BJ Penn on Dana White’s retirement comments: ‘It makes a lot of sense’

It appears that Dana White is not the only person who who believes B.J. Penn should retire if he loses on Sunday night. The…

By: Karim Zidan | 9 years ago
BJ Penn on Dana White’s retirement comments: ‘It makes a lot of sense’
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

It appears that Dana White is not the only person who who believes B.J. Penn should retire if he loses on Sunday night.

The two-division UFC champion revealed at the pre-fight scrum ahead of The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale that he believed the UFC President’s retirement comments made perfect sense. He even hinted that he may chose to retire even if he is victorious on Sunday.

“That makes a lot of sense,” Penn said regarding Dana’s comments. “It makes a lot of sense for Dana to say that. We were talking about my retirement just before I took this fight. Do or die or not, I am going to go out and enjoy this whole thing. I’m just going to ride this until the wheels fall off (laughs).”

Penn also made it clear during the scrum that he has no issue being a heavy underdog at the event, and that even if the odds were 50-1 against him it would only serve to motivate him further.

“I love it [being an underdog]. I love it, I love it, I love it. Make it 50-1.Let me prove them wrong.”

The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale takes place Sunday, July 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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