Dana White says B.J. Penn won’t fight again: ‘What I saw in that video was sad’

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MMAPlaywright

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Back in June, UFC president Dana White said that B.J. Penn would not get another fight in the company. Less than two months later, White announced he decided to give him a fight with Nik Lentz after the former champion “terrorized me for freaking a week”.

Weeks after the match-up was booked for a yet-to-be-determined card, videos surfaced online showing multiple physical altercations between Penn and a man in Hawaii. One video shows Penn getting knocked down outside of a bar, and a second video shows the fighter throwing punches at the same man.

It wasn’t Penn’s first issue outside the cage this year, though, as the UFC Hall of Famer saw his estranged girlfriend granted a restraining order against him after accusations of abuse, both physical, verbal and sexual before his last fight with Clay Guida in May, but prompted White to publicly say that Penn will not be fighting Lentz in the Octagon.

“He won’t fight again,” White told ESPN. “That’s it. It’s a wrap.”

White says the UFC has already informed Penn of his decision, and admits he wasn’t a fan of the idea of giving Penn another fight to begin with. “The Prodigy”, a former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion, has now lost seven straight in the UFC, going 1-9-1 since 2010.

“It’s not even that this was the last straw,” White said. “I didn’t love him continuing to fight anyway, but we having the relationship that he and I have and he’s getting me on the phone, begging me for another fight, begging me for another opportunity, it’s hard for me to turn him down, but after what I saw on that video, B.J. needs to focus on his personal life and get himself together before he thinks about fighting again.

“Listen, I don’t wanna sit here on TV and pick B.J. apart on his life or whatever. I think that we all know what B.J. Penn needs to do and hopefully B.J. Penn knows what B.J. Penn needs to do. Not gonna sit here like I’m his father or I’m some guy who’s above him and pointing the finger at B.J. and B.J. needs to do this and that. What I saw in that video was sad. I love the kid and I hope he gets his life together.”

Speaking with TSN earlier this week, Penn defended himself by saying he was only trying to defuse the situation but the man continued to try to pick a fight with him outside the bar.

“I’m at a concert going to meet a friend of mine that I knew since we were real young kids and I’m over there, and then an acquaintance of mine he gets mad about something,” Penn said. “You know, something was said or what or if it was an old past thing and then he wants to fight about it. I’m like, ‘Naw naw,’ we’ve got a lot of witnesses, everybody can corroborate my story. I’m like, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to fight. We’re friends, everything’s cool,’ this and that. He even walks outside and I’m thinking, ‘Aw, this is silly.’ I’m going to go get him, calm him down, come back inside, we’ll come enjoy the concert, we’ve got some other friends there. I walk outside to go give the guy a hug and then he hits me twice. I’m like, ‘No, no, calm down.’ I try to give him another hug and he hits me a couple more times and then he hits me again—I wish they didn’t cut the video in half so whoever put that video up cut it in half, I wish they had the whole thing that showed me trying to hug the guy—finally, my adrenaline kicked up because he was hitting me so much, I’m like, ‘Go ahead, hit me again.’

“But really, I thought the guy would eventually just be like, ‘You know what? Forget it, B.J.,’ give me a hug or whatever, walk away. He hit me and he hit me good. Knocked me down. And then when I got back up he tried it again and then I just had to defend myself. So that’s what you see in the second video.”

Dana White says B.J. Penn won’t fight again: ‘What I saw in that video was sad’
 

Wild

Zi Nazi
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Dec 31, 2014
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Tough to argue with Dana on this one. BJ does need to get his life together, and frankly, has probably needed to for years. His lifestyle has cost him his legacy and his marriage. Time to make some changes.
 

jimmy boogaloo

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Nov 15, 2017
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it's gonna sound terrible, but this was the first BJ Penn fight I had cared about in years, and I was looking forward to seeing what heights of spiteful viciousness Nick Lentils could achieve. wouldn't be surprised if they throw him to an evil up-and-comer as punishment for being part of this.
 

BenAskrensStrikingcoach

Formerly formulating formally
Jan 30, 2015
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I didn't like the way B.J hit the deck in that video.

Giving giant fat fuckers free shots on your chin is not a good plan, no matter who you are.

He needs to get out of the bars and stop fighting drunks and bouncers, clean his fucking act up, obviously a public response to his domestic problems, someone needs to help him reel himself in.
 

jimmy boogaloo

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Nov 15, 2017
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that asshole who lamped him will literally dine out on that, for legit KOing a former UFC champ and ending his career.
 

Jesus X

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Sep 7, 2015
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that asshole who lamped him will literally dine out on that, for legit KOing a former UFC champ and ending his career.
penn looked very hesitant in engaging in that fight but he should have been defending him self in that confrontation.
 

jason73

Yuri Bezmenov was right
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Jan 15, 2015
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dana should have forced him into retirement more than 5 years ago. bj is in the chuck liddell category of legends who fought way too long
 

so long

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Dec 16, 2015
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The BJ Penn <> Lentz fight almost has Khabib<>Tony levels of "the universe won't let it happen". though for different reasons
 

aghof

an person
Apr 15, 2015
2,037
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this may be a blessing disguise. If BJ sobers up and is able to string together some wins in Bellator, he’s still young enough to get back into the UFC and make one last run at the title, maybe down at 135 or up at 185
 

Thuglife13

✝👦🍕🍦🍩
Dec 15, 2018
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B.J. will aways be the GOAT and I ride or die with him to theee death...

War Teh Prodigy!
 

Jesus X

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What’s the betting line?
I wouldnt know .you are speaking to the only person on this website who isn't a degenerate gambler. it is actually the only vice I don't have. I don't even gamble in las vegas, I go to vegas for guns and thrill seeker things like the rides they have.