A HawaiiNewsNow report published yesterday filled in a few more details about BJ Penn‘s alleged assault of a friend in Maui over the weekend. As the story goes, Penn and Kuuipo Mokiao were drinking together at a bar called Kauhale’s in Kihei on Saturday night, when Penn began picking a fight with people inside. Mokiao told investigators that he pushed Penn to stop him, and Penn responded by challenging Mokiao to a fight.
Mokiao apparently agreed to go outside with Penn, which means he has bigger balls than we do. But the altercation quickly turned violent once they headed into the parking lot, as Penn suddenly punched Mokiao in the face, then kneed him in the forehead while he was defending himself. According to the HawaiiNewsNow story:
A HawaiiNewsNow report published yesterday filled in a few more details about BJ Penn‘s alleged assault of a friend in Maui over the weekend. As the story goes, Penn and Kuuipo Mokiao were drinking together at a bar called Kauhale’s in Kihei on Saturday night, when Penn began picking a fight with people inside. Mokiao told investigators that he pushed Penn to stop him, and Penn responded by challenging Mokiao to a fight.
Mokiao apparently agreed to go outside with Penn, which means he has bigger balls than we do. But the altercation quickly turned violent once they headed into the parking lot, as Penn suddenly punched Mokiao in the face, then kneed him in the forehead while he was defending himself. According to the HawaiiNewsNow story:
“Sources said medics took the 37-year-old victim to the emergency room at Maui Memorial Medical Center for a fractured left eye socket. Mokiao told police that Penn left the scene after security guards broke up the argument. Officers later tracked Penn down at a hotel in Wailea. He had suffered a minor cut to his right eye, according to sources. Penn was arrested for second-degree assault and then released pending the police investigation.”
Could Mokiao simply have gotten the worst of a consensual (though drunken) bar fight? Let he who has never beat his friend’s ass in a bar parking lot cast the first stone, am I right?
Penn has yet to make a public statement about the incident. We’ll let you know if that changes.
(This will have to do until the mugshot is released. / Photo via Getty)
Retired UFC legend BJ Penn was arrested on Saturday night at his hotel room following an altercation between him and an unidentified friend. As first reported by MauiWatch.com, Penn “was staying at the Four Seasons Maui when police responded and encountered an inebriated Penn. According to [MauiWatch’s] anonymous source, Penn severely assaulted the individual and left him fleeing back to the hotel room where the arrest was later made.”
BloodyElbow confirmed the report with local police, stating that the Maui County Police Department “were unable to provide further details other than the fact that he has already been released.”
This is the second time that BJ Penn has been arrested after a violent incident. In 2005, Penn was charged with first-degree assault after he punched a police officer outside of a nightclub in Waikiki, which was hosting a pre-party for Rumble on the Rock 7. Penn plead no-contest in that incident, and was eventually sentenced to one year of probation, community service, and substance abuse treatment.
We’ll keep you posted as details of Penn’s latest arrest emerge.
(This will have to do until the mugshot is released. / Photo via Getty)
Retired UFC legend BJ Penn was arrested on Saturday night at his hotel room following an altercation between him and an unidentified friend. As first reported by MauiWatch.com, Penn “was staying at the Four Seasons Maui when police responded and encountered an inebriated Penn. According to [MauiWatch’s] anonymous source, Penn severely assaulted the individual and left him fleeing back to the hotel room where the arrest was later made.”
BloodyElbow confirmed the report with local police, stating that the Maui County Police Department “were unable to provide further details other than the fact that he has already been released.”
This is the second time that BJ Penn has been arrested after a violent incident. In 2005, Penn was charged with first-degree assault after he punched a police officer outside of a nightclub in Waikiki, which was hosting a pre-party for Rumble on the Rock 7. Penn plead no-contest in that incident, and was eventually sentenced to one year of probation, community service, and substance abuse treatment.
We’ll keep you posted as details of Penn’s latest arrest emerge.
Retired UFC star B.J. Penn was arrested late Saturday night after allegedly assaulting a friend during an altercation at a Maui hotel.The arrest was first reported by MauiWatch.com and later confirmed by Steph Daniels of Bloody Elbow. The Maui Cou…
Retired UFC star B.J. Penn was arrested late Saturday night after allegedly assaulting a friend during an altercation at a Maui hotel.
The arrest was first reported by MauiWatch.com and later confirmed by Steph Daniels of Bloody Elbow. The Maui County Police Department declined to give any specifics about the case when contacted by Daniels, as did members of Penn’s camp.
MauiWatch.com’s report indicates Penn “severely assaulted” a friend at the Four Seasons Maui. Alcohol is believed to be involved, as Penn was described as being inebriated.
No other details about the case are known at this time. The former UFC light heavyweight champion is from Hawaii and still lives in the area. He retired from mixed martial arts at age 35 last June after losing to Frankie Edgar via TKO at The Ultimate Fighter 19 finale. It was Penn’s third straight defeat.
The ongoing feud that began in August between B.J. Penn and former nutritionist Mike Dolce continued to heat up on Wednesday via Twitter.
Penn sparked the quarrel by claiming on BJPenn.com that Dolce didn’t earn his paycheck as his nutri…
The ongoing feud that began in August between B.J. Penn and former nutritionist Mike Dolce continued to heat up on Wednesday via Twitter.
Penn sparked the quarrel by claiming on BJPenn.com that Dolcedidn’t earn his paycheck as his nutritionist during his training camp for his third fight with Frankie Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter Season 19 Finale in July.
Penn lost via third-round TKO to Edgar to fall to the former lightweight champ for the third time in his career. The loss marked Penn’s third in a row and his fifth in seven fights.
More than two months after igniting the spat, the former two-division UFC champ threw the latest dart at Dolce by tweeting the following on Wednesday:
@TheDolceDiet Keep talking, I’m gonna have a heart to heart talk with your glass jaw when I see you.
The basis of Penn’s beef with Dolce lies in the notion that even though he paid the famed nutritionist $22,000 for 21 days of work, he didn’t get the services he was promised.
Dolce quickly responded to Penn’s initial complaints by making these comments on the Joe Rogan Experience (h/t MMAJunkie.com) in September:
It was one of the oddest training camps I’ve ever been a part of, and I was there for less than two weeks, physically, in Hawaii. I had very little influence. I made some strong suggestions and very strong observations to members of the team about what I saw, what I’m accustomed to and what I think would really benefit him.
The suggestions that I made, I made them officially, and they were accepted but not responded or reacted to. It was just a matter of that’s the direction he chose to go. He’s either going to win and look like a f—–g genius, or he’s going to not win and he’s going to make the oddsmakers look like geniuses.
Penn lost his lightweight belt to Edgar in a unanimous decision at UFC 112 in 2010. He has amassed a 1-4-1 record since then.
Dolce, a member of Team Rampage on Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter, recorded a 5-10 pro MMA record between 2006 and 2010.
Conor McGregor is the rising star of the featherweight division, and he is generating the heat with casual fans that is needed for a fighter to become a star.
The lighter weight classes have been missing that star power since BJ Penn left the scene.
Pe…
ConorMcGregor is the rising star of the featherweight division, and he is generating the heat with casual fans that is needed for a fighter to become a star.
The lighter weight classes have been missing that star power since BJ Penn left the scene.
Penn was an enigma who captivated fans ever since his debut. He began headlining shows prior to the post-TUF era. His first headlining bout in the new era of the UFC came against rival Matt Hughes, but then he dropped back to 155 pounds.
He proved that fighters under 170 pounds could draw on PPV. However, no one since has been able to replicate his success.
However, that could change with a premier featherweight tilt between McGregor and current champion Jose Aldo.
Aldo is dynamic and can be one of the most exciting fighters in the entire company. He is also a dominant champion. He is yet to draw big numbers for the UFC, but that can change. Anderson Silva was not an overnight success, either.
The current champion will get another chance to draw money with Chad Mendes at UFC 179 later in October. If victorious, McGregor should be on tap.
McGregor entered the UFC with a lot of hype, but he quickly legitimized himself and added fuel to the fire. He was a part of the inaugural Fox Sports 1 fight card, and he got the full walk-out treatment. The Irish crowd in Boston was on fire for him.
He returned to action in July, and then again in September, in two exciting performances. He defeated Diego Brandao via TKO in front of his home crowd in Dublin and then came to Vegas to stop Dustin Poirier in short order.
McGregor now has a lot of buzz behind him and a top-five spot in the UFC’s official rankings.
An Aldo-McGregor bout is exactly what the featherweight division needs. It is exactly what all the lighter weight classes need. This fight will have an extra spark to it that has the potential to launch the winner into a Penn-like position that can draw on PPV.
Other contenders like Mendes lack the “it” factor that McGregor has surrounding him. Aldo has that potential, but he needs the foil that McGregor would be to solidify him as the next Penn of smaller fighters.
Demetrious Johnson is one of the pound-for-pound best and a very likable fighter, but he fails to inspire fans to draw. Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw has the same issues.
To date, Aldo has failed to inspire large numbers as well.
This is the perfect time for a McGregor title shot. The UFC can capitalize on his growing marketability to make a fight that gives the featherweight division a brighter future.
If the hypothetical Aldo-McGregor matchup were to launch a PPV star, the UFC and featherweight division would benefit greatly.
If that fight fails, it is hard to imagine what it would take for a fighter from a lighter weight class to become a legitimate star. This may be the UFC’s best chance.
Aldo-McGregor is the best bet the UFC has for creating a new BJ Penn. The first step is for Aldo to successfully defend his title against Mendes. If he does, the stars could align to finally give the UFC another huge name among the lighter weight classes.
I can only imagine what BJ Penn‘s fans were thinking when they saw the gaunt, sickly featherweight version of the former two-division champion trudge to the ring for his “Why God, WHY?!” trilogy fight with Frankie Edgar at the TUF 19 Finale. I mean, I can’t technically say that I’m a fan of Penn or any fighter for that matter, lest it interfere with my fancy journalistic oath (*takes off “Chris Lytle: State Senator” shirt and puffs pipe*), but even I had to admit that overwhelming sadness induced by his performance that night was only outweighed by his breakdown during the evening’s post-fight press conference.
