After putting away Matt Hughes is glorious fashion at UFC 123, BJ Penn is on fire. And to keep up the momentum, he’s counting on the help of Abmar Barbosa, who this year stood out for his performances at events like the Pan, where he took second, and the Asian Open, which he won. Abmar spoke a bit about what he’s doing in Hawaii with GRACIEMAG.com:

So what’s the news?

I’m here in Honolulu, Hawaii, and I’m teaching a seminar this weekend. Soon I’ll go spend a week or two training with BJ Penn.

How did this opportunity to train with BJ Penn come about?

We spoke when Joe Lauzon introduced us, at UFC 123. I promised to pay him a visit to train and here I am.

And what’s on the schedule for after training with BJ?

I’ll return to Virginia, because I’m going to lead the Fairfax Jiu-Jitsu team in competition. There’s going to be a mega-training camp in February of about ten days at my branch in Providence. Besides that, there’s my DVD, which was launched in November and is selling like mad. I hope everyone likes it, I dedicated myself 100%. I’d also like to thank GRACIEMAG.com for the space it’s given me.

Depois da boa vitória sobre Matt Hughes, no UFC 123, BJ Penn está a todo gás. Por isso, o faixa-preta vai treinar duro e conta com a ajuda de Abmar Barbosa, que, neste ano, se destacou pelas boas apresentações em eventos como o Pan, tendo alcançado o segundo posto, e o Asiático, em que venceu. Abmar bate um papo com o GRACIEMAG.com.

Confira:

Quais são as novidades?

Estou aqui no Havaí, em Honolulu, e vou fazer um seminário neste final de semana. Logo em seguida vou treinar com o BJ Penn por uma ou duas semanas.

Como surgiu essa oportunidade de treinar com o BJ Penn?

Conversamos quando fui apresentado a ele através do Joe Lauzon, no UFC  123. Prometi fazer uma visita para treinar e aqui estou.

E após esse treino com o BJ Penn, o que está programando?

Volto para Virginia, porque vou  comandar a equipe de competição da academia Fairfax Jiu-Jitsu. Vai rolar um mega camp em  fevereiro, por 10 dias, na minha filial em Providence. Além disso, tem o meu DVD que foi lançado em novembro e está indo de vento em polpa. Espero que todos gostem, porque me dediquei 100% .  Gostaria de agradecer também ao GRACIEMAG.com pelo espaço que tem me dado!

BJ nocauteou Hughes em 21 segundos no UFC 123, em novembro. Foto: Josh Hedges.

O nocaute fulminante em cima do velho rival Matt Hughes, bem como a descontrolada comemoração de menino por parte de BJ Penn, pode ter surpreendido quem achava que o ex-campeão dos leves tinha perdido a vontade de lutar MMA.

Enganaram-se. E só caiu nessa quem não leu a excelente autobiografia de BJ, fundamental para os fãs de MMA e também os de Jiu-Jitsu. No livro “Why I fight”, o faixa-preta havaiano detalha como sua consciência de lutador foi forjada nos primeiros treinos de Jiu-Jitsu, nos anos na academia de Ralph Gracie em San José, na Califórnia, e como ele de repente se viu lutando um MMA clandestino na Califórnia. Após vencer com um mata-leão em instantes, constatou: “Foi a melhor sensação de minha vida”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBovfYMAG-o

Confira alguns dos bons trechos (traduzidos por nós) da parte em que BJ ainda era um jovem franzino viciado em Jiu-Jitsu, e torça para alguma editora esperta editar a obra no Brasil.

No começo do livro, BJ era um adolescente quando decidiu investir nos treinos de Jiu-Jitsu e rumou para a Califórnia, no início do verão de 1997. No primeiro mês de treinos, teve a chance de dar um rola com o então ídolo do UFC Frank Shamrock, a quem ele a princípio nem reconheceu.

Sobre o primeiro campeonato, ainda faixa-branca, ele conta:

“Quando o som anunciou meu nome, eu estava nervoso como nunca antes, e quase comecei a chorar. Lá estava eu, num ginásio em frente a uma galera que me esperava para me ver lutar. Diferente do futebol, que você entra como parte de um time diante de uma torcida que você conhece, eu estava entrando ali sozinho. Parecia que o mundo estava me olhando. Eu não sabia o que fazer direito, então fiz o que parecia certo.

“Por sorte tudo veio rápida e naturalmente. Venci o peso até com facilidade, e acabei ganhando o absoluto também, apesar de encarar um cara de 220 pounds (100kg), contra os meus 135 (
Dei um triângulo voador nele e finalizei. Quando tudo acabou, senti que tinha sido a melhor coisa que eu conquistara até aquele dia”.

BJ fala dos treinos de Ralph também, quando por vezes tomava uns amassos, mas que isso foi lhe ensinando como ele um dia poderia ficar bom. Foi lá que BJ começou a treinar a parte em pé e a ver que ele realmente se virava bem. Mas seu foco era o Jiu-Jitsu.

