BJ Penn Reacts To UFC 137 Changes, Happy To Take Main Event Slot
Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn was just as shocked as the rest of the world when he found out this afternoon that GSP was injured and subsequently forced to withdraw from his main event bout set for UFC 137.
When the news finally caught up to Penn he had this to say…
“I wish GSP a healthy recovery and I’m very excited to be competing in the main event. We wish the champion well with his recovery!”
In what he has deemed one of, if not thee, very toughest challenges in his career, BJ is going to face off with former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz in next weekend’s Main Event on pay-per-view. The bout will keep its three-round time frame and fans can expect one of the best fights of the year out of the two elite 170 pounders.
While the loss of a title fight to the card is a crushing one to the fans who will be attending the event live and those watching at home, with the UFC’s ability to now stick Penn vs. Diaz in main event slot the card will not miss a beat and will be just as exciting.
The two former champions will step opposite each other on October 29 in Las Vegas to move one step closer to a title shot of their own. And with BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz, how can you really go wrong?
“UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz” is set to take place on October 29th from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view event was set to feature a welterweight championship bout between George St Pierre and Carlos Condit. However GSP was forced to withdraw with a knee injury and in his place will come BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz.
*Click here for the latest UFC 137 coverage provided by BJPENN.COM
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Both great boxers and BJJ practitioners. This is my kind of fight.
Game recognize game. Respect even with bad blood. War BJ! Smash Diaz!!
I like them both but sorry to say bj will wilt under the constant pressure diaz will bring, his pace alone is enough to beat people and will be to much for penn especially when his cardio has been questionable his whole career.
WTF?!
I’ve been watching both these guys forever, big big fan of both, but Diaz offers very little that will give BJ problems. His striking doesn’t have a lot of power and BJ has arguably the best chin in all of MMA. Has he ever been knocked down?
BJ’s cardio has only been a problem with wrestlers, which Diaz is most certainly not, which will cost him dearly. BJ will control where this fight goes, he has a distinct power edge standing up and also much more precise striking, on the chance that Diaz’s rangy boxing is giving him issues, he can take Nick down any time he wants and win on the ground. He might not finish Nick, but he can easily beat him up from top position, nick won’t come close to sweeping him or subbing him, Nick has been held on his back on many occasions before.
Stand up fight. Ground lay n pray style is for not confident fighters. Penn, make Mayweather look shitty with ur boxing the 29th.
BJ got nice hands, but you gettin’ a lil too carried away
i was going to ufc 137 to watch the real main event anyway with BJ. but damn what kinda champion gets hurt and pulls out 10 days before the fight! has this ever happened before? 10 DAYS OUT? WAR BJ your the REAL CHAMP. JUST SCRAP!
Michael, I could be wrong, but I think I read that when Kevin Randleman was Heavyweight champion, he had to pull-out of a title defense the very night of the fight. Well, not so much pull-out as be rushed to the emergency room by ambulance. He fell during warm-up and banged his head on the concrete floor, getting a concussion. And the audience didn’t even know the main event was canceled until after the last scheduled fight before the main event.
Although, I could be misremembering who it was, and I can’t even remember where I read it so it might not have even happened.
As for GSP getting injured so close, not a happy thing, but shit happens. It’s annoying how people go, “Oh he should just fight through the injury” when we don’t know just how bad the injury is.
Seriously people are idiots, Fighting through an injury is stupid when you have that much on the line especially when its and injury to your knee that’s the worst anyone who has actually injured their knee will agree with me as well.
I dunno…How can a guy get an injury like this 10 days before a fight? He never heard of minimizing injury risks leading up to fightday?
This sucks I was looking forward to this one. BJ vs. Diaz will be a great fight too I’m sure. I hope Diaz shows up now he’s in the main event…
Dang, really wanted to see that fight so I can see Condit as the new champ! Oh well gotta try and work w/ what yah got, atleast now we can look forward for “UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz” or “UFC 137: Just Scrap”! LOL Can’t wait to see ur hand raised in the main event BJ!!!
Get real! you can get injured at any time no matter how light or how much precaution you take and you can’t stop training altogether 10 days from a fight.
We all knew it was the main event anyways, now it’s official!
gsp bitchhin out of his toughest fight in years, typical.
