MMA legend BJ Penn has been released from his UFC contract, Dana White confirmed to Yahoo! News earlier today.
The announcement finalizes a departure that fans have been expecting for a while now, especially in light of Penn’s recent altercations in Hawaii. He was originally set to face Nik Lentz later this year, but after a video surfaced of Penn getting into a bar fight this past August, White said that he wouldn’t have Penn fight for the UFC again. “He won’t fight again. That’s it. That’s a wrap,” said White.
While anyone who’d known about White’s declaration expected that we would likely not see Penn fight again in the UFC Octagon, the release of Penn from his contract makes things official and also means that the UFC doesn’t owe Penn any fights from his last contract with them.
