BJ Penn Sides With Jose Aldo: You’re The Lion, Don’t Worry About The Sheep

As one of the greatest champions in UFC history, and one of the greatest fighters in UFC history period, BJ “The Prodigy” was rightfully inducted into the revamped and restructured UFC Hall of Fame this past weekend (July 11, 2015) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Being in town, Penn obviously stuck around for the blockbuster event that went down on the same day in UFC 189. The event and the main event were being billed as the biggest of the year, and the whole card lived up to the hype despite losing it’s original main event.

Reigning featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo was scheduled to take on Irish sensation Conor McGregor in the main event and after months and months of bad blood and hype, Aldo pulled out with a rib injury, forcing the UFC to put together an interim title fight between McGregor and No.1-ranked Chad Mendes, a bout the “Notorious” one would go on to win.

Due to the magnitude of the main event and the excitement towards it, many have bashed Aldo for not fighting including McGregor himself, but it seems as if Penn has sided with “Scarface”, as he understands the champion’s decision. Speaking with reporters this past weekend, “The Prodigy” said that Aldo is the lion, and the champion, and shouldn’t worry what the “sheep” have to say.

Penn also stated that he wouldn’t have wanted to see Aldo if the Brazilian wasn’t 100% which could be a fair point:

“Aldo, you’re the old lion,” Penn told reporters at a recent UFC fan expo. “You’re the champion. You’re the one with the record, you’re the one with the gold, you’re the one with all the records. The lion doesn’t care that the sheep laugh at him. Remember that. The lion just stays there. The animals make noise and tease. The guy with the belt is the lion.”

“If Aldo is not 100 percent, I do not want to see him inside that ring.”

Despite it not happening when we would’ve liked, the bout will still go down, and Aldo has stated that he’s ready to smash McGregor. Who are you picking?