|
MMAyou.com had the opportunity to speak with JD Penn. JD is BJ Penn's older brother and manager, President of t he Rumble on the Rock organization, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt, and an executive at EliteXC. Check out what he has to regarding his brother's fight with Sean Sherk, their family history, and much more.
MMAyou.com: Please tell our readers your official position at EliteXC.
Penn: My name is JD Penn and I work on the fight operations side of EliteXC and I work specifically on venues.
MMAyou.com: Tell us about your own fighting background. Did you ever consider fighting MMA?
Penn: I considered fighting MMA about six years ago. I was training really hard with BJ, Charuto, and Javier Mendez over in San Jose. I hurt my neck around that time. We were training three times a day, I was going to school. We were all getting ready to go into MMA and I hurt my neck. I've just been out for about two to three years and it's been a nagging injury ever since.
MMAyou.com: Was your brother BJ always an exceptional athlete growing up or did he just excel at fighting?
Penn: He was always an excellent athlete. We played, I kind of laugh about it, we always played soccer for most of our childhood. We played soccer probably for about twelve, thirteen years. This was a real transition that we got into MMA or should I say, got into Jiu Jitsu.
MMAyou.com: Speaking of BJ, give us your thoughts on how BJ versus Sherk is going to go down.
Penn: I just see BJ dominating Sherk in every position. I don't see where Sherk would have an advantage. On the standup BJ's gonna have better standup. He has longer arms, he has longer reach. I'm positive he punches a lot harder then Sherk, better combinations. When it gets to the wrestling I could see them canceling out each other. I don't see how Sherk could really take down BJ. It'd be more of an explosive kind of scramble. BJ's also very good in a scramble. That's kind of where (inaudible) started wrestling is scrambling.
On the ground I don't see that Sherk could do just as good of elbows. If BJ's on top I could see Sherk just getting destroyed.
MMAyou.com: Now that you're hooked up with EliteXC what is going on with Rumble on the Rock?
Penn: Rumble on the Rock is kind of warped into EliteXC. When we first joined forces with Pro Elite we decided it was going to be called Rumble on the Rock. It later morphed into what we decided to call EliteXC.
MMAyou.com: Do you think EliteXC will take over the UFC eventually?
Penn: That's our hope. I think it's not about overtaking the UFC or overtaking any other organization. There's just so much room to be out there. Honestly I wouldn't want to be in this MMA world if there was only one organization. If it was EliteXC or if it was UFC. I think you need to have several organizations. That's the only way for the sport to grow.
MMAyou.com: Will your younger brother Reagan ever fight MMA?
Penn: We've been talking to him. We've been trying to get him into MMA. He's kind of what I'd like to call a computer nerd (both laugh). He's the kind of guy that will just be on the computer, writing programs. It's actually pretty funny.
When we first were at the house, Reagan came up. He was training about three months. He was working on his computer, he got a job in San Jose. He trained three months and we're like "BJ's gonna compete in the Mundial in Brazil". Reagan decided to enter in the blue belt division cause back then they didn't have the white belt division and destroyed everyone. He won six matches and won the Mundial after three months of training. In that same tournament BJ came second.
MMAyou.com: How did you and your brothers end up switching from Ralph Gracie to Nova Uniao?
Penn: I think it was just a matter of time. We were in San Jose I think for about five years maybe. I think around the third or fourth year, the third year he started to. He kind of was getting not sick or bored but he wanted to move back to Hawaii. He wanted to come home.
I was living in Vegas. I met Charuto, he was working the academy, he was living with me. I talked to him about opening up a gym in Hilo. He was all for it. So I told him what happens is that I can get you this much money, we can take care of your housing, food, and all of that. He said "Sure, let me try it". So he came down and we opened a school in Hilo and it kind of was just that transition of wanting to move home, we didn't have a Gracie affiliate, we weren't blackbelts yet, Charuto was a blackbelt. That's kind of how it all evolved.
MMAyou.com: Would you like BJ to fight for EliteXC one day?
Penn: Yeah of course. We'd love to. I think BJ in his career right now is a super fight. I think he's the kind of person that right now should be a super fight if he's gonna fight. You know, be known as the one number one fighter in his weight division, or in any weight division that’ll be a big fight. I think for sure BJ Sherk should be it.
Our online store is now up! Check out our amazing selection of MMA goods at www.mmayou.com/store. We have over 400 products for all of your MMA needs.
Be sure to check back with us tomorrow as we will have more great interviews for you then!
 |
News and Exclusive Interviews with MMAyou 
