I could sit heaR AND "RAG" hat ON BJ,but I won't. Let us keep several things in mind with regard to BJ. First & foremost, dude is 31yrs old. It's not quite retirement age, but it's getting up there. Think how BJ looked for both of his last two victories over Kenny Florian & Diego Sanchez. BJ looked truly cut & in shape. For Saturday's fight against Edgar, he looked like his old self again. BJ has that 'Puffer Fish' thing going on again. You know were his head & body looks all swollen. How is he able to achieve the "Puffer Fish" look? Keep using Rudy & Chris Parillo,and I'm pretty sure his career will be over sooner than he thinks.
Since Sat. night I've been beating myself over his fight. If you watched "Countdown" BJ said Frankie Edgar would see the real BJ Penn. If what I saw was the real BJ Penn this past Sat.,...then I'm not watching MMA any more.
Now, if BJ is truly serious why would he hire Troy Maldonaldo in his corner. His biggest mistake was not using the Marinovich Brothers once again for conditioning. Perhaps they pushed BJ more than he wanted to be pushed. I know it wasn't a money issue,so what could it be other than he didn't like their style of "push" Let's face it, at the end day both VaLentino & Parillo are more friends to BJ, than trainers. Throw in "Rude Boy", and you got a party more than a training camp.
If BJ is truly serious, he needs to make the necessary adjustments that champs do to stay relevant,and return to the top of his profession.