BJ Penn was defeated at UFC 232 when he was tapped out by Ryan Hall with a heel hook in the first round, and now he’s finally spoken out about the fight.
“I just got back home to Hawaii,” Penn told his own website, BJPenn.com. “I’m going to let my ankle heal up and then I will contemplate what is next for my life.”
That suggests the former lightweight and welterweight champion is still not ready to confirm his retirement despite the loss being his sixth in a row, and only having picked up a win and a draw from his last 10 fights.
As for what happened in the fight, Penn gives all credit to BJJ ace Hall for his impressive submission finish.
“I was shocked at how deep Ryan [Hall] was able to sink in the leg lock right off the hop. The timing was perfect. I tried to run and pull my leg out, but I wasn’t going anywhere as my knee was still stuck inside his hips. So I tried to defend my knee and turn it up towards the sky. By the time I looked back he had already switched to the heel hook and my ankle just popped.”
As such, Penn isn’t offering up any excuses and instead insisted he’d had a great training camp leading into the fight.
“You know I felt like I had one of the greatest training camps in my life for this fight. Training in Brazil at Nova Uniao was nothing short of amazing. I can’t thank Leo Santos and coach Andre Pederneiras enough for their efforts. We had practiced everything, including leg locks, and I felt great. It just didn’t work out this time around.”
