Matt Hughes is against B.J. Penn allowing himself to get thrown to the wolves at this stage in his career.
Despite a mixed martial arts (MMA) career that began in 2001, Penn still looks for top competition. In his last outing, “The Prodigy” was starched by Yair Rodriguez. In a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” Hughes said he’d like to see Penn in more favorable match-ups:
“I wish he would just find the right opponent, you know? I’ve always told him, ‘hey B.J., you’re so good on the ground, find an older Brazilian that’s not going to have’ … typically Brazilians don’t have the best cardio, ‘find an old Brazilian who’s not in shape who’s going to want to be on the ground, and kind of get your hand in the air, go out that way.’”
Hughes takes nothing away from Penn’s competitive drive, but he still wishes “The Prodigy” would be more evenly matched.
“B.J. is such a competitor that he wants to fight the best out there. That’s just the way he’s always been. My hat goes off to him for being that way, but I wish he would just be kind of a little smarter about it and really really choose a right opponent.”
