According to Dana White, we have seen the last of BJ Penn inside of the UFC Octagon.
B.J. Penn announced his retirement from the sport in 2014 following a third loss to Frankie Edgar, only to return three years later against Yair Rodriguez. Penn would lose that fight via TKO and then proceed to lose his next three fights as well, making Penn’s current losing streak at a total of seven consecutive losses. The most recent loss came at the hands of Clay Guida via unanimous decision last month at UFC 237. But will BJ Penn have one more opportunity in the promotion?
“No,” Dana White told Aaron Bronsteter in an interview following UFC 238 weigh-ins. “No, I want B.J. to retire. I love BJ Penn is one of the legends of the sport. It’s a young man’s game. I gave him a lot of opportunities because he’s B.J. and because of the relationship that I’ve had with B.J. his entire career and before that, but I can’t do that again. I can’t do it again.
Dana White’s definitive response would certainly seem to be a permanent close to BJ Penn’s career, but following Penn’s penultimate loss to Ryan Hall last December, Dana White spoke with similar, albeit less definitive, rhetoric:
“I would love to see B.J. retire,” White said at the UFC 232 post-fight press conference. “B.J. has nothing left to prove. I always say fighting is a young man’s game. Fighting isn’t for older men. B.J. is a multiple-time world champion in multiple divisions and he’s got nothing to prove. People love him, he’s a legend and he has nothing left to prove.”
BJ Penn decided to continue fighting following those statements from White, so now, it appears White is going to make the decision for Penn for him as far as his UFC tenure is concerned.
Do you believe we’ll ever see BJ Penn compete in the UFC again? If not, do you believe he will choose to retire?
