BJ Penn wandered onto Planet Diaz at UFC 137, lost a tough decision to Nick, and announced his retirement in the cage. The retirment was expected to be short-lived, but it has been three months, and as ESPN's Brett Okamoto reports, after 10 years in the Octagon, the 33-year-old Penn may stay retired.
“I’m trying to find myself a little bit -- not as a fighter trying to come back to the sport, but just as a person.”
“I’m enjoying my time away from the sport. That’s where I am right now,” Penn said. “I’m living a regular life instead of living the roller coaster. I haven’t [lived a normal life] in 15 years."
Penn says he’s still in the gym on a regular basis, but he's there strictly for his enjoyment of the sport. When he doesn’t feel like going, he doesn’t. Although, he says, "usually I want to go."
“I just honestly sit back and reflect and look at how it went. I really do feel I could have done a lot better in a lot of different situations. I’m heartbroken with the way some of the fights went. The way my UFC 94 fight [against Georges St. Pierre] and my fights with Frankie Edgar went, I’m heartbroken about those fights.
“I feel I could have made better choices but I don’t feel a major urge that I’ve got to go fix that right now.”
Even if he ends up only taking off six to nine months and then returns, that’s still a significant chunk of time out of his prime.
“That is something that either way, I’m going to have to accept,” Penn said. “I’ve thought about it, but even if you are in your physical prime, there’s still no sense going back if your head isn’t there.”
“That’s amazing they are finally deciding to go to Hawaii," said Penn who had not heard UFC President Dana White's plan to hold a show in Penn's home State, perhaps in 2012. "But I wouldn’t want to waste Dana’s time, getting his hopes up on something he wants to put together.”
“I want to tell [my fans] that they’re guess is as good as mine. I don’t know.”
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