BJ Penn discusses Conor McGregor’s chances against Floyd Mayweather

There is currently no bigger story in the world of combat sports than that of Conor McGregor‘s plans to challenge undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring. While this fight’s fruition is still far from a certainty, many members of the combat sports world are chiming in, giving their opinions on it. The latest to do so is our very own BJ Penn, who shared his thoughts on this possible boxing match in an interview with Chris Taylor.

“I would think in a straight boxing match Floyd would have to have the advantage,” Penn said of this possible showdown. “But Connor is younger, bigger, and in his prime, and in combat sports all it takes is one punch. That’s the way I look at it.”

Penn then suggested there could be precedent for this much-discussed mega fight in former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw’s recent sparring session with Olympic boxer Vasyl Lomachenko.

“[It’s like] Lomachenko sparring Dillashaw, and Dillashaw saying Lomachenko was handling him pretty well,” Penn explained. “Then after that there is a clip of Lomachenko saying Floyd would win every time against Conor, because this is a boxing match. I guess I would have to lean on what Lomachenko is saying. I’m an MMA guy so what would I know?” 

At the moment, this McGregor vs. Mayweather mega fight is still far from a done-deal. That said, there seems to be ever increasing reason to believe it will actually happen.

When we last saw Penn in the Octagon, he returned from a lengthy hiatus to take on red-hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez. Having come up short against this young foe, the former lightweight champ will now attempt to rebound against Germany’s Dennis Siver on the main card of the UFC’s upcoming trip to Oklahoma City. This card will be headlined by a lightweight contender bout between Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa.

What do you think of BJ Penn’s assessment of this possible Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather bout? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/3/2017.