PENNYBUFFINGTON Posted:UFC 118 is being held in Boston, Ma. Aug. 28. The main event of the night will be the rematch lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn. The co-main event is the light heavyweight match-up between mixed martial arts veteran Randy “The Natural” Couture and making his UFC debut boxer James “Lights Out” Toney.
The following quotes were given to Penny Buffington of MMA2DAY and others members of the press during the UFC 118 Media Conference with the current UFC lightweight title holder Frankie “The Answer” Edgar and BJ “The Prodigy’ Penn.
To hear the audio from the UFC Media conference with Randy Couture and James Toney go to: http://www.pennyjomma.com/
Frankie Edgar: I try not to even think about the title. It’s another fight, it’s another great challenge ahead of me and that’s how I approach it. So this is a totally new fight for me whether it’s a title defense or a new fight, old fight - it doesn’t matter. It’s all the same to me.
You know, easy. I mean, you know, when you’re preparing for someone like BJ, you know, right away it’s going to force you to really focus and gear up for another hard fight. And, you know, I know BJ’s a very smart fighter and he’s got a good team around him and I know he’s going to come in with a great plan to counter my last fight. So, you know, my team and I have really focused on trying to counter what he’s going to counter if we can, you know
BJ Penn: I’m not really a big guy on watching the films even if it’s a great fight that I won. I still don’t think that I did good enough. But I take a lot from the first fight from when we were in the ring. It actually is one of the fights that I kind of can remember.
Frankie actually did some things that impressed me actually and actually that I started adding to my game. I liked how he didn’t hold on to the take downs too much and just kind of broke away. And I like how he did some different things and no matter who you are in the ring with they’re always teaching you and you’re always constantly learning.
As far as watching tapes, that’s not me. I can’t sit down. I get too bored sitting there and watching tapes. But I took away from it what happened in the fight. And I remember I know how hard Frankie hits and I know how fast he is and I know the way he moves and he does well in all those areas and that’s what I’m preparing for next week.
I think there are a lot of great fights out there and I want to - I’m 31 right now and I have been with the company for 10 years and I really want to be as active as I can in this next couple years coming up in my life. So I’m glad that there are all these contenders around in the division. It’s very good. It’s a very good division.
Frankie Edgar: When I come in I think my last three or four fights I’ve been the underdog. So it’s a role I’m becoming comfortable with so I seem to perform pretty good in this position.
BJ Penn: I congratulate Frankie Edgar on a good performance and that’s pretty much - Frankie did bruise me up pretty good here and there but I didn’t have almost like a brain damage type of feeling. I was just kind of feeling sorry for myself and this and that. So I realized pretty quick what went down. loss to Frankie actually made me step back and realize that I want to fight as much as I can, you know. After the fight with Frankie, you know, God willing I have no broken hand or any broken bones or no suspension, you know, I want to, you know, fight next month, fight, you know, next week. I really, you know, I don’t know if I feel my biological clock ticking or what but I just want to get in there and I just want to fight as much as possible and just see it, you know. I’ve kind of spaced my career out actually over the ten years and I kind of want to make a push to be a true fighter, a person that fights all the time. And I think I’ve got a good training camp and I’ve kind of figured out how to keep myself healthy through multiple training camps I think I could do it and I think I could try to be very busy and very active. And, you know, I don’t want to say that it’s just all about the money but I wouldn’t mind, you know, trying to make some money.
Frankie Edgar: I think every fighter has doubts. I mean, you know, it’s just what makes - what sets you apart is how you face them and what you do to combat those doubts.
BJ Penn: You know what? You know, maybe people (say this) about me, but, you know, as far as wanting to go out there and prove that Frankie Edgar can’t beat me and get my belt back, you know, there is no lack of motivation for this fight.
You know, I want to prove to the world, I want to prove to Frankie, I want to prove to Frankie’s corner, I want to prove to my corner, I want to prove to everybody, you know, who the best fighter is in the world, who’s got the most tools, and who can execute better. And, you know, the - as far as motivation, you know, I can find something. I can find something to not like Frankie about, you know.
First of all, no one is untouchable. And if they are, they just haven’t, you know, they just haven’t run into the right guy.
You know, when you hear people say you’re the greatest lightweight of all time and this and that and this and that, it’s bullshit. It’s not real. It’s fake. You know, being the champ is fake, all of that is all fake.
You just go out there, you’ve got to keep training, keeping training as hard as you can and keep winning fights. The only thing that’s real is the fight. Everything else is fake.
Frankie Edgar: We really try not to put a face on somebody, you know. It’s a style I’m fighting. And if I can go into every fight like that, that definitely takes the mental part out of it.
