At just 25 years of age, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson already has more experience and more accomplishments than many fighters will ever get in their entire careers, but on Jan. 19 he will have the chance to win championship gold as he faces B.J. Penn for the UFC lightweight title in Newcastle, England.
Training exclusively in Big Bear, Calif. to prepare for this fight, Stevenson has been working alongside fighters such as Gray Maynard, Sam Stout, Tyson Griffin and even grappling legend Marcello Garcia to get him ready for the fight with Penn.
He says he’s changed many things to get ready for what could be considered the biggest fight of his career.
“This is my ninth week in Big Bear, so I’ve done a lot of things different,” said Stevenson. “Normally, I make my own meals. I’m getting spoiled this time. I have my own doctor, Dr. John Batrick, who works on professional athletes, does Olympians, NFL stars, and he came out here to hang out and fix me up and work on me and at the same time he brought his buddy up that cooks for Bon Jovi. I’m getting stuff made from one of the best chefs out there.”
Beyond eating better food, Stevenson believes it’s the isolation in Big Bear that makes the biggest difference in a training camp for a fight of this magnitude.
“Less distractions,” he said about the best part of training in Big Bear. “Honestly when I’m in Vegas, I like to spend my time with my family and that’s the best thing in the world and now I get to sit back and hear my wife tell me the baby kept her up till four and I don’t have to wake up. It’s just about getting away from everything that’s going to distract you.”
Working on cardio is always a factor for a five-round title fight and B.J. Penn has long been questioned for his conditioning, but it’s Stevenson who feels that cardio won’t be anyone’s undoing in this match-up.
“It’s always a factor,” he said about conditioning. “But I don’t think that’s what’s going to win or lose this fight. It’s going to come up to game plan and ability.”
Traveling to England alongside long time trainer Marc Laimon as well as former UFC and Pride superstar Kevin Randleman to help in his corner, Stevenson doesn’t feel he should be the underdog when he steps in to face Penn.
“It was like that on Yves (Edwards) too,” commented Stevenson on Penn being favored in the fight. “I think there’s really more pressure on me. I want to show people that I’m not the underdog.”
It was also recently announced after former champion Sean Sherk’s suspension was upheld (his sentence was reduced to six months) that the fight with Penn and Stevenson would be for the UFC lightweight title after it was originally set up to be an interim title fight.
“I was already training hard. The interim belt was to me the same thing,” said Stevenson about the change in title situations. “I was training my butt off regardless. You have to against an opponent like B.J. Penn.”
Ultimately, he is looking to prove himself as one of the top fighters in the world and if he can defeat B.J. Penn, he very well may be exactly that.
“You can expect a war,” said a confident Stevenson about the fight on Jan. 19. “I’m prepared to go five rounds, 150 percent. You can expect a barnburner and it’s going to be my hand raised at the end and his head down.”
I'm pulling for Joe Daddy in this one. I've never been a BJ fan though, I respect his skills and his potential but he rarely seems to pull everything together and fight to the level he could
I am a huge BJ fan!! I think he will pull it out, but he has a tough opponent. I really like Stevenson too. I think he has a very well rounded game. All I know is that I can't wait for this fight! Like I said, I am pulling for BJ but won't be upset with either winning.
joe looks like a bulldog, shuld be a good fight tho, i honestly dont know who to choose, i like them both, penns more of a personal favorite of mine, but joe seems so nice and humble. Ima go with penn based on the fact that joe is only 25 and has many years ahead of him to get to this point again.
Joe Stevenson: "I'm not the underdog"
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