B.J. Penn: Sometimes I'll forget that I was the UFC champion
It was almost exactly a year ago that former welterweight and lightweight champion B.J. Penn called it a career and retired from the sport after one of the most iconic runs in the history of the UFC.
Penn will go down as only the second ever multi-divisional champion in UFC history and he is regarded and one of the greatest fighters of all time.
But like all great athletes, Penn's time as a fighter finally had to come to an end but now that a year has passed and his body and mind have had time to heal, is the Hawaiian legend still resolute in walking away from MMA for good?
"Not that I really miss fighting because it's so much work and all the different stuff you have to do, I don't miss none of that. Things like the memories of fighting seem so old. Before they were recent and they mattered and now they seem so distance and old. I know I'll never get those types of memories again, sitting in a locker room, and things like that," Penn told FOX Sports on Monday.
"That being said, I don't miss fight week. I don't miss training for three months. Maybe hearing like 'oh right on, I'm fighting that guy' but now you've got to go get punched in the head. I've been enjoying it."'
Since his last bout against Frankie Edgar in July 2014, Penn has been living at home in Hawaii and spending most of his days playing with his children or running various businesses, but fighting is one thing that doesn't occur to him much these days.
Penn is noticeably absent from most UFC events where many veterans will be sitting cage side for a fight card, while he'd rather just be at home with his family. The Hawaiian legend missed out on normalcy for so much of his career that he's really enjoying the down time and leading what some might call a mundane life.
Penn is so detached from mixed martial arts these days that he hasn't even practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or hit pads since he left the arena the night he retired from the sport last year.
"Now just doing the things I do in my day-to-day life I kind of forget. Now that it's been a year and I just go into the gym and do cardio on one of the cardio machines and I haven't even done martial arts in this last year," Penn revealed.
"People always remind me about it. Sometimes I'll forget about it. I'll just be sitting around having a normal day and I'll forget that I was the UFC champion. It's almost like two different people."
When the subject of returning to fighting comes up, Penn, 36, doesn't exactly shut the door and say there's no chance, but from the sound of things he's happy in retirement and has put competitive MMA behind him.
"You hear like 'Mike Tyson's coming back' or you see all these things and you see all these people at 40 years old fight, so you never know what the future holds, but I think I feel kind of proud actually that I can put fighting behind me," Penn said. "There is a lot of competitiveness and ego involved and as I sit here I've got no interest in jumping into a three-month training camp and preparing to fight one of the best fighters in the world who is preparing to fight me in front of millions of people.
"I'm kind of proud that I can just sit there and not want to jump at that chance. You'll never know what the future holds, but I'm glad I'm not sparring somebody right now."
Penn will put a bow on his legendary career on July 11 when he's inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and it's an honor he couldn't have even imagined when he started fighting back in 2001.
For more than a decade, Penn was recognized as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the sport. A competitor who was always willing to step up to a challenge -- even when others wouldn't dare.
Call him a champion. Call him a legend. And in just over a week, call him a Hall of Famer.
For all those accolades and honors, Penn has no problem waking up a year after his last fight and just being called 'dad'.
"I've got so much catching up to do on regular life," Penn said. "I was always in training camp and spent 75-percent of a year or sometimes 100-percent of the year in training. I've got so much stuff on my plate.
"I don't mind not being one of the toughest guys in the world for a little bit."
