Jason Parillo Expects BJ Penn To Fight Again
Former UFC Lightweight Champion and former UFC Welterweight Champion BJ Penn returned to action at UFC Fight Night 103, where he was promptly defeated by Yair Rodriguez.
Penn’s coach, Jason Parillo, doesn't think he's done in the cage.
“B.J. knows that situation he was put in, and he’s just a fighter,” Parillo said to MMA Junkie. “People hate me for him sometimes because sometimes people think I should encourage him not to fight, and it’s not like I don’t. If we’re going to have outcomes like that time and time again, (I’d say), ‘No, don’t fight. I love you, you’re my friend, we don’t want to do this situation.’ As a coach, I know he’s going to be fighting. Gun to my head? I’d say yes, he’ll fight again. Do I think he’ll want to fight again? Yes or no, and you die if you’re wrong, do I think B.J. will try to fight again? I would go yes, he’ll try to fight again.”
Parillo believes that the lack of cage time is what cost him in the fight against Rodriguez.
“When you’ve only fought one time in five years, and you fell short and got stopped, you don’t really have any business going in there with a top-10 guy,” Parillo said. “When you’re looking out for the best interests of your fighters, you want to put him in a situation where he as at least a 50-50 chance of winning. (As a 4.5-1 underdog), you’re not in a 50-50 chance.”
Parillo was seen next at Bellator 170, where he was in the corner of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz as he faces fellow UFC veteran Chael Sonnen.
