AS THE UKULELE PLAYS ...
You know the feeling.
That giddiness we get when that moment approaches, our stomachs' wrenched with excruciating excitement. The lights in the arena dim and, but for a brief moment, thousands stand hushed. The palpable silence passes with a breath. In darkness, they begin to roar with anticipation. The notes of the ukulele waft through the stadium like a cooling breeze - the champion is coming...
BJ Penn walks to the cage with the unintended strut of a street-fighter, his eyes ablaze with a fury and focus one cannot fake. It's as if he's possessed - perhaps by the spirits of warriors past, perhaps merely by the intensity of his purpose. When BJ Penn is walking to war, it's as if the world slows a bit. My heart rate increases, the leg begins to bounce......
You know the feeling.
I've felt it since Spring 2001. That's when this "Prodigy" burst onto the scene knocking people out rather than stretching their limbs, as advertised. His early fights were a visceral frenzy - for the few moments they lasted. This guy that everyone kept calling "the most decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner in America" apparently preferred punching faces - and I was hooked. And between devastating knockouts, there were moments of otherworldly agility and flexibility - showcases of a seemingly bottomless well of yet-to-be tapped talent. So yeah, many of us became fans. But, soon, BJ would help to redefine what being a fan actually meant.....
It turned out BJ was more than a fighter - he was a visionary. He realized early on the importance of the internet in promoting mixed martial arts and, more importantly, bringing it to the masses. Before Twitter, before many of the staple MMA websites of today existed, there was BJPenn.com. What began as a simple website slowly began to morph with time, eventually evolving into the social community it is today. And throughout that evolution, BJ Penn began to slowly reveal more and more of himself to his fans. Not only did he demonstrate techniques in his ambitious My Gym show, he began showing us more of his world - his friends, his family, his favorite places, and lots of loco mocos. Soon, it became harder to define the man by the stoic stare he wore when walking toward the cage. We'd seen him smiling and laughing so much while "cruising" it was as if the fighter and the man were two different people all together. That he would allow his fans these glimpses into his life, to allow them to watch him live and grow as a fighter, a man and, most recently, a father - is truly unprecedented.
You see, that's why being a BJ Penn fan is unlike being a fan of any other fighter, or athlete, for that matter. Our investment is an emotional one. BJ's unwavering commitment to his fans over the years - evidenced by his opening his very life up to them in many ways - is rewarded with an unshakable dedication from those who cheer his name.
And here I sit, Spring 2010. Nine years after I first saw this man sprint into the octagon. "And what's changed?" I ask myself, still reeling from Saturday's decision.
Nothing. Nothing has changed. Some trophies and trinkets have come and gone (some to be reclaimed soon) but nothing is different. I'm still anxiously awaiting the next opportunity I'll have to throw down $50 on any PPV he appears on. I'll sit waiting for that moment when I'll feel that familiar giddiness in my gut; when the masses fall silent and the stadium goes black. And as the notes of the ukulele trickle in gently over the roaring crowd I'll have the same familar thought - the champion is coming........
You know the feeling.- By BJPENN.COM Guest Blogger, Troy Hopson (aka Melbert)
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