“Nesse campeonato de Jiu-Jitsu (Joe Moreira), eu lutaria entre os azuis, mesmo ainda sendo branca. (…). Isso era algo que o Ralph era famoso por fazer, ele gostava de escalar os alunos em divisões mais duras para ver como eles se saíam. Isso serviria para enchê-los de humildade ou dar uma chance para se superarem.”

Sob a sugestão firme de Ralph, BJ estreou no vale-tudo contra um kickboxer.

“A Califórnia legalizou o MMA em dezembro de 2005. Mas lá estava eu, em 1997, lutando em algum ginásio de sunga, contra um kickboxer de calças de karatê, ele pelo menos uns dez quilos a mais que eu. Bem, mais uma luta é uma luta. (…) Enquanto aquecia, conversei com um jovem Dave Terrel, e falei que eu tive problemas para dormir na noite anterior. Ele, que olhava para baixo, levantou a cabeça sério e disparou: ‘Problemas para dormir ontem? Eu não durmo há três semanas!'”

A capa da autobiografia.

BJ knocked out Hughes in 21 seconds at UFC 123 in novembro. Photo: Josh Hedges.

The stunning knockout of old rival Matt Hughes coupled with the uncontrolled and boyish celebrations by BJ Penn may have surprised those who felt the former lightweight champion had lost his will to fight MMA.

They were wrong. But only those who hadn’t flipped through BJ’s excellent biography – a must-read for MMA and Jiu-Jitsu fans alike – could have doubted him. In the book “Why I Fight,” the Hawaiian black belt explains how his consciousness as a fighter was forged starting with his early Jiu-Jitsu training, during his years at Ralph Gracie’s academy in San Jose, California, and how all of a sudden he found himself in an underground MMA event in California. After swiftly putting away his opponent with a rear-naked choke, he purported: “It was the greatest feeling of my life.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBovfYMAG-o

Check out some excerpts from the part of the book where BJ was still a blue belt hooked on Jiu-Jitsu.

At the start of the book, BJ was a a teenager when he decided to dedicate himself to training Jiu-Jitsu and headed for California in early summer of 1997. During his first month of training he had the opportunity to roll with the UFC’s big star at the time, Frank Shamrock, who at first he didn’t recognize.

On his first championship, while still a white belt, he recounts:

“When the announcer called out my name, I was as nervous as I’d ever been and I almost started crying. Here I was in some gymnasium in front of an audience waiting to see me perform. Unlike soccer, where you went onto the field in front of all these people you knew, as part of a team, I was now entering this thing alone. It felt like the eyes of the world were focused on me. I walked out to the mat, and I didn’t know what to do, so I just did what felt right to me.

“Luckily everything came to me quickly and naturally. I won my own weight class rather easily, and even won the open division, despite fighting a guy who was about 220 pounds to my 135.

I flying triangled him for the submission. (…) When the competition was over it felt as good as anything I had ever done in my life.”

BJ also speaks of training with Ralph, when sometimes he would get beat up, but how that was what taught him that he could really get good some day. It was there that BJ started training his standup and seeing how he really knew how to handle himself. But his focus was Jiu-Jitsu.

“For this one (the Joe Moreira) I would be fighting in the blue belt division even though I had yet to earn my blue. (…) This was something Ralph had been known to do to students: put them in a tougher division to see how they performed. It would either humble them or give them a chance to excel.”

On an adamant suggestion from Ralph, BJ made his MMA debut against a kickboxer.

“California legalized MMA in December 2005, and here I was sometime around 1997, fighting in some gymnasium while wearing a pair of tight little black Speedostyle shorts, up against a kickboxer in a pair of long black karate pants who had to be at least twenty pounds heavier than me and quite a few inches taller. But whatever, a fight’s a fight.”

BJ then recounts his conversation with another athlete fighting that night, Dave Terrell, a Cesar Gracie student who would later go on to figure in the UFC.

“We talked for a minute and then I told him, ‘I’m really nervous about this. I had a hard time sleeping last night.’

“Terrell, who was looking down at the floor, picked up his head and in all seriousness said, ‘Hard time sleeping? I haven’t slept in three weeks!'”

Cover of the autobiography

Photo: Personal archive.

The outcome of the Lyoto Machida-Quinton Jackson fight at UFC 123 stirred up some controversy. After the final bell, Jackson clearly demonstrated he expected to lose, but the judges’ decision appointed him the victor via split decision.

It was the second loss in a row for Lyoto following a sixteen-fight unbeaten streak. The karateka voiced his feeling regarding the result via Twitter:

“I feel I won, but I have to respect the job the judges do. Right or wrong, correct or not, they were prepared to be there. I cannot judge them,” he says.

“My father always taught me, ever since I was little in karate competitions, that injust results exist: ‘My son, you cannot place blame on the referees, the responsability to win or lose is yours. You have to be your best to not leave a margin for getting it taken from you. They can assign whatever results they want to.’”

Then, Lyoto goes on to comment on UFC president Dana White’s criticism of him:

“As for my boss, I don’t want to spend time speaking good or ill of him. As he’s said before, the president calls the shots. Who am I to speak of someone who puts it like that and feels he knows what is right?” he says.

