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According to B.J. Penn, former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov would not have been able to switch weight classes like him.
Penn is a UFC Hall of Famer who won the UFC lightweight title back in 2008 at UFC 80. Prior to that, 'The Prodigy' also held the UFC welterweight title.
Penn believes Khabib would have found himself on his back against elite fighters at welterweight. Addressing why Khabib chose not to challenge himself in other weight classes, B.J. Penn recently told John McCarthy and Josh Thomson in an episode of the Weighing In podcast:
"I do think that it is tougher for his style to go up. Because I don't know, I haven't grappled with him but I do think that when you get into those higher weights and you are fighting somebody like (Kamaru) Usman, sooner or later you're gonna find yourself on your back with your head against fence. And if you are a small guy, you gotta know what to do. And that's why all three of us here are jiu-jitsu black belts. Because that's self defence. You're walking down the street, that little old lady is the one who's going to get picked on and she's gotta know what to do, right. And I've always believed that and that's what martial arts is."
Catch B.J. Penn's appearance on the Weighing In podcast below:
B.J. Penn doubts Khabib Nurmagomedov's jiu-jitsu
B.J. Penn's statement is a follow-up to his recent Instagram post casting doubt on Khabib's ground game.
According to Penn, Khabib Nurmagomedov never moved up to 170 pounds as the Russian wasn't confident in his jiu-jitsu. Making comparisons between himself and the Dagestani, B.J.Penn recently wrote on Instagram:
"Since Khabib has been saying he is the greatest lightweight of all time and I am number 2 best lightweight many people have been asking me why didn’t Khabib fight Usman for the 170 pound belt or compete for 170 belt like I did many times… in my humble opinion it is because he is not proficient and confident in jiujitsu."
