{"id":218572,"date":"2017-01-20T09:12:38","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T17:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=218572"},"modified":"2017-01-20T09:12:38","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T17:12:38","slug":"frankie-edgar-weighs-bj-penns-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bj-penn\/frankie-edgar-weighs-bj-penns-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Frankie Edgar weighs-in on potential BJ Penn return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, at ‘UFC Fight Night: Phoenix’, UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn<\/a> stepped into the Octagon for a highly anticipated showdown with streaking featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez<\/a>. For Penn, he was seeking his first win in over 5 years as he planned to make a run at the featherweight strap. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the UFC Hall of Famer, Yair Rodriguez’ dynamic and unorthodox striking proved to be too much as he continued to land numerous kicks on the former two-division champ, who showed tremendous heart as he continued to pursue the finish despite continuing to be tagged. <\/p>\n

\"Yair<\/p>\n

Following Penn’s 2nd round TKO loss, many members of the MMA community called for the legend to retire. With that being said, Penn’s coach believes that his indomitable spirit will shine through, and that he may very well fight in the Octagon once again.<\/a><\/p>\n

Penn’s former opponent, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, believes it’s time for Penn to hang the gloves up. He spoke to Fox Sports<\/a> to discuss another potential BJ Penn return:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never my place to tell someone to retire, that\u2019s something you have to want to do. Personally, I\u2019d like to see BJ retire. That\u2019s not the BJ we all fell in love with. His fighting style, the type of person he is and how he just brings it \u2014 you can tell he was kind of just a shell of himself. Father time is undefeated and that\u2019s just what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe warrior is still there, his spirit is still there, it\u2019s just his body wasn\u2019t responding and he wasn\u2019t doing the things he usually does. He\u2019s probably lost a little step in his speed and you know BJ was one of the fastest out there. That was one of his biggest tools, so you take that away it\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBJ is a fighter, he\u2019s a fighter at heart \u2014 he\u2019s been through it all, he\u2019s seen it all. But when Yair was ground-and-pounding him at the end, I was probably yelling at the TV, \u2018Stop the fight, it\u2019s enough.\u2019 It as a beating at the end. I think they probably could have stopped it a bit sooner. Maybe if it was another guy, I might have been fine with it. But I think it was a beating and I think it was inevitable that that was the outcome. So he maybe could have saved himself a couple punches to the face.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Frankie<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com<\/a> on 1\/19\/2017.<\/p>\n