Fight week

It's fight week and I am counting the days to UFC 112 on
Yas Island, Abu Dhabi and my UFC Lightweight Title defence against
No.1 contender Frankie 'The Answer' Edgar's.

I got into Abu Dhabi late last week and have been staying at a
friend's place. Coming so far from Hawaii, and having done this trip
in January, I wanted to get here early to make sure I got used to the
time zone and climate. It is hot where I am from, too, but not as
dry and I wanted to get used to that, especially fighting outdoors.
I train outside every day back home, but with the humidity there you
get sweaty very fast. Over here it is a little dryer and you need
to drink more water during training.

A lot of grappling techniques are harder to use in the later rounds
because you and your opponent get slippery, and maybe fighting in
the desert outside with maybe a little breeze will dry us off a
little. We won't know for sure until the fight but it will be
interesting. When I fought Renzo Gracie (LINK) in Hawaii outside it was
very humid and was like fighting on a Slip'N'Slide.

I have been training very hard. I've also been watching a lot of
tapes of Frankie, studying his style, his strengths and looking for
weaknesses. Every fighter, no matter who or how hard they try, has
weaknesses. I have watched Frankie before, but I never really study
anyone closely until a fight is put together. Now I feel I know his
style very well after watching all his fights over and over.

Frankie Edgar is a serious challenge and I won't let him take my
title away from me. He's fast, is a great wrestler and has got good
sharp boxing. And he's got some great kicks too. I'm sure he's going to
try to kick me a lot when we fight. He is also short and powerful
and will probably try to shoot under my punches to grappling me to
the ground.

But I have worked hard in the gym, and have put together plans to
deal with whatever Frankie does. I like Frankie, he is a gentleman,
but like I told him when we were here in January, 'The next time we
meet it is all business and I will do my best to beat you'.

A lot of people are asking me that if I win on Saturday if I will
move back up to welterweight, where I was champion some years ago. I
am not really thinking about anything like that until after the
fight, but it is something that has crossed my mind. There are other
good contenders at 155lbs for me to fight, I think Kenny Florian
will deserve another shot, there's Gray Maynard and there's always
someone new coming up. And if I do move to welterweight I will move
slowly, fight some contenders before going for the title. There's
Matt Hughes, who is fighting at UFC 112, too, and we have beat each
other once each. That's a big fight and there are other big fights I
can test the waters with at 170lbs.

I would need to talk to UFC President Dana White. I may have to give
up my Lightweight Title but I might be able to test the waters at
170lbs. I will talk to him after UFC 112, but I am not really
thinking about it too much. I won't make the mistake of looking
ahead when I need to be thinking about Saturday.

On Saturday, I want to show everyone in the Middle East the best of
BJ Penn. That's all I have focused on since the fight was agreed to
three months ago. After that, I can think about the future.