UFC President Dana White recently named BJ Penn as the fighter who he believed didn’t live up to his full potential and should have been one of the greatest of all time.
Now ‘The Prodigy’ has given his reaction to White’s comments in an interview with KHON2 in Hawaii.
“It’s flattering and it makes you sad at the same time,” Penn told Rob DeMello. “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.
“You got to talk about two different people, two different BJs at times. 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,” he added. “Maybe Dana White will look back and be like, ‘You know what? Look at him now. That guy really did reach his full potential.’”
The 37 year-old former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion is currently serving a six month suspension after using an IV drip, which was recently added to USADA’s banned list, but he still fully intends to make his comeback to the Octagon before the end of the year.
“One-hundred percent, I’m going to fight again,” Penn confirmed. “The fight now should be around November. That’s when we’re looking to come back, so we’re going to talk to the UFC and 100-percent, we want to get back out there, 145, and we’re gonna do this. See where this takes us.”
Penn went on to say that the suspension could actually end up doing him a favor since it’ll give him more time to prepare for his first fight in the Octagon in over two years.
“It definitely could be a positive, because I’ve been away for so long. I’ve been retired for awhile, so give me more time to get in there and train again, so come September, I’ll head up to Albuquerque and get in there with Greg Jackson and all of the top-level guys and see what’s going on.”
