My greatest moment in my whole career is when I became the first non-Brazilian to win the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championship. That was my greatest moment.
— B. J. Penn
As life goes on, life just gets harder.
Fighting is my whole life, the UFC is my whole life.
I guess being a competitor, you always have that itch. But what it is is... it's tough.
Maybe the word they should use instead of Motivated Penn is Prepared Penn.
I don't want to be a shell of my former self.
I never even thought I would be in the UFC.
Some guys are athletes and some guys are fighters. But, whether I look down on that or not, they're just out there trying to do the best job they can to put food on the table, so I can't be too hard on them.
That's the mark of a man, just keeping your head up, right? Not taking the easy way out.
I always have fighting inside my head and heart.
Dennis Siver, he's a tough guy.
I guess looking back you're only as good as you think you are. You can lie to yourself and that's what you have to do.
It ain't the technique, it ain't the speed, it ain't the power. It's who wants it the most.
The second Hughes fight was a huge reality check. But it didn't hit me right away.
There's more opportunity for me to get three UFC belts at 145 than going to 185.
Fighting is still not a sport for me.
I'm not a great athlete that can play any sport. But one thing I could always do is... fight back.
I'm a fan of everybody, I respect everyone.
The lion doesn't care that the sheep laugh at him. Remember that. The lion just stays there. The animals make noise and tease. The guy with the belt is the lion.
I'm not just a guy that will walk in the ring and somebody's going to walk across and crush me.
The training camps are tough, going through that.
I love my life. But I love fighting more.
I want to go get that 145-pound belt. That's definitely a huge motivation for me. I believe with Greg Jackson's help, I can get that done.
I don't want to be the guy who said 'I could have did this, and I could have did that.' I want to be the guy to know if I could have or I couldn't do it.
I've always thought that being in the UFC is what the name suggests: Ultimate Fighting Championship. As time went on, people started learning to use the rules that suit them.
My dad took us to a couple of karate classes when we were young but we didn't really get into it.
It is not constantly in my head that I am a champion or a UFC fighter. I forget about that. It is very important to other people, and I am glad to have the support, but fighting is my passion. It is what I like to do.
I'm sure there are people in all sports that bend the rules but I'm not going to sit here and point the finger.
Back then, 22, I just loved the sport so much. It was such an exciting time, it was fun. It was an amazing ride.
It does blow me away, though, when I see Werdum just got the belt at 37 and then you see Mark Hunt still fighting at 40. All these different things. It is amazing. I don't know. They're out there, they're doing it.
Training in Brazil at Nova Uniao was nothing short of amazing. I can't thank Leo Santos and coach Andre Pederneiras enough for their efforts.
I want to get one more world title. Three titles at three weight classes, and without a doubt 145 is my best option.
This is a fight. This isn't putting a ball in a hole. This has always been a fight for me, and I just love it when it's that way.
I don't want to just be, 'Oh, he was good back in the day.' I want to be known as one of the best.
Anybody they ever offer me in fighting, I'll probably never be surprised, unless it's the guy's first fight in the UFC.
I want everyone to know that I always gave it the best shot I had, whether it went that way my night.
If you decide you're going to be a fighter, you shouldn't have a problem fighting anyone.
I do get pumped up about it when I go different places and people are like 'come on! You gotta fight again! You gotta fight again!' But it's a lot of work.
I got a wonderful life back in Hawaii.
I'm a purist, and I'm more a fighter than an athlete.
Jiu-jitsu is created where the small man can beat the big man.
Jiu jitsu is a great art for self-defense. But jiu jitsu alone won't get you to a world championship in the UFC or even a winning record sometimes.
I guess growing up, it was pretty much a normal life, as I got older I used to get into some fights but nothing unusual.
I'm definitely excited to be a part of the UFC spreading out globally around the world.
I don't know where that thought came from and I don't know why I had that thought, but I thought I was the best fighter on the whole planet.
It doesn't do me any good to train for three months, and I don't get to fight.
I don't miss a three-month training camp. I don't miss fight week. But I do miss being the baddest man on the planet.
I have a good team around me and I don't feel anything is anywhere near out of my league.
Some days you think nothing surprises you anymore and other times I'm thinking I can't believe this journey and how it went down.
Fighting is still a fight for me. It always has been.
