BJ Penn was dominated this past Saturday night by Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 5 in Seattle and the future of the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion is unknown.
Many people would like to see Penn return to the lightweight division but others think it’s time for the former champion to retire.
UFC President Dana White said on the UFC on FOX 5 post fight show on FUEL TV that he would like to see the former champion call it a career.
“BJ will probably retire,” White said on FUEL TV. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that. Rory looked better than he’s ever looked. You don’t see body punches like that. BJ is a warrior who doesn’t give up. I’ve got so much respect for him. I’d like to see him retire. He’s got plenty of money, he’s got babies, he has nothing to prove to anyone.”
This is not the first fighter that White has said he would like to see retire, as he has recently said that he would like to see Forrest Griffin and Matt Hughes retire. Hughes is essentially retired, but Griffin is continuing his career and is currently recovering from a knee injury which forced him off the UFC 155 card.
Penn (16-9-2) has only won once in his last six fights (1-4-1) and has gone 1-2-1 since returning to the lightweight division. He has been dominated in his last two fights against MacDonald and Nick Diaz. Following his lost to Diaz last year, he retired from the sport and elected to come back earlier this year.
If Penn does decide to return to the octagon, the UFC could tell him that they would prefer him to fight in the lightweight division, instead of the welterweight division.