“I was happy with my performance, with my preparations. My team did a great job. The outcome was no one’s fault. If that’s how it happened it was meant to be, I have to learn from it,” he adds.

Forging ahead, Lyoto now awaits another opportunity in the octagon and is making the most of his time off to spend time with his family and newborn son.

“I want to thank my wife and congratulate her for giving me the greatest present of my life: my two sons!” he says in closing.

Foto: arquivo pessoal.

A luta entre Lyoto Machida e Quinton Jackson teve um resultado polêmico no UFC 123. Após o gongo final, Jackson demonstrou claramente que imaginava ter perdido, mas a decisão dos árbitros laterais o apontou como vencedor, em decisão dividida.

Foi a segunda derrota seguida de Lyoto, depois de 16 vitórias invicto. O karateca comentou o que achou do resultado através do seu Twitter: 

“Acho que venci, mas tenho que respeitar o trabalho dos juízes. Errando ou não, acertando ou não, eles foram preparados para estar ali. Não posso julgá-los”, diz. 

“Meu pai sempre ensinou desde pequeno nas competições de karatê, quando havia injustiça nos resultados: ‘Meu filho, você não pode colocar culpa nos árbitros, a responsabilidade de ganhar ou perder é sua. Você é que tem que ser melhor para não deixar margem para roubo. Eles podem dar o resultado que quiserem’”. 

Em seguida, Lyoto não deixou de comentar as críticas do presidente do UFC Dana White a seu respeito: 

“Quanto ao meu patrão, não quero perder tempo falando mal ou bem dele. Como ele já disse, é o presidente e quem manda. Quem sou eu para discutir com alguém que fala assim e que acha que é o dono da verdade?”, dispara. 

“Fiquei feliz com meu desempenho, com a minha preparação. Minha equipe trabalhou muito bem. O resultado da luta não foi culpa de ninguém. Se aconteceu assim era para ser assim, tenho que aprender com isso”, continua. 

Bola para frente, Lyoto espera agora uma nova chance no octagon e aproveita a vida com a família e o filho recém nascido. 

“Quero agradecer à minha esposa e dar parabéns por ela ter dado a mim o maior presente da vida: meus dois filhos!”, encerra.

BJ's next opponent named. Photos: Josh Hedges.

Following the heated disputes from this Saturday in Detroit, the fighters cooled off and made themselves heard at the traditional post-event press conference. After admitting in the octagon that he was surprised with the result from his fight with Lyoto Machida – resulting in a scolding from Dana White – Quinton Jackson changed his tone a bit.

“My trainers said I won. When I was fighting, all I had in my head was knocking him out. In the third round, he came at me and I forgot about what happened in the first two rounds,” he commented.

Rampage surprised with win.

Before the showdown, Rampage voiced criticism regarding Machida’s style of fighting – monotonous in his view. In practice, now he has a different opinion.

“Fighting Machida is different from watching him. Now I have more respect for his style. I’d like to be able to move like he does. I have more respect for his style, but I still don’t like watching him,” he said.

On the possibility of the rematch Quinton mentioned in the octagon, Dana White put to rest any talk of one in the near future.

The heavily-anticipated match between BJ Penn and Matt Hughes – their third – broke the tie in score.

“I’m not thinking about becoming champion, I don’t want that type of thing in my head. Now I just want to fight,” said BJ, who according to White, will face Jon Fitch at UFC 127 in Australia.

“When I saw Matt on the ground, I thought: I have to finish this now and not let him get up. I kept hitting until the referee intervened. What do I want to remember? I want to remember what happened this evening. Matt’s my idol and always will be,” added the Jiu-Jitsu black belt.

“He hit me hard. I thought it was a knee or a kick,” stated Hughes.

Promotional first-timer Maiquel Falcão surprised everyone who didn’t know him, with his win over Gerald Harris, who was undefeated in the UFC in three fights.

“He was a great adversary and the UFC is now within me. I love this here and today was a perfect day for me. I used strategy, and that was the patch to victory,” he said in analysis.

George Sotiropoulos carries on with his impressive ways – now counting seven wins in the UFC –, with his submission over Joe Lauzon. The fighter isn’t yet lined up for a shot at the title, but he’ll be able to fight at home again, in the Land Down Under.

“I’m really pleased about being able to fight in Australia for my next fight. After a few days of rest, I’ll be back in training. I can hardly wait!” said the submission savant, who now has Dennis Siver ahead of him.

[flickr set=72157625312240709]

Photo: Josh Hedges.

Contentious judges’ decisions are nothing new to the UFC. And after this Saturday’s UFC 123 main event between Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida, the judges struck again.

The first two rounds were evenly matched, but Lyoto took a considerable advantage in the last round. The way the judges saw it, though, Rampage was a bit better in the first two rounds, giving him an accumulative advantage.

As his arm was raised the victor, Jackson bore a surprised look on his face and expressed his feelings when he took the mic.

“That fight was so close, it was unfair for Machida. I have to give him a rematch,” he remarked.

“Quinton is a great champion. He recognized my victory, but let’s move on. I did my best, the judges, judge,” replied Lyoto.

To the organization’s president, Dana White, the outcome was fair.