B.J. Penn Mulling Retirement After Loss to Georges St Pierre
by Nate Wilcox on Feb 2, 2009 2:11 PM EST
in MMA News
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From Josh Gross:
Priority No. 1, according to sources in his camp, remains whether or not to lodge a formal complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission alleging Georges St. Pierre's corner knowingly and illegally used Vaseline on the UFC welterweight champion's body to gain an unfair advantage Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Should Penn decide to move forward and attack the integrity of St. Pierre and his camp, chances are the Hawaiian will want to fight again. That, surprisingly, is not an automatic. Though the answer seems obvious considering Penn, who is only 30, appears perfectly capable of carving himself a meaningful legacy at 155, no one close to "The Prodigy" knows for certain if he'll return.
"Before we got to Vegas we were talking," Penn's chief trainer, Rudy Valentino, said Sunday evening after returning to Hilo. With a win over St. Pierre "he wanted this to be his last fight."
As much of a bummer as this would be it doesn't surprise me. Its been very clear for a long time that B.J. Penn marches to his own drummer and that he is bored fighting at 155lbs. Personally I'd love to see him continue to fight but if he hangs up the gloves all I can say is "Aloha B.J., thanks for all the great fights."
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If this is true
it sucks, because I was looking forward to seeing BJ beat the crap out of Florian so people will shut up about him being the one to defeat Penn. GSP is simply out of BJ’s league & I hope we see him back at 155.
That would be a major loss for MMA. He could still become the greatest lightweight ever. And with the depth of that division, who knows, over a few years he could leave a legacy that few, if any, could even hope for. It would be real sad if he retires now.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
See, I'll say something different
‘Oh, you were planning on getting the belts and then retiring? You’re a whiny little thing, you know that? Get off the fucking pity pony, beat up Kenny Florian, and then figure it out.’
Dude is in the prime of his career, and retiring now would be a pretty blunt admission that he was never in this to be the best fighter he could possibly be for as long as he could do it. If that’s not your motivation, then I’ll waste my time on a guy who does think that way.
by Derek Suboticki on Feb 2, 2009 1:49 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
Agreed on what you are driving at here. It would be an extremely egotistical move to retire then have the UFC have to fill two vacant belts, cementing a legacy where 4 fighters were only good enough to fight over the “scraps” he left behind.
I was quite torn during this fight because I like both fighters, but if this is true then good riddance to him.
I don’t believe for one second that this is the way BJ wants to go out of the sport. If this is a cash grab or a power play or some other kind of sports cliche to imply he wants to get more from a promoter than he feels he’s getting from ZUFFA, then that’s one thing.
But to think that a guy like BJ Penn would allow himself to go out on such a sour note is unbelievable to me.
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
He’d do it, just look at a summary of his career between the second Caol Uno fight and his 2nd fight with Pulver. BJ does what BJ wants. His picture is in the dictionary next to the word “mercurial”.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
Yeah, but he always does what he wants to a specific end. What’s his end by retiring; I mean, really retiring? So he can focus on his school? Is he so jaded about the UFC Lightweight division? And if so, what, is he going to go fight Shinya Aoki?
Actually, yeah, he might do that.
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
Its misleading...
He said had he of beaten GSP he may have retired… This was premeditated thinking… not regret from a broken man. He didn’t win, so I don’t think he’ll be hangin him up.
Someone that even mulls retirement regardless of if his intent was to do it IF he beat GSP..is not a person that is in it for much longer.
regardless, this news flash looks like heresay at the moment.
by lbk on Feb 2, 2009 2:04 PM EST up reply actions
no way
his ego is to big for him to just roll out after this loss. but if it is true then it sounds a lot like he “taped out to strikes”
make no mistake about it, quitting on the stool is much worse than tapping from strikes.
BJ’s will was broken.
by lbk on Feb 2, 2009 2:05 PM EST up reply actions
GSP beat him so bad he made him tap out of his whole career.
Gimme 1 Round!
by skwirrl on Feb 2, 2009 2:16 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
If BJ isn't willing to prove himself at 155
which I don’t think he has. Then he should retire and let someone else stake their claim in the LW division.
I doubt he's gonna retiring.
It just doesn’t seem like BJ. What seems like BJ is walking away from the belt and the UFC for a while and then coming back :)
Seriously, give it a few months and BJ will be back. He’s a fighter. His motivation and work ethic stinks, but he’ll be back again. I’m sure of it.
BJ heard rumors that JZ might go to the UFC and had a terrible flashback to Saturday night. At that moment he knew it was time to get gone before getting his ass whipped again.
Gimme 1 Round!
Sounds like something BJ woud do. Defeat GSP, capture both belts, retire, get into UFC Hall of Fame and have your ego stroked for all eternity.
Thank GOD it didn’t go down that way…
You got the first letter right. Thank GSP.
by Derek Suboticki on Feb 2, 2009 2:39 PM EST up reply actions
As whacky as BJ is,
I find it hard to believe he will quit after losing in such devastating fashion but who knows. It may be that is exactly the reason he quits, because he will not be able to avenge that loss.
I must be getting too much of GSP v Penn
because I find myself not really caring one way or the other…and Penn is a great fighter. I would like to see him (and GSP, Silva, etc…) concentrate on the weight class they are the champion of, or vacat the title and move to another weightclass, but stop this “I’m the champ here, but would rather fight at that weight or nothing.”
It wouldn’t shock me to see BJ “retire”. There aren’t a lot of compelling fights for him at 155 in the UFC. I used quotes, because, if he did, I would expect a comeback in a year.
On the other hand, there are many interesting fights for him outside of the UFC, namely Aoki. Also, Hansen, Alvarez, Gomi, etc… Not that the result may be different, just that the fighst are more interesting, imo, than Florian, Sherk, Guida, etc…
And quite frankly, I don’t want to see any fighter in there, that isn’t 100% into the fight. I am a big BJ fan, but I would rather he walk away than be disinterested.
On a side note, BJ has long said that he would compete in BJJ again after his mma career is over. That could be interesting.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
If BJ retires.....
I thnk we wil all be missing out. It would be devastatig to the LW division. Florian does not have the presence needed or the marketabilty of Penn in order to cary the division. I do not understand all the haing on Penn. Yeah he may be a little sour about the vaseline but in his mind it could have been a factor. His rubber guard was completely useless becuase of it. Now it proabbly would not have made a difference (GSP would still have won) but it probably would have been a more competitive fight. GSP is not a cheater neither is his cornerman,l I think they just made a dumb mistake. I hope this all gets resolved and BJ remains in LW.
But the betting line won’t be who will win… it will be, whats will BJ Penns fans excuse be when he loses?
+150 – He was sick before the fight
+70 – Aoki cheated!
even – He cut his eyelid rolling before the fight
-120 – A viscious chihuahua bit off his toe.
-200 – An audience member groped him, throwing him off his game.
I’m fairly certain that would not be enough to lure him from the UFC. He’s raking in the dough.
by Michaelthebox on Feb 2, 2009 5:45 PM EST up reply actions
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