BJ Penn: “Believe in Yourself and Never Quit!”

Posted on July 15, 2008 Updated on January 25, 2011

This weekend I watched the DVD, Rumble on the Rock 6, which is a MMA event that is put on in Hawaii. It was pretty interesting all around, but the main event  was most exciting for me as I watched BJ Penn soundly defeat Rodrigo Gracie. At the time of their meeting Penn was 5-1 and Rodrigo Gracie was 5-0.  They fought at 185 which was a compromise for both fighters since at the time BJ was fighting at 155 and Rodrigo was fighting at 205.

At the end of the bout, Penn did his obligatory interview where he thanked the crowd and stated his oft repeated comments about Hawaii having the best fighters in the world. However, the best part of the interview occured when the announcer asked him what was his gameplan going into the fight. Penn said, “You don’t need a gameplan when you believe in yourself and never quit!”

I know that this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a strategy going in or tactics he won’t use, but it demonstrates what is behind the mystique of his greatness as a grappler and as an MMA fighter.

His thought process.

Those two things; believing in oneself and never quitting are two areas that I am always working on and I am glad that BJ Penn lists it as a fundamental element of success.

Check out my new books, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Grappling and Grappling for Newbies on Amazon.com!