Quote of the Day: BJ Penn Calls James Toney ‘God’s Gift to MMA’

Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani caught up with BJ Penn in Boston today ahead of his UFC 118 showdown with Frankie Edgar and he asked the former UFC lightweight champion if he thought James Toney beating Randy Couture would set the sport back.

In typical Penn fashion, "The Prodigy" had an interesting take on the situation.

"What’s worse than having the WWF champ [as] our heavyweight champ? That ain’t worse than having James Toney come out and win a fight. It’s great for the sport. James Toney is God’s gift to MMA right now," BJ asserted. "He’s promoting the sport; he’s telling everyone to go out and buy tickets, You can’t ask for a better guy than that. What James Toney is doing is putting more money in everybody’s pocket."

Penn also spoke about his rematch with Edgar Saturday night and his strained relationship with UFC president Dana White, which stem from some comments he made about his business dealings with Zuffa in his biography, "Why I fight."

Here’s the interview in its entirety:

(Video courtesy YouTube/Fanhouse)