Quote: BJ Penn Would Get Better Match-Ups In Bellator

BJ Penn

BJ Penn’s Octagon return didn’t go exactly the way he planned to say the least.

Penn returned to mixed martial arts (MMA) competition last month (January 15, 2017) after nearly three years of retirement and suffered a brutal second round TKO loss to fast-rising featherweight star Yair Rodriguez. It marked the former lightweight and featherweight champion’s fourth straight loss, not having won a bout since 2010.

Recently former UFC veteran and current Bellator MMA competitor Josh Koscheck was interviewed by ESPN ahead of his Bellator debut when he takes on Mauricio Alonso this weekend (Sat. February 18, 2017) at Bellator 172. During the interview Koscheck stated that he believes ‘The Prodigy’ was ‘fed to the lions’ in his UFC return and would receive better match-ups if he made the jump to Bellator:

“They fed BJ to the lions in that one,” Koscheck said. “If BJ were to come to Bellator, they’d put him in a good matchup that is something exciting for the fans. I hated to see BJ in that kind of fight, taking that kind of damage. That kid he fought is a stud.”

“BJ has money,” he said. “He’s not fighting for money. He wants to compete. I also want to go in and compete, get my hand raised.”

Koscheck is now 39-years-old and says he is simply still in the game to see what he is capable of at this point in his career, and he couldn’t think of a better place to do it than Bellator:

“With what Bellator’s got going on, I can fight guys my own age, which is cool. I’m not in this to make money. I’m trying to test myself at age 39, see what I’m still capable of. And we’ll get to find out on Saturday.”

Do you think Penn would be better off competing under the Bellator banner?

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