BJ Penn Needs to Stay Retired

Last week, UFC Hall of Famer and former welterweight and lightweight champion BJ Penn announced his intention to end his retirement and return to the Octagon. He made the announcement during an appearance on The MMA Hour with host Ariel Helwani. Penn revealed that he will be training with Greg Jackson as his coach at Jackson/Winkeljohn MMA. What’s more? Penn claimed he wants to continue fighting at 145 pounds. In his last UFC outing, Penn was soundly beaten by Frankie Edgar in their third outing. The fight was held at featherweight at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale in July 2014. Penn did not look like he should’ve been in the cage at all, and Penn retired after the fight. Whether it’s with Greg Jackson or not, Penn coming out of retirement is a mistake.

During The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani basically posed the question of “who are we to tell BJ Penn that he can’t fight?” Personally speaking, I’m a nobody. I have no say on if Penn fights again or not. However, I am simply expressing an opinion. The mounting evidence simply does not support allowing for Penn to make another run. Just because Andrei Arlovski was able to find some rejuvenation and have a nice run in the UFC again under the banner of Greg Jackson doesn’t mean it will happen again with BJ Penn.

It seems this spot with BJ Penn has happened before multiple times. Each time out, everyone wants to believe that Penn is raring to go and he’s going to pull off another outstanding performance like BJ Penn of old. People start drinking the Kool-aid and think Penn is going to pull off something spectacular. Then he comes out looking slow and out-of-shape. There are constant debates and rumors about his training regiment. Has he really been training hard at all for his fights? Is he even taking his training seriously? It seems this has been a problem that has plagued Penn throughout his career, specifically that of his motivation or lack thereof in his training for his fights. It seems the one time where he truly took his training and conditioning seriously was his epic run at lightweight from about 2007 to 2010 when he looked absolutely unbeatable and almost untouchable.

I am not saying BJ Penn wasted his career and talents. Far from that, in fact. BJ Penn is a champion in two weight classes in the UFC. He’s only one of two men to have accomplished that feat along with Randy Couture. He began his MMA career in the UFC. Many fighters would probably have accomplished about a fraction as much as he did in twice the time. To this day, no lightweight has managed to break his record of three title defenses as lightweight champion. So if BJ Penn was that good with his various hang-ups, imagine how much better he could have been if he gave his career that extra little focus it needed. It’s scary to think about.

Had Penn made these apparent changes he’s making now a few years ago and focused on fighting at lightweight, this comeback would be an easier pill to swallow. Instead, this feels like another lame attempt at a con job by a bad con artist. It’s like Penn is a used car salesman, and the fight fans are his marks. I understand why people want to believe and have faith in BJ. When BJ Penn was on top, it was unbelievable. When Penn was lightweight champion and looked to be motivated and actually focused on his training camps, he looked untouchable. The things he did in fights with his boxing, or the way he would duck and move away from punches, to this day I can’t think of real any MMA fighters who fought like Penn. The way he picked Diego Sanchez apart and then broke open his face with a right high kick was insane. It was just one of those surreal moments that you lived for as a fan of the sport. To this day, I still believe he soundly won his first fight with Frankie Edgar and soundly dominated that fight. I believe the scoring for that fight, especially a 50-45 score for Edgar, was ridiculous.

What I’m saying is, I get it. BJ Penn was the epitome of what this sport of MMA represents. The man was an icon. However, I believe Penn has had more than enough chances to prove he can still make a go of it. Instead, I believe he foolishly wasted a lot of time by focusing on welterweight, which I believe his lightweight run established was not his natural weight class. Lightweight was his weight class. Then he came back in his last fight at featherweight to fight Frankie Edgar. He looked absolutely horrible. Not only did he look unhealthy and malnourished, his fighting style and footwork looked horrendous. He was nothing more than a punching bag for Frankie Edgar.

I can see why Penn isn’t ready to call it quits either. The man has the pride the size of the planet and an ego to match it. A man like Penn probably has trouble figuring out what to do with himself without fighting. For some MMA fighters, simply being a combat athlete is what defines them as a person. When fighters get to the point where Penn is, they tend to struggle to walk away. It’s a dilemma we are seeing now with Dan Henderson as well. They still have that desire to compete and fight. Their fighting spirit keeps wanting them to move forward.

However, this doesn’t mean Penn should be indulged. Penn recently turned 37 years old. Time is no longer on his side. In terms of his athletic prime, Penn is likely past that point by now. His intention to have another run at 145 pounds is also insane. After his performance at featherweight, no promotion should allow him to fight again at featherweight. Not only that, no commission should license him for that weight. Not only that, he is challenging a fighter like Nik Lentz, who isn’t even fighting at featherweight anymore, for a fight at 145. Lentz has already moved back up to lightweight after a middling run as featherweight because the featherweight cut was unhealthy for him. So the fact that he has this tunnel vision over the featherweight title belt, the weight class and Nik Lentz at featherweight just makes Penn look crazy.

The reason people are falling for this is because they want to believe Penn can have that comeback he was not able to mount in the last several years. Penn’s time in the sport has passed. Greg Jackson and giving it everything he has is not going to change that.