Rory MacDonald criticises UFC legend BJ Penn for "fighting for the wrong reasons" It's a military art, you know. It's there to destroy whatever is in front of you and keep yourself safe. So, of course hurting people is a part of that. Then BJ Penn. Like chalk to cheese, and perhaps old school MMA to new school UFC soldier, the gym technician, the fighter-athlete. Penn is smiling in front of phalanx of reporters recording his every move, every breath. Happy. That is really how I feel. I'm just - look at this - everybody around me. I'm the centre of attention. I'm having fun and I'm living it up. I put MacDonald's assessment of BJ Penn to the man himself. How does he respond to the fact one of MacDonald's arguments is that Penn can't step away from being in the lights, and the younger fighters who are coming through. He thinks I'm 45 years old, not 33 years old, actually. I don't know who told him that I'm 50. I don't know what's going on. Seriously. Penn believes MacDonald is underestimating him, and said "I love every second of it." BJ Penn took his first bow in the Octagon in May 2001. It was UFC 31. He fought Joey Gilbert. MacDonald was in seventh grade. A scrawny seventh grader hadn't even decided at the time which games he would play that evening, let alone choose a career in fight sports. MMA has been twisting and turning and stretching hard for over a decade. I say that from the intervention of Zuffa, just over 11 years ago. Evolution. And a fast one at that. Penn meets MacDonald in a fight which intrigues on Saturday night at the Key Arena, MacDonald on his wrecking-ball theme, Penn espousing a relaxed calm before the storm. He's like I was before. That's exactly what I would say: "He's fighting to be remembered; I'm fighting to hurt him." That sounds like BJ Penn a couple of years ago. I see he's a good fighter, very well rounded, stand up, on the ground, wrestling, he's got great coaches so with that said I think it's going to make for an exciting night for the fans. Penn has moved up and down between lightweight and welterweight - he even fought Lyoto Machida at light-heavy - but insists he is physically most comfortable meeting the 170lb welter limit. I'm almost 34, now and I don't see the point in eating chicken salad and training for six hours a day. If I do things properly I really feel like I could be a force in the division. He flirted with retirement. I walked away [after the Nick Diaz fight] not only because of what happened on the night in the fight but because of my last 5 fights. I had one win, a few losses and a draw and I was like "Where's this going? What's the point ? But then I went home, and I trained and I did a few different things. People come from all over the world to train with me. Why not try again? He has sparred with Tyrone Woodley, Ben Askren, Pat Healy, Josh Thompson, for this fight. This is the most sparring I've done for a fight. This is probably the best prepared that I'm going to be. The long camp was actually the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I've had the time to change my body fat like I have and now with this all done it's going to play to my advantage. More sparring, he says, has brought him to peak condition. Yes, I do say that. I wish I did do those things. Hindsight is always 20:20 but another way I look at it is like I kind of saved myself. I saved extra miles that I kind of put in my body. I'm still young, I don't have any injuries in that sense. I have a lot of experience. This is probably his biggest fight he's ever been in and this is my like 20th super fight or title fight or big fight. Back to MacDonald. Still pacing, still stalking. MacDonald reflected on taking "too much emotion" into the combat arena when he fought Carlos Condit. I've just tuned that into my life in general. It's something you shouldn't carry around but most importantly when you're walking down that ramp to the cage when you fight with a clear head and no emotion. He's certainly a fearsome sight as he is about to go into combat. I just focus on my technique and the task at hand. Everything else is gone. There's nothing else there, just living in the moment. I try to slow everything down in my mind. MacDonald also spilled the beans on how the fight came about. I knew he would fight me because he asked Dana White first. Dana told me he was interested in fighting me so I took him up on it and made it public. I don't know why he wanted to fight me. I think he wants to fight a guy who is on the rise, and maybe he sees something in me, sees that I have a solid future in me and he wants to get a legendary status by beating me. But I don't know. You'd have to ask him that. The answer from BJ Penn is simple: He's always wanted to fight the best, anywhere, anytime. And in that facet, there is no change, old school, new school, chalk or cheese.