So it appears that B.J. Penn won’t be fighting Nik Lentz later on this year. This stems from the recent controversy surrounding the UFC Hall of Famer, as the 40-year-old was recorded getting into two fights last week in Hawaii.
Penn finally broke his silence on the incident earlier this week, stating that he was defending himself and the men that he fought were the aggressors in the situation. However, that doesn’t appear to matter for the UFC President, as Dana White has told ESPN that Penn is done fighting as of right now (transcript courtesy of mmafighting.com):
“He won’t fight again,” White told ESPN.
“That’s it. It’s a wrap.”
White states that he wasn’t a fan of giving him another fight in the first place; however, the former UFC Lightweight Champion terrorized him for a week and he ultimately gave in due to his close relationship with Penn. The UFC President claims to have already informed Penn of his decision and wants him to get his personal life together first:
“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.”
You can checkout White's statement in the video below: