UFC has recently posted three fantastic interviews on its website with Goran Reljic, BJ Penn, and Jon Koppenhaver. Below are the beginnings of those interviews with a link to the full interview following the excerpt.
Unbeaten Reljic Promises Excitement for UFC Debut Saturday
24-year old Goran Reljic has been called a ‘Natural Born Fighter’, someone for whom competing in mixed martial arts wasn’t a choice, but a necessity. It’s a tag that was placed on him almost immediately when he started training in MMA in 2003, and now, five years later, he will put those high expectations to the test against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84 this Saturday.
“He is a good, well-rounded fighter,” said Reljic. “His weaknesses, I will keep that to myself for the fight, but I know how to beat him.”
Reljic’s confidence isn’t misplaced or just youthful hubris, despite the fact that he only has seven pro fights (all wins) against European competition, as opposed to Gouveia’s 14 pro bouts against the likes of Jon Fitch, Keith Jardine, and Jason Lambert. He is a decorated grappler with a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Roger Gracie, and five of his pro wins have come via submission. (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING GORAN RELJIC’S INTERVIEW WITH UFC.COM)
With a Legacy Secured, What’s Next for BJ Penn?
How would you like your life to be judged on one segment of time? Not a decade, not a year, not even a month, but 25 minutes or less. And what if these weren’t 25 minutes that saw you tossed into a spur of the moment situation like those experienced by firemen, soldiers, or doctors, but one which you prepared weeks for and that you were forced to talk about even longer, one you were reminded of practically every waking moment?
You may break under the pressure; you may look in the mirror and wonder why years of hard work would be for naught in the eyes of many if you didn’t perform for 25 minutes or less on one night.
For BJ Penn, January 19th was the day that would see him either become only the second man in UFC history to wear championship belts in two different weight classes, or a fighter with a 12-5-1 record as a pro, numbers that those outside the mixed martial arts world would ridicule when you tell them that it belongs to one of the most gifted fighters to ever wear the gloves. (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING BJ PENN’S INTERVIEW WITH UFC.COM)
Jon Koppenhaven’s War
It never ceases to amaze how traumatic childhood experiences always create the best artistry. You see it in children who were adopted and then become great orators or entertainers hailing from the urban maelstrom that can translate their pain into harmony that streams through white iPod headsets across the globe. It is the classic rose that grew through the concrete image. The rawness of the juxtaposition instantly brands the person to whom the example is applied as special, one who can achieve greatness without the safety net of a positive environment. This is true in the case of Jon Koppenhaver, one of the UFC’s newest signees and a recent graduate of the reality house that Dana built.
Growing up in Simi Valley, a city located in the southeast corner of California, Koppenhaver lived with his mother and father until the age of eight, when things took a bad turn and they decided to divorce. Young Koppenhaver moved in with his father, where the spark towards mixed martial arts was ignited. (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING JON KOPPENHAVER’S INTERVIEW WITH UFC.COM)
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