(Plotting his next move…)
Someone please explain to me what has happened to B.J. Penn. Did he suffer some sort of brain trauma in his fight with Georges St. Pierre? Is he playing an elaborate practical joke on all of us, or does he just crave attention?
First Penn came out this week claiming that Kenny Florian, the man who will likely face Penn in the Octagon next (coincidence?), sent him an email before UFC 94 to tip him off about GSP’s greasing. When Florian denied it, asking Penn to produce the email as proof, Penn changed his story completely. In a video post to BJPenn.com yesterday, he claimed it was a text, not an email, and it was sent to a member of Penn’s camp, not Penn himself, and that it included charges of steroid use.
I’m going to have to call shenanigans, as they say, and for several reasons.
1) Whatever I may believe about B.J. Penn, I think he knows the difference between an email that arrives in his inbox and a text message sent to one of his friends. My grandfather knows the difference between those two things, and he doesn’t have a computer or a cell phone.
2) If Florian really did send this text, why didn’t Penn produce it as soon as Florian called him a liar in public? All he has to do is show us the text message in one of his video blogs, show that it came from Florian’s phone number, and the debate is over.
3) Why would Florian, who has been waiting in the wings for a shot at Penn’s title for months now, send a text message to his future opponent alerting him to potential cheating by GSP? Florian needed Penn to lose in order to get a shot at his belt sooner rather than later. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to help Penn, nor would it make sense for the host of “MMA Live” to go spreading gossip about fellow UFC fighters via text message.
Talking with Steve Cofield today, Penn entourage flunky Troy Mandaloniz also claimed that St. Pierre was on steroids, backing up the claim with such sound reasoning as, “Look at the body. He looks to me like he’s pretty suspect.”
Yeah, or like he works his ass off in the gym every day.
It’s possible GSP is on something. It’s hard to take a pro athlete at his word these days when he says he’s all natural. It’s also possible that he’s a greaser, and that KenFlo sent a text to warn Penn about it (though it obviously didn’t help him any).
If that’s the case, Penn should prove it, or else shut up about it. The longer he drags this out, the more pathetic he looks, like a guy who can’t accept a legitimate loss. If this is all for attention, or to drum up interest in a bout between Penn and Florian, it’s even sadder still. Every show can’t be the BJ Penn(.com) show, just like every fight can’t be a rivalry match.
If he’d just focus on fighting, like he used to, maybe we’d be paying attention for the right reasons. Then instead of telling us who is and isn’t an honorable champion, he could simply show us.
(BF)
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