The Pendulum - My take on all this, for what it's worth.
BJ asked Jason to be in his corner. The most plausible reason for that is BJ wanted someone that knew him and how much punishment he could take and continue, but would end it if (or when) needed. Everyone must have forgotten it was Parillo who threw in the towel in the second GSP fight.
BJ already had his coaches, Jason was there as a friend, to make the call to stop it.
I haven't seen the fight yet, but judging from reading reports, Jason would have stopped it at the end of round three if it were that bad.
Interesting take. Insightful I think.
I agree that it seems like Parillo was there as a friend, someone who would have BJ's back. If I was going into a big fight, the last thing I'd want would be to have someone come in at the last moment and told me I'd screwed up everything in my training up to that point. At that point, really, he had no choice but to be a yes-man so as not to screw with BJ's head.
Something had to be mentally off with BJ to go and fight like that. Just bizarre. Him saying he got too tired fighting in a normal boxing stance is very telling. Not enough conditioning and a poor training camp. Man oh man.
I figured B.J. would be using kicks when I saw him in the upright stance... I don't think he threw one, did he? He barely threw any punches. An upright stance could work if you plan to use long punches and kicks, but it of course makes you more vulnerable to the takedown.
Also his eyes looks strange during his entrance, did anyone else think so?
I think he was (poorly) attempting to emulate Nick Diaz' boxing style because he had the idea that it was more economical. Whatever the reason it was depressing and I had to turn the fight off midway through the second round.
Fuck this fucking horseshit debate. The dude didn't need to do this fucking interview.Trying to somehow cover his ass and throw his "friend" under the fucking bus like a bitch. Fuck that. BJ admitted he was done and didnt have it anymore which is way fucking harder to do than saying you had a fucked up gameplan. BJ Penn was an amazing fighter who we all had many years to enjoy watching and marvelling at. Its not like he needed this shit to pay the rent so even more to be respected. Let the man hang it up with honor and dignity. He went out on his shield. Massive love for BJ, his legacy and his future. End of fucking story!!
MMAnima - The new piece that Jack Slack just wrote drew a comparison between BJ's secret stance and Renan Barao's stance. Something to consider when looking for answers.
Ministry of Truth - Wouldn't a friend who is supposedly an expert striking coach be doing a disservice to both their friendship and their profession if they didn't strongly offer their opinion? I just don't get it.
When he said he didn't want to mess up their friendship what he really meant was he didn't want to shake the boat and lose his easy paycheck.
Whambo - I love how someone essentially being a cornerman is too difficult a concept to grasp for some people.
"I didn't want to suggest changes from months of training BJ and his coaches were doing 1 week out" = He's a yes man.
Lol. Some real smart people on here. It was nice when most people on here actually trained.
The "yes man" thing goes back to the day, 7 weeks before the first fight with Frankie, when allegedly BJ complained about being too sore to from his strength and conditioning workouts to train the amount of striking and grappling his other coaches had planned for the camp, and instead of telling BJ, "Hey that soreness is the price you have to pay to be the best version of BJ, the guy who came out for the 5th round with Diego Sanchez with the same cardio that you had in the first round. This is what it's all about, sacrifice now, and you'll never have to question whether you gave it your all when this crazy ride comes to an end", he in essence said 'Yes BJ', and soon after Marv Marinovich was out. Again, allegedly. I do know that by the time of the Diaz fight, Parillo was basically the top dog in BJ's camps.
Parillo is getting blamed for the fight style and game plan BJ used against Frankie last Sunday, when in reality he had almost nothing to do with those decisions. He is getting called a "yes man" by fans based on the entirety of his time with BJ because so many of them are still in a state of shock after that last performance, not to mention BJ's retirement at the age of 35. Frankie Edgar turns 33 in two months. I am surprised that we haven't heard more complaints about the way Penn's brother JD Penn handled his job as BJ's manager going all the way back to the first fight with Edgar in Abu Dhabi, but what would be the point now? Life goes on.
MMAnima - The new piece that Jack Slack just wrote drew a comparison between BJ's secret stance and Renan Barao's stance. Something to consider when looking for answers.
To me BJ looked like a 90 year old man shuffling around a dancefloor in his slippers
There is a part in an Austin Powers movie where Mike Myers is hopping around like a bunny, doing these short, awkward hops and he's basically dragging his feet along the ground. That's what I thought of when I saw BJ's movement.
FCFBlazer - Wait wasn't Parillo with him on TUF? And a week before the fight was the first time he saw BJs new stance? Call jake shields, this is shady.
Parillo saw him using the stance on TUF and disagreed with it. BJ didn't bring Parillo into camp, because of their disagreement over the use of it. BJ called him a week before the fight asking him to corner. Parillo did it, because he wanted to do whatever he could to help BJ.
Just incredibly disappointing to see BJ go out like that. It would have been a bit different if he went out and fought to the best of his ability and still lost, but that stance and another stupid game plan is a hard pill to swallow.
Parillo should've pushed harder. If he was a real friend, he wouldn't have let BJ out there with that stance. Oh they were working with that stance? Afraid to undo all the entire camp?? Listen, BJ could've dropped that stance in between rounds if he wanted to.
You talk about the muscle memory gained from a camp? What about the muscle memory from 20 years of striking training? BJ didn't give up the stance because he believed in it. Hear what he's saying in the post fight presser, things like, "new guys are hungry, have heart, yadda" It didn't sound like he thought the stance had anything to do with him taking the worst beating of his career.
BJ is my hero, but I really resent the possibility that he might've been arrogant enough to think that he could bring in some new stance and some how change the game. Talk about fixing what ain't broke.
I like BJ, never loved him though. He's tough as nails, but he's also said and done some things that were disrespectful as hell to the sport as a whole.
- Refusing to get into the best shape possible is always a disrespect to everyone involved in the event, especially the fans.
- Accusing GSP of being on steriods because he kicked his ass. And yes, he finished him. Hate that Brian Stann kept saying that was BJ's first time being finished.
- Choosing to fight bigger guys like Diaz, and then complaining when they used their size advantage to help win the fight.
- Bitching and moaning about the judges when Frankie beat him the first time.
I could've kept going actually. I've enjoyed a lot of his fights, and so I get that he get's some sort of rope. But yall are crazy if you are putting him anywhere near the greats of all time like GSP and Anderson Silva.