LOL! You must be a newb. Or just a hater. GSP has NEVER ducked anyone or any fight. Shit happens when you train hard. And your also saying that Condit, is tougher than Alvez, Fitch, Penn, Shields, Koschek and Hughes? Hmmmm.
hes tougher than shields, hardy, alves and even koscheck. condit has proven himself while guys like koscheck get ko’d by paulo thiago, alves loses to story, hardy gets embarrassed by everyone and shields gets ktfo by ellenberger. stfu u greaseball nuthuggers hes ducking condit lol.
what a douche, so what if penn was the one injured, so he’s ducking diaz right? go kill yourself mmaislanjunkie
dont make me wayuk u in the face. bj never backed out of a fight 2 weeks away know why? cuz he never had to cycle off peds thats why.
Bj s injured you dumb ass, you see the cut !
You sound like a 12 year old. Are you sure you’re old enough for MMA? Is your uncle tougher than GSP….got to Sherdog or something this site is not meant for you….
You’re an idiot get off this site.
dontbestupidhomie.
“dontbestupidhomie.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Okay, okay, I admit it. That shit had me seriously laughing out loud!
good one junkie best laugh all day.
haha exactly. he definitely wanted no part of Condit.
Yeah..I’m sure Gsp would rather be injured then beat Condit’s ass!
Still 3 rounds? *BJ breathes out a sigh of relief*
That sucks. A quality fight off the card. Damn it.
this is war bj. ftw. make it happen.
Maybe he couldn’t pass the drug test. Knee injury 10 days out is strange.
How is that strange? Guys get insured less than week before a fight. Does that mean they’re all ducking out of a paycheck (yes, you still get paid huge win or lose in a main event). lol As long as your still training in any shape, way or form before a fight, there is always that chance for injury. Haters just love to jump on every little opportunity they can get their hands and ears on. You must believe everything you watch on tv then, including those lame reality shows like Real Housewives, Jersey Shore, and the like.
Drugs.
They obviously didn’t change the Penn vs. Diaz fight to 5 rounds, because neither fighter prepared for a 5 round fight….or signed a contract for a 5 round fight. WAR PENN!! WAR DIAZ!! Whatever happens…leave it all in the Octagon!! Stoked!!
U must be joking, right? Diaz trains by competing in TRIATHALONS, and you’re gonna say he wasn’t prepared for 5 rounds. C’mon, man!
Yeeeeeeehawwwwwww! Main event..
Sucks GSP and Condit fight isn’t going to happen. They should at least find a guy for Condit to fight though. But a Penn vs Diaz bout is something I’ve been waiting a looong time to see. To me, this is a superbout.
This is definitely my kinda fight. Both awesome boxer and BJJ practitioners that don’t depend on their wrestling to grind out decisions. I like Diaz and all, but WAR PENN!
exactly. worth paying 60 bucks for!
-you can guarantee that this will be an exciting fight. Yet i still wanted to watch condit vs Grease, in hopes of seeing GSP getting his face re-arranged. Then the Canadians can go start another riot and burn their city down.
–both my fav fighters. You can’t deny Diaz will come to brawl and not lay on a guy for 3 rounds. Great cardio, boxing, and Ju Jits.
i guess gsp didnt have enough time to cycle of his peds.
Penn is on his way out…hasn’t had a dominant victory in years and diaz might be the most overrated fighter in mma. Although watching gsp dryhump fitch for 5 rounds wouldn’t have been much better this is an even shittier card than it was before. I can’t wait to see gsp lose.
Hasn’t had a dominant victory in years? I guess knocking Matt Hughes out in 23 seconds isn’t dominant.
Really?! REALLY?! Seriously, though?
Troll
Your an idiot if you think this is a shity card.
You called that right!
GET UM BJ!!!!!!!!
GSP knew he had to stop juicing several weeks before the bout, but lets call it a knee injury! PENN NATION!!!!!!!!
if condit decides not to wait for gsp & fight on the card, hmm.. who could be interesting:
a. josh koscheck
b. jake ellenberger
c. anthony johnson
go charlie brenneman give them another upset
charlie brenneman? lmao ur such a loser bro.
well you really are dumb mmaislandjunkie, can’t even determine a joke.. all of your comments in this site are of hate, go troll somewhere else & get out of this site dumbass
wayuk wheres the hate? i cant be upset gsp pulled off a card? not everyone has such great motherly instincts like you.
try to read all of your nonesense comments then i’ll be back with you
well ive been disgusted with gsp ever since he denied excessive grease at ufc 94. then he went on his streak of not finishing anyone and not really fighting opponents i.e. standing up and avoiding the ground game with shields, jabbing for five rounds with kos i mean real pathetic displays of “fights” imo. n i know im not the only one suspicious of his supplemental drug usage, sure theres no publicly yet but ppl have their gut feelings and this is just one of mine. n then here we go w pulling out of a main even less than 2 weeks away. i call bs.
