B.J. Penn isn't scared, homie.
The former champion today responded to the 25-minute gauntlet that Cesar Gracie, the trainer responsible for Nick Diaz, laid down yesterday when news broke that Georges St. Pierre injured his knee and was forced out of his UFC 137 main event fight against Carlos Condit.
Penn vs. Diaz, which was scheduled to serve as the co main event, was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. And to make the situation more interesting, Gracie immediately upped the ante, urging "The Prodigy" to agree to a five-round, non-title fight.
Diaz was on board. So, too, was White, according to Gracie. All Penn had to do was follow suit and they would "make it happen."
Check out Penn's response to the challenge:
"I want to be compensated accordingly. That's it. I'm more than willing to do a five-round fight. If Dana wants a five-round fight, just give me a call and we can put it together right now. Or if Cesar wants to make it a five-round fight and he wants to compensate me personally, he can put his money where his mouth is, it's that easy. I've been training to fight. I'm ready to fight."
White, who was not on the UFC 137 conference call today immediately take up Penn on his offer, previously indicated that he wasn't going to force the issue because both fighters trained to fight for three rounds.
And with the pay-per-view (PPV) event, which will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, less than two weeks away, it wasn't reasonable to ask them to fight any longer than the 15 minutes to which they both agreed six weeks ago.
Makes perfect sense.
However, considering the extenuating circumstances, as well as Diaz and Penn willing to raise the stakes for a little extra scratch, White might want to consider making the Hawaiian another offer he can't refuse.
It worked the first time. Chances are it will work again ... if the price is right.
Source: http://www.mmamania.com/2011/10/19/2501 ... where-your