{"id":217441,"date":"2017-01-13T12:14:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T20:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=217441"},"modified":"2017-01-13T12:14:15","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T20:14:15","slug":"bj-penn-rodriguez-bout-will-look-like-professional-amateur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bj-penn\/bj-penn-rodriguez-bout-will-look-like-professional-amateur\/","title":{"rendered":"BJ Penn: Rodriguez bout will “look like a professional against an amateur”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Sunday, our very own BJ Penn will make his long anticipated return to the Octagon<\/a>. He will do so against red hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez in the five-round main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Phoenix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In advance of this anticipated showdown, Penn spoke with MMAFighting.com<\/a>\u00a0about Rodriguez, and how he thinks it will all go down.<\/p>\n

Penn has said on several occasions that he believes Rodriguez asked for this fight. Though Rodriguez has refuted these claims, Penn is sticking to his guns.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think Yair and his manager saw me training at the gym [at Jackson-Winkeljohn] and thought, \u2018this guy doesn\u2019t have it anymore. Let\u2019s fight this guy. He\u2019s a big name, and let\u2019s try to make our name off his.\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly how this fight got put together.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people from the gym said, \u2018hey, Yair is a p*ssy, he\u2019s going to try to fight you because he thinks you\u2019re older,\u2019 and this and that. \u2018His manager is trying to push for the fight.\u2019 And I go, really, huh? I was talking to my buddies in Albuquerque, and then the UFC called me two weeks later and offered me Yair. That\u2019s what it was.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However the fight came about, Penn is confident that he’ll defy the betting odds and take out his highly regarded young foe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a fan of everybody, I respect everyone. I\u2019m proud of everybody who decides to take this path in life and chooses this profession, and I think he\u2019s very good, a very solid opponent,\u201d Penn explained. \u201cBut a lot of people are going to be surprised when I get out there. It\u2019s going to look like a professional against an amateur. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen, and Yair is going to be surprised, his coaches are going to be surprised<\/a>. They\u2019re going be like, \u2018oh, I thought this we were going to come between this easy fighter and his big name.\u2019 But we\u2019re going to see. They\u2019re going to see.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How do you think Sunday’s BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez scrap will go? Sound off, PENN Nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Sunday, our very own BJ Penn will make his long anticipated return to the Octagon. He will do so against red hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez in the five-round main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Phoenix. In advance of this anticipated showdown, Penn spoke with MMAFighting.com\u00a0about Rodriguez, and how he thinks it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":215333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10143,10302],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBJ Penn: Rodriguez bout will "look like a professional against an amateur" | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This Sunday, our very own BJ Penn will make his long anticipated return to the Octagon. 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