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B.J. Penn recently revealed the hardships he went through post-retirement. Speaking to Joe Rogan on the JRE podcast, Penn claimed he had difficulty getting over the identity of 'baddest man on the planet' that he had built over two decades.
Additionally, 'The Prodigy' claims he wasn't trying to maintain a perfect public image once he had hung up his gloves. Penn moved on with the ups and downs of life, which per him, sometimes judged him fairly and other times not so. The 43-year-old said on The Joe Rogan Experience:
"I was just retired so I wasn't trying to keep my everything perfect in public. I was just running around, I was just a guy trying to come off of a twenty-year journey of being the baddest man on the planet. So it was tough, it was really tough to get over that identity. As time went on I was living my life, some more ups and downs and like I say, sometimes I was judges fairly, other times I wasn't."
Watch the clip below:
Listen to the entire podcast below:
B.J. Penn laid down a unique condition for a return to the octagon
A staple of the UFC since the Zuffa era, B.J. Penn scored first-round knockout wins in his first three promotional outings. 'The Prodigy' went on to fight at lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and even light-heavyweight in a career spanning over almost two decades.
Best known for his rivalry with Matt Hughes and Georges St-Pierre, B.J. Penn held both the UFC lightweight and welterweight straps, though not simultaneously. He lost momentum after being dethroned by Frankie Edgar and would announce his retirement in 2014 after going on a three-fight skid.
He made a comeback in 2017 only to lose four in row. Penn was finally released from the promotion in 2019, a month after fighting a man in the street and getting knocked out.
But the former UFC champion is ready to return to the octagon on one condition. Having grown up watching WWE, Penn is such a big fan of Hulk Hogan that he would consider returning to the octagon if the Hulkster walked him out. 'The Prodigy' told his manager Chris Taylor:
“That is definitely on my bucket list. When we were talking about having him come out [to my fight], I was just thinking of having him come and sit in the front row. But yeah, imagine walking out with him? Geez, I would come back for one more fight to make that happen.” h/t BJPenn.com
