BJ: I haven’t done martial arts in a year
BJ Penn: “I haven’t done martial arts this past year. I’ve been relaxing just catching up on stuff that I missed out in life instead of being in the gym all the time.”
Retired future UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn appeared recently on Ariel Helwani‘s The MMA Hour, and was asked about returning to MMA.
“I don’t see myself with the strong will to want to,” said Penn as transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMAMania. “You never know what the future holds or pops up, but I have no desire to jump into a training camp and try to get out there.”
Penn said the high point of his combat sports career was being the first non-Brazlian to win the black belt division of the Mundials, in 2000. But even competing in a BJJ or a grappling event sounds unlikely. It sounds like he hasn’t even rolled since losing to Frankie Edgar on 7 July 2014.
“Honestly, in the last year, I haven’t even … I went in the gym and did some cardio, but I haven’t done martial arts this past year,” he said. “I’ve been relaxing just catching up on stuff that I missed out in life instead of being in the gym all the time. I’ll get in the gym to do cardio and stuff for my health, but the truth is I haven’t done martial arts at all this last year. I’ll just stop by and do the little stuff. I guess I am young if you see that a 37-year old just won the UFC heavyweight championship (laughs). But, I guess its just how much you are into it. Sometimes it’s not age it’s miles. Who knows, you never know.”
The former two-division champion will be in Vegas at the UFC Fan Expo on July 11, 2015, where he is expected to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Given the damage done to combat sports athletes who stay around too long, maybe not training for a year is something to be celebrat