Every time I read one of your comments I think “what an idiot”… now I’m not thinking anymore, I’m knowing. Why don’t you try shoving your whole head B’s ass because apparently your nose is not enough.
donny donny never knew any donny who wasnt a lil rat bastard and u prove the streak continues. and bj is the effing man he doesnt rely on bs strategies or peds or vaseline to win fights he just does it, so ill rep him as long as i watch mma – which unfortunately for u is forever.
LOL… Thanks for confirming your “idiot” status. Have fun insulting everyone else who has a different opinion than yours. If you don’t mind me asking what did BJ have for dinner last night?… ass lickin ball sniffer.
that last insult of yours was weak and over used by guys with no real skill at the art of the cutdown. donnie brasco, donnie & marie, idk something about donnies thats always affiliated with being a bitch or a snitch and thats you. you’re probably a nice hybrid of both.
Skill of cut down?, how old are you?… my guess a number that ends with teen. You still didn’t answer the question, what did BJ have for supper last night?
dont be upset that you lack creativity and resort to the “how old are you? i’m a grown up asking someone who i think is younger than me his age to show some type of i’m older i’m more mature bs then follow up with ur lame questions. you are a dull human with nothing original to offer, and btw if u are older than me thats just sad. but for fun i would say he had some steak and brown rice.
LMFAO… I knew you were a teen!.
Now that BJ v. Diaz is the main event, I think Siver v. Cerrone should be moved up to the main card at least to fill it up, both of them deserve that especially now that GSP is no longer able to compete that night.
Agreed. Cerrone should definitely have main card status
This was always tha main event tha ufc just made it official
I’ll co-sign that statement
Kos ve Ellenberger would be fun to watch.
hope condit decides to stay on the card & fight whoever the ufc has to replace.. ellenberger or anthony johnson would be a fun matchup for condit
well it seems condit is waiting for gsp to heal according to uncle dana –> http://twitter.com/#!/danawhite/status/126410654163808256
please dont call another man of no relation to you uncle its lame and gay. chael sonnen calls him uncle but in a way you dont want to know why.
Not yet… Diaz’s camp challenged BJ to a 5 rounder but no reply as of yet, I’m hoping he accepts.
I’m pretty sure bj’s girl runs his twitter and facebook for the most part. Probably won’t hear from b till tomorrow about the situation.
Roger that…. do you think he’ll accept?.
Oh yeah…bj don’t back down from any challenges!!
War Penn!
WAR PENN!
I think any main event should be a 5rnd fight whether its a championship fight or not. its only right for people who pay money to go and watch the fight. to watch a main event fight and only go 3rnds and end up a decision is such a waste.
No way it should be a three round fight… thats what they have been training for… obviously a 5 round fight is gonna favour Nick cause of all the triathlons etc he does… I hope B.J doesn’t except a 5 round fight and then gas and lose that would severely suck.
he didnt train for a 5 rounder though so kind of not fair
I would like to see one 30 min round….. but I would settle for all fights being 5 round fights.
if bj excepts thats like not accepting so which is it except it or accept it. u want bj to raise his cardio bj wants you to raise your education.
just sayin u want bj to up his cardio bj wants you to up your education, see how touchy you get? wow and here you are trying to give advice but cant receive it – a lil hypocritical if u ask me.
You might be on to something… could be a chick, it would explain it’s infatuation with B’s nuts.
i bet this mmaislandjunkie is a teen or a gay, he/she/it loves to argue w/everyone’s opinions
i bet this wayuk gets his feelings hurt from any kinda of debate and tries to rally other gay ppl he will refer to as non gays to support his female emotions.
Won’t matter, it’ll end in the 1st!
+100
Wasn’t it the new policy that all main events are now 5 rounders?
Starting with Munoz vs Leben I think..
and to the Fail Sonnen wannabe…shut up bitch.
you obviously cannot spell or hit the correct reply button lol. bj will most likely accept the 5 round fight if not big deal, would you work extra for the same pay as 3 rounds? i mean gotta look at it at all angles. at least hes still fighting and not blaming his knee for missing a fight.
told you it would only be about the money if they wanted to make it a 5 rounder BAM
WTF?! Bitch, you got the wrong dude
If Daley can drop Diaz twice in a fight, imagine what BJ got waiting for Nick… Daley couldnt finish Diaz cause he got no ground game… If BJ drops Diaz, its a whole different story.. Diaz will be getting up asking ” What happened?” lolz.. but seriously, This is a fight cant wait to see..