DFW to have the talk with BJ Penn if he loses |
One of the worst things in boxing is prize fighters who don't retire, continuing to compete with obvious brain damage. It is a hard thing, to tell a man he can no longer pursue a beloved livelihood. In boxing, no one seems to do it.
At UFC 134 in 2011, White said he would have given the talk to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, if he had lost to Brendan Schaub. Big Nog won, and still fights.
"When you look at a guy throughout his career, Chuck Liddell went through the same thing," explained White. "You could hit Chuck Liddell with a baseball bat when he was younger in his career and the guy never got rocked or hurt. And Nogueira was that same way. If you looked back throughout his career how many wars this guy has been in, the Crocop fight, all the wars this guy has been in, how much punishment he used to take, now he gets hit and he gets hurt a lot easier... If he lost, he and I would have been having a discussion."
Now White says he will have the talk with BJ Penn, if Penn loses to Frankie Edgar at TUF 19 Finale Edgar vs. Penn on FOX Sports 1 this Sunday.
"This is B.J. Penn's last fight possibly," said White on FOX Sports 1 as transcribed by Dave Doyle. "If he wins, we'll see what he does from there, but if he loses, I will actually push for him to retire."
"it could be possibly watching Michael Jordan playing his last basketball game. It could be Tiger Woods' last golf game."
Penn is 1-4-1 his last six fights, with his last win coming over Matt Hughes by first round KO in 2010. Before that, he lost to Edgar, twice, both by five round unanimous decision. Edgar is 2-3-1 his last six fights.
