UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn reflected on the recent changes at the UFC. WME-IMG bought the UFC for $4,000,000,000 and the league now marches to the beat of a drummer intent on making money back.
I mean, just look at the hotel you’re sitting in,” said Penn, as transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “It doesn’t look like the MGM, does it? It’s definitely the end of an era. There’s nothing nobody can do. There’s nothing Dana can do, and there’s nothing anybody can do. It’s new owners. It’s a trip, man. It’s really a trip. I don’t know, I don’t get caught up too much into it, but I realize we’re driving down a different street now, no doubt.
When the Fertittas left, I was like, ‘Oh man, this is a monster with no head now.’ This is just going to be — the UFC is a monster with no head. The Fertittas had so much heart and they really were sympathetic to the fighters at the time. You could talk to them and everything. And Wall Street took over Main Street. It’s a different time now.
Today, with all of the fans, there’s a new star created every week. One guy gets a knockout and you see his name all over the internet and you hear it everywhere. That’s not how it was. Before, you had to get like 10 knockouts to get some kind of credit, you know? There’s just a new guy created every different week. One guy, he wins one fight with a spinning kick and everybody loves him. That’s just the game, that’s what it is today.”
However, Penn is not looking back with rose-tinted glasses. He sees plenty he likes right now.
Max [Holloway] is a perfect example of a guy who just went in there and did his fights, did what he had to do, and got his way to the belt,” said Penn. “That’s exactly it, much different than a lot of the other guys out there. Much different.”
That was amazing how Conor wiped Eddie out. That’s it, the guys today, they’re very good, man. You better be ready. The styles are changing. People are doing all these spin kicks and everybody has their own one special move that they’ve got. So, it is amazing.”
It’s different game though, I’ve got to say. I never studied martial arts until I was 17, and now you’ve got five-year-old kids already saying they want to be the UFC champion. So it is, it’s just a really different game than it used to be. And it’s fun for me to see.
BJ Penn, 38, fights rising star Yair Rodriguez, 24, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 103 on Sunday. Penn’s base was the parent art of MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rodriguez is based in Taekwondo. Expect some of those spin kicks Penn referenced.
