UFC 118: B.J. Penn revitalized ... again

B.J. Penn doesn't come from your traditional pugilist background. He didn't grow up on the hard streets of some urban area. Nor is he mad at the world, or keeping himself out of jail. Penn had a pretty good upbringing in Hilo, Hawaii (how bad could it possibly be, right?) and when his fighting career ends, he's got a good safety net to fall into. He's a smart guy who was at the forefront, as far as fighters go, of marketing himself on the internet. As he readies for UFC 118 this weekend, he's putting forth an old theme -- "the focused/hungry B.J. Penn". Each time he loses a fight Penn talks about reinventing himself.  "The loss to Frankie actually made me step back and realize I want to fight as much as I can. (After this fight, if healthy) I want to fight next month, next week," Penn said during last week's UFC 118 teleconference. "I don't know if I feel my biological clock ticking or what ... I want to fight as much as possible." Penn is just 31 years old, but it sounds like he looks back on his 20's with some regret. He spent a lot of time arguing about contracts and taking long breaks between fights.  "I've kind of spaced my career out over the 10 years," said Penn (15-6, 11-5 UFC). "I kinda want to make a push to really be a true fighter. I've had a good training camp and I've kinda figured out how to keep myself heatlhy through multiple training camps." Over the last few years, we've been down this path several times. Penn spoke about a renewed hunger and that he was more focused after losses to Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Now his win-loss record is serving as motivation.  "When I first started fighting. I thought I was God's gift to fighting. I thought I'd go 100-0 with 100 knockouts. I sit back, I look at my record and I can't believe that I have six losses," said Penn. He considers the UFC 112 loss to Edgar a blessing.  "If I won that fight I would've changed nothing in my game and I would've set myself up to fall even harder in the future," said Penn. "Everytime that you get a loss you take a different path and you get back on the right journey of why you started this thing in the first place."Penn not only lost his UFC lightweight title but it was the first time he'd fallen in fight 155 pounds since 2002. It was such a big upset that he's been installed as a minus-450 favorite to regain his belt. He's not buying into the hype.   "People are putting Frankie in as the underdog. I feel like I'm the underdog. I'm the guy that doesn't want this sport to pass him by," said Penn. "And I want to stay at the forefront of this whole thing. I'm working night and day to keep tweaking these little areas, to keep up with these young kids."Let's hope this is the final time that Penn needs to motivate himself to be at his best. When right, he's a top five pound-for-pound fighter. If he stays in good condition and keeps improving, he'll probably get his belt back and have a 4-5 year run in front of him as the best 155er in the world. But it's up to Penn now to cement his legacy as one of the best ever.

Shanna Moakler Shannon Elizabeth Shannyn Sossamon Shiri Appleby