Matt Serra Defends BJ Penn Continuing To Fight In The UFC

Former UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn is still actively competing in the Octagon.

At 40-years-old, Penn continues to fight in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. He hasn’t won a fight since 2010, and is currently on a seven-fight losing streak, losing three by way of finish. In his last outing, Penn suffered a unanimous decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 237 this past weekend.

After the loss, many people began to argue that Penn should hang up his gloves. There has been a lot of talk within the MMA community that Penn shouldn’t be fighting anymore in the first place. However, former UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra took to the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast to defend Penn (via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t know. It’s not like what’s happening to Rashad Evans or somebody like Chuck Liddell where you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t want to see him get hurt anymore,’” Serra said.

“I don’t know. I’ve known B.J. for so long, I love the dude, he’s a really good person. . . The guy’s a legend. He can do whatever he wants. I wish him best. I don’t want to, I’m not sitting here saying he should retire.

“It’s not like he is getting destroyed, and it looked like he was having a great time, as far as leading up to it. . . And he did look good in the beginning, you know!”

It remains to be seen whether or not Penn fights again. Aside from the controversy surrounding his physical ability to compete, many were surprised he was allowed to fight in Brazil last weekend due to his pending legal issues away from MMA.

Should Penn fight again, and suffer another loss, the Hawaiian might have to seriously consider retiring once and for all, as it would mean he’s on an eight-fight losing streak.