BJ Penn says running for Governor allowed him to stop fighting
“You know what, I actually had a hard time letting my identity go and moving on from life without fighting, it was really hard for me,” BJ Penn said on Just Scrap Radio. “But, then I got into the Governor thing and the Governor run pulled me out. It’s hard for a fighter to walk away when that is their whole life. It kind of pulled me out of that and the problem is now that I got pulled out of it, I haven’t worked out as much because it is not my mind…
“It’s hard to find that happy medium. I was with Tito (Oritz) and Rampage and Frank Mir a couple of months ago in Arizona. All they would talk about is their next fight and I looked over and I was like ‘wait you guys are older than me and you guys are talking about your next fight, and I’m like wow.’ I don’t blame them, if I didn’t have this whole journey where I went on this Governor race, I would be right there. I would be like ‘when are you coming to Hawaii, I want to fight.’ I’d be saying the same thing. These new kids come up and they are so good and so strong,” Penn continued.
BJ Penn ended his MMA career with a record of 16-14-2 but is still considered one of the greatest fighters of all time. He is the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion and has also been enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame.