff, but he’s got some pop and in just the three days I’ve been working with him, he has improved, man,” said Mayweather Sr.
“In his words, man, he told me, ‘I ain’t never seen some of this stuff you’re showing me, man.’ And that’s only after three days. BJ is learning fast, man. He’s a good guy.” Mayweather SR. also spoke on the tools he is employing in order for Penn to deal with a much larger Jon Fitch “I heard [Fitch] is about six foot tall and cuts a good bit of weight to make 170 pounds, but guess what? If BJ throws his shots the way I got him throwing his shots, he will win,” Mayweather SR. asserted.
“See, those guys throwing shots different than the way we do it, so I’m teaching BJ how to keep it standing and be effective. Let me tell you something, man, if he uses it, then it will work…I got BJ working on something just for a taller opponent. I don’t know what BJ’s ground game is like at all, but if he uses what I’m showing him, he won’t need it. Trust me when I tell you now.”
Penn is looking to get back into the mix at 170 and it looks like he is taking the necessary steps to get there.