It has been a while since a fighter came out of relative obscurity and has huge hype around him. With the excellent promotion of the fighters that the new UFC management is implementing, this has fueled the reputation of BJJ Black Belt World Champion, BJ Penn. People in the submission grappling and BJJ world knew that BJ is one of the top grapplers in the world. There has been talk on many internet forums that BJ can also through some mean leather as well. Many people were eagerly awaiting his entrance in to mixed martial arts. BJ got the chance of a lifetime and made his professional fight debut in the last UFC as a preliminary fight against Chicago native, Joey Gilbert. Although, the main UFC audience on pay-per-view did not get see his match except for a quick clip showing utter dominance, the UFC left the fans thirsting for more from this youngster. While in San Francisco on business, I spun down to Santa Clara where BJ, along with his other brothers (all three were there, one was visiting from Hilo), live and train. BJ has seemed to find a good location to live and more importantly, train in order to reach his goal of obtaining a UFC Bantamweight Championship belt. After interview conducted on June 20, 2001, I was treated to watch a training session at the American Kickboxing Academy under the watchful eye of owner and world champion kickboxer, Javier Mendez, who is responsible for the excellent stand up skills of Frank Shamrock. Other fighters that were there and stopped in while I watched BJ's session was Tony DeSouza, Crazy Bob Cook, Dave Velasquez, Brian Johnston, Ishizawa (who fought Ryan Gracie and is training for a rematch). It was literally a who's who of fighters just coming there to train and sharpen their skills. Following the training session, I was also treated to one of the best BBQ's that I have ever had at BJ's home before I had to make my long one hour voyage back to my hotel (Remember I live in Hawaii, everything is just 30 minutes away).

Full Contact Fighter: How is your preparation going?
BJ Penn: My preparation is going great. For the fight, I've been training three times a day and trying to get a lot of rest and eat a lot of the right foods. I'm starting to slow down now and just taper off before the fight.

FCF: Do you find it hard to keep your intensity and drive when the preparation is so long for an upcoming event?
BP: Yeah, definitely. I get burned out mentally and physically and that's when I have to take a break and lay off and let my mind get focused again and get away from the whole scene, the mats, the rings, and stuff.

FCF: So, you are taking a break to relax prior to your fight. Do you feel that you will be too relaxed or inactive for too long or is this something that you did for the last UFC and are comfortable with?
BP: Yeah, I usually try to set a peak for myself. I try to rest a few days before and then train a little before the fight to wake my muscles back up because I don't want to rest a day before the fight or I'll be sluggish so I always try to get one or two days before a competition to work out, two days before the competition at least.

FCF: Is it a controlled sparring session or just drills?
BP: A lot of drills and a little sparring, but making sure that I'm not going to get hurt at all.

FCF: I understand that you have been working out at American Kickboxing Academy. What does that school offer you?
BP: It's just a great place to work out. A lot of different fighters are in and out of there all the time. You got boxers, kickboxers, good striking coach, Javier Mendez, Frank Shamrock works out there.

FCF: Do you have opportunities to train with these other guys like Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock and actually grapple and train with these guys?
BP: Everybody trains together. I haven't got a chance to train with Chuck. He was only up there for one day, but everybody else trains together, all the time, everyday.

FCF: Can you go through some names of fighters that train there?
BP: Tony "The Savage" DeSouza, Crazy Bob Cook, Little Dave Velasquez, Frank Shamrock, Brian Johnston, Bobby Southworth. There's a lot of guys there all the time.

FCF: Is there enough guys your size and weight in order for you to benefit?
BP: Yeah, that's the hard part, finding people your weight, training partners. Closer to the fight, I try to stay away from rolling with the bigger guys so I don't get hurt. I guess that's the problem for everyone, finding good training partners.

FCF: Let's move on to your opponent. What do you know about Din Thomas?
BP: I know he's pretty good in all areas. He's pretty good on his feet. He's pretty good on the ground and it makes t easier to train because I have to train for all areas. I don't have to be specific in one area. I'm not taking him light. It's going to be a good fight. He's a tall lanky guy. I don't know how strong he is. He looks pretty strong though.

FCF: In Din's last fight in Hawaii, I saw him fight Bozo Palling and he seemed very relaxed and eventually finished with a triangle. Do you think his ground game will pose any problems for you?
BP: I think on the ground, he's going to be real squirmy, trying to push me off and move fast so we'll just see what kind of cardio shape he's in. If he can keep pushing me off like that, if it goes to the ground, who knows? I don't really want to set a game plan, just go out there and fight.

FCF: Off the top of your head, do you think it is going to be more of a stand up or ground fight?
BP: Both, stand up and ground.

FCF: Are you prepared to stand up and trade with him or would you prefer to have the fight on the ground?
BP: Yeah, I'm sure I'm much better than him on the ground as far as control, positions, and submissions. He's probably going to think that I'm just going to take him to the ground so I'm going to stand up with him too. Let him know I can fight him up here [standing] too.

FCF: Do you feel any added pressure because they are talking of possibly a title fight after another fight against the winner of the Uno and Iha fight?
BP: No added pressure. We'll just wait and see what the UFC has set up for the next fight after this.

FCF: Has there been any talk of a next fight after this fight?
BP: No, we haven't really talked about it too much. We talked about some stuff, but nothing for sure.

FCF: Have they signed you to a multiple fight contract or is it a fight-by-fight deal?
BP: Yeah, I'm multiple by contract right now so I'll be with the UFC for a little while.

FCF: How many fights left in your contract after this one?
BP: Four more fights.

FCF: How do you see the Uno/Iha fight going?
BP: I really don't know. I guess Uno's better on the feet. Iha should be stronger since he's dropping all that weight [Iha is coming down from 170 pounds]. It's tough to say. What if Uno is better than Iha on the ground? I don't know what's going to happen, but what if Iha is just too strong and grabs his arm? It's going to be a great fight. Too bad I'm not going to get to watch it.

FCF: How do you compare this match in front of literally thousands of people to a match like the finals of the Black Belt World Championships of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
BP: I don't know about that. It's going to be exciting that it's on TV, but I'm going to be just thinking about the fight, nothing else. I'm probably going to forget that it's even on TV. I'm just going to fight.

FCF: Did you have any problems in your last fight that you felt that you needed to address in order to properly prepare for this fight or did you feel that you initiated your game plan to your liking?
BP: When I watched the tape, I saw some mistakes that I made, stuff that I can fix up and do better. I just don't want to be the guy, "I won the fight. It was perfect," because I can always be better. I seen some stuff that I did wrong so I'm going to try to fix those things up and come in even better next time.

FCF: Do you feel that the UFC management is pushing you to the top too soon, too fast and would you prefer a couple weaker fights to gain some experience?
BP: They asked me if I wanted to take the fight so I felt that I was ready because a lot of these guys, all they do is fight. They don't train. A lot of people fought a 100 fights. They don't train enough. They are not good and they just go fight. All this time, I've been just thinking about fighting, but I've been getting the training so I really do feel that I'm ready to fight these top opponents.

FCF: How long do you see your career lasting if everything goes as planned?
BP: Maybe about three more years, four more years.

FCF: …And then what are you going to move on to?
BP: I have no idea. Teach. Open the West Coast Jiu-Jitsu like the West Coast Tae Kwon Do.

FCF: Great. Good luck and look forwarding to seeing your fight.
BP: Thanks Mike.