Last week we showed you a BJ Penn video interview from Karyn Bryant in which the former champion vaguely spoke about his future, saying he had no plans to fight but refusing to say the word “retire.” However, according to UFC president Dana White, Penn told him that same week in Stockholm that he would in fact fight again.
“I heard some sh_t that he said he was going to retire and all this stuff,” White said. “[BJ] was like, ‘Nah, I’m going to fight again,’” MMA Fighting reports.
So there you have it. Despite saying that he was “done,” after losing to Nick Diaz last October, BJ will scrap again, according to his boss. I suppose we all figured as much, considering how much Penn loves fighting and how much money he makes doing it.
But the question is, who would BJ fight? Penn has only won one bout in his last five, albeit all against very top competition. At lightweight, the 33 year-old has seemed to have lost a bit of of quickness and reaction time — which is death in the lighter weight classes, and specifically for astalking counter-puncher like Penn. At welterweight, Penn is forced to pack on 15 pounds of unnecessary bulk, which has always been unfair but his crazy talent still allowed him to be successful there.
There are guys Penn could fight and beat out there in the UFC, but it doesn’t look like he has a great chance to reclaim the lightweight or welterweight titles. So, will a fighter who has prided himself on only fighting the best of the best be content to hang around as a gatekeeper?
Or is Penn perhaps just looking for one or two big fights with other stars who are not in the title hunt? Who would you like to see BJ fight, nation? Should he smack Matt Hughes around some more? Settle the score with Matt Serra or Caol Uno? Should Penn poi-up and challenge the winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Frank Mir in a Hawaii super-event?
The #RallyforMarkHunt fan campaign didn’t work, but maybe #BJvsFedor will!