Dana White Says B.J. Penn Won't Fight Again: 'That’s It, That's a Wrap.'
UFC president Dana White said B.J. Penn's UFC career is done after a video surfaced of his involvement in an August altercation.
"He won’t fight again," White told ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto. "That’s it. That's a wrap."
Penn was supposed to have one final fight with Nik Lentz.
"It’s not even that this was the 'last straw,'" White continued. "I didn’t love him continuing to fight anyway, but when you have 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, you know, turn him down. But after what I saw on that video. B.J., he needs to focus on his personal life and get himself together before he thinks about fighting again."
White said the company has informed Penn of this decision, but White has not spoken to him yet. The video shows an altercation between Penn and a man in Hawaii. Penn is seen getting knocked down outside a bar and then throwing punches. It was his second involvement in an altercation this summer.
"What I saw in that video was sad," White later said. "I love the kid and I hope he gets his life together."
Penn defended himself when he spoke with TSN earlier this week and said he was trying to defuse the most recent situation.
Penn's estranged girlfriend was granted a restraining order against him this year after accusations of years of physical and sexual abuse. Penn has a record of 16-14-2 and hasn’t won a fight since November 2010.