When we learned that Penn had actually brought in renowned dietician Mike Dolce to help him make the cut to 145 lbs, it was even more surprising to see the final product that was his emaciated, just-a-nickel-a-day-to-save-this-boy’s-life frame. Although Penn wouldn’t go into detail at first, he was highly critical of the infamous “Dolce Diet” and more or less alluded that it was a crock of sh*t. Now a month removed from his fight with Edgar, Penn feels that enough time has passed to start pissing in Dolce’s cornflakes, telling BJPenn.com that the $20,000 he paid Dolce for three weeks work was nothing short of charity:
BJPENN.COM: One of the first things he said was that he had no influence in your last training camp. Is that true?
BJ Penn: “He said he had no influence in my camp, but he brought in sparring partners, did my food and diet, and had me do his treadmill, plyometrics, and core routines. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
BJPENN.COM: What was Dolce’s fee for all this?
BJ Penn: “I hadn’t been to 145 (pounds) in 18 years and that cut was intimidating. I wanted to get it right, so we brought in Mike Dolce, and paid him $22,000.00 for 21 days of service. That’s $1000.00 per day plus a $1000.00 tip.”
BJPENN.COM: Dolce said he filled your place with food, pasta, free range beef, all these things including tons of sea salt. In his words, “enough food to feed a family of six”. True?
BJ Penn:“There was no food in the apartment, and he never told me what to eat.
I can only imagine what BJ Penn‘s fans were thinking when they saw the gaunt, sickly featherweight version of the former two-division champion trudge to the ring for his “Why God, WHY?!” trilogy fight with Frankie Edgar at the TUF 19 Finale. I mean, I can’t technically say that I’m a fan of Penn or any fighter for that matter, lest it interfere with my fancy journalistic oath (*takes off “Chris Lytle: State Senator” shirt and puffs pipe*), but even I had to admit that overwhelming sadness induced by his performance that night was only outweighed by his breakdown during the evening’s post-fight press conference.
When we learned that Penn had actually brought in renowned dietician Mike Dolce to help him make the cut to 145 lbs, it was even more surprising to see the final product that was his emaciated, just-a-nickel-a-day-to-save-this-boy’s-life frame. Although Penn wouldn’t go into detail at first, he was highly critical of the infamous “Dolce Diet” and more or less alluded that it was a crock of sh*t. Now a month removed from his fight with Edgar, Penn feels that enough time has passed to start pissing in Dolce’s cornflakes, telling BJPenn.com that the $20,000 he paid Dolce for three weeks work was nothing short of charity:
BJPENN.COM: One of the first things he said was that he had no influence in your last training camp. Is that true?
BJ Penn: “He said he had no influence in my camp, but he brought in sparring partners, did my food and diet, and had me do his treadmill, plyometrics, and core routines. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
BJPENN.COM: What was Dolce’s fee for all this?
BJ Penn: “I hadn’t been to 145 (pounds) in 18 years and that cut was intimidating. I wanted to get it right, so we brought in Mike Dolce, and paid him $22,000.00 for 21 days of service. That’s $1000.00 per day plus a $1000.00 tip.”
BJPENN.COM: Dolce said he filled your place with food, pasta, free range beef, all these things including tons of sea salt. In his words, “enough food to feed a family of six”. True?
BJ Penn: “There was no food in the apartment, and he never told me what to eat.
That’s the first thing I thought after the fight, was that I should have just filled this place with food and not listened to Dolce. But when you pay someone that kind of money, you entrust them to do their job and take that off your hands.”
Oddly enough, Dolce seemed to agree with Penn for the most part (via MMAJunkie):
It was one of the oddest training camps I’ve ever been a part of, and I was there for less than two weeks, physically, in Hawaii,” Dolce said. “I had very little influence. I made some strong suggestions and very strong observations to members of the team about what I saw, what I’m accustomed to and what I think would really benefit him.
The suggestions that I made, I made them officially, and they were accepted but not responded or reacted to. It was just a matter of that’s the direction he chose to go. He’s either going to win and look like a f-cking genius, or he’s going to not win and he’s going to make the oddsmakers look like geniuses.
– A nutritionist who’s best known for spreading nutella on bread and doesn’t even keep any goddamned trail mix in the apartment is not worth $1,000/day.
– A fighter who’s infamous for his lack of motivation (Penn) and another fighter who has turned on everybody he’s ever worked with (‘Page) are not reliable sources when it comes to anything that happens in a training camp.
So, probably the second one. Let’s not forget that it was Penn’s decision to take a suicide mission at featherweight and use an upright, Koji Oishi-esque striking style that left his longtime coach dumbfounded. He just doesn’t seem like the kind of dude who absorbs feedback, so to speak. If I had to guess, I’d say Penn’s entourage gobbled up all the free-range beef every time he went out to grab a footlong or one of these goddamned things.
The ongoing feud that began in August between B.J. Penn and former nutritionist Mike 
