Frankie Edgar weighs in on former rival BJ Penn’s fighting future

Frankie Edgar believes it could be time for his former rival BJ Penn to hang up the gloves.

“Do I wish he would retire and just enjoy life? Probably,” Edgar told MMAjunkie. “It’s probably what’s best for his body, but I don’t really know what’s going on in his head. I’m sure everybody has a little piece in it, but ultimately it’s up to him. No one is putting a gun to his head and making him fight. It’s all on him.”

Penn and Edgar previously fought three times, at UFC 112, UFC 118 and the TUF 19 Finale. Edgar won a disputed decision in their first fight and then took home another decision in the second fight. In the third fight, Edgar finished Penn by TKO which led Penn to retiring. He returned to the Octagon in 2017, but has dropped all four of his fights since then.

BJ Penn (16-14-2) is currently riding a seven-fight losing skid. However, his most recent bout against Clay Guida at UFC 237 was a fairly competitive fight. Penn won the first round with his superior striking attack, but Guida reverted to his wrestling and won the next two rounds to take the decision.

Now 40, Penn has not decided if he wants to retire or continue fighting. But if it was up to Frankie Edgar, this would be the end of the line for Penn.

“I watched BJ coming up and his highlights and it’s tough seeing him lose fight after fight,” Edgar said. “But he’s the guy in there, not me. He knows what the deal is, he knows what he wants to accomplish, so I can’t knock anybody that wants to do what they want to do.”

Frankie Edgar fights Max Holloway at UFC 240 this July with the UFC featherweight championship on the line.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/31/2019.