BJ Penn still plans on returning to the octagon when his suspension for violating an anti-doping policy is finished. In the meantime, he and UFC president Dana White have gotten in some verbal jabs at each other.
BJ Penn still plans on returning to the octagon when his suspension for violating an anti-doping policy is finished. In the meantime, he and UFC president Dana White have gotten in some verbal jabs at each other.
Penn was on Oahu on Wednesday to promote his new gym in Mililani, and in an interview with KHON-TV he responded to White referring to the UFC Hall of Famer as an underachiever.
“It’s flattering and it makes you sad at the same time,” Penn said in the interview, parts of which were posted on BJPenn.com. “It’s strange for me to talk, because it’s like one side we’re talking about this Hall-of-Fame career guy, and on the other side, I’m just trying to prove myself.”
Earlier in the week, White told TMZ that Penn “should have been one of the best ever.”
“I think BJ in his own words would go back and do things differently if he could,” White said on TMZ.com.
Penn captured UFC titles in two different divisions, lightweight and welterweight, and in the past White has credited “The Prodigy” with helping to bring the lower mixed martial arts divisions into the mainstream.
The 37-year-old Penn (16-10-3), however, has lost his last three fights, with his last win coming in 2010. His six-month ban for prohibited IV usage will be finished in late September, and Penn told KHON on Wednesday he has every intention of fighting in November.
“You got to talk about two different people, two different BJs at times,” Penn said on BJPenn.com. “It’s his opinion and he’s entitled to that, and all I can do for my side is get in there and show them.
“Maybe Dana White will look back and be like, ‘You know what? Look at him now. That guy really did reach his full potential.’”