Not much was said on BJ Penn‘s behalf since his opponent, Carlos Condit, was pulled from their fight on UFC 137 and placed in the main event.
A vague yet eyebrow raising Tweet from Penn stating that Dana White had offered him a deal he “couldn’t refuse” played on people’s minds and the opponent was announced 8 hours ago.
There is still uncertainty in the MMA community about whether Nick Diaz was screwed out of a championship bout given he was cut from the 137 card and that his contract was seemingly in jeopardy to being given a high profile fight against the former champion in Penn.
BJ Penn is seen as a legend in the sport by hardcore MMA enthusiasts. Having held 2 titles in the UFC in 2 different weight classes, Penn earned his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) black belt in 3 years (something unheard of as it takes on average 10 years) and was also the first non Brazilian to win the World Jiu Jitsu Championships.
Prasied by world respected boxing coach, Freddie Roach for having the “best striking in MMA”, Penn has great head movement, footwork and jab which could cause problems for the awkward, long but deceptively accurate striker in Diaz. Both hold BJJ black belts under solid BJJ coaches, Penn under Andre Pederneiras and Diaz under Cesar Gracie but both fighters will most likely strike with Penn having the upper hand if either was to shoot for a takedown.
Personally, this fight is inifintely more entertaining than the original match ups between Penn and Condit and Diaz vs GSP.
29 October 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas was to play host to one of the biggest fights in MMA history – Nick Diaz vs Georges St Pierre (GSP) at UFC 137. It was definitely one I had been looking forward to but less than 24 hours ago, Dana White announced the fight would be cancelled and Carlos Condit would be replacing Nick Diaz as the title contender against GSP due to a number of press conferences Diaz had failed to turn up to.
Diaz later appeared on YouTube with what most would call a half assed apology with no explanation other than apologising for not turning up to the ‘beauty pageant’.
Diaz, famed for his smack talking whilst in the cage, having the talent to back it and his weed smoking habit; faced similar trouble back in 2009 when scheduled to face Jay Hieron for Strikefoce but failed to turn up to the pre fight drugs test thus rendering his license to fight invalid.
UFC President, Dana White is still unsure as to whether to cut Diaz’s UFC contract citing that he has wasted over $15’000 on air fares trying to get Diaz to show for press conferences.
Condit, a tough all rounder, fighting out of Greg Jackson’s MMA Facility is coming in off a 4 fight win streak will be Diaz’s replacement. In Condit’s 32 fight career he has suffered 5 losses – dropping only one in his last 10 to Martin Kampmann via decision. His most recent win was over tough Dong Hyun Kim via flying knee and before that, knocking out previous title contender and feared British striker, Dan Hardy.
Having that belief that you’re good enough in your chosen field is a difficult task. Especially when negativity flows freely through your mind when thinking about what you want the outcome to be.
Athletes such as Georges St Pierre use Sports Psychologists and even on a lower level in UK MMA, a Sports Psychologist can help no end.
From turning negatives into positives and using your mind to plot positive paths, it’s not actually the psychologist who does the work, it’s you. Merely prompting you to open your mind, they push little buttons and the before you know it – pre fight nerves hit you before you’ve even started training for the fight.
I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who compete/fight on a regular basis and watching them switch on to find that confidence and belief is amazing. Different people do things in different ways but the outcome is always the same. Just giving off the air that you’ve won before you’ve even started helps your mental state. To walk into the ring/onto the mat and act as if you own it… to act as if you’ve already taken the number one spot… to stare through your opponent. All these are different approaches/methods to how an athlete/individual acts to calm themselves in moments of negativity.
The pointless pacing and wasting energy. The asking of questions. The hard warm up to the point where it’s almost like a training session are all things that should be avoided… but what if the person is NEGATIVE? What if you can’t turn that mindset? What if this person finds it so hard to turn on mentally that it affects their performance?
I’ve witnessed 2 fighters… one high profile international fighter and one domestic UK fighter who fights for a high profile team… both crumble when the pressure is on and you can’t help but feel sorry for them. They train like beasts in the gym and regularly spar and beat some of the best but it’s not good enough.
So do you bail from your chosen profession? Or simply seek help even though you’re beyond ‘repair”? Or even think about what it’s taken you to get to where you are now and think “it’d be a waste to throw it all away…”?
