Joe Rogan | What Should the UFC Do with BJ Penn? w/Brendan Schaub

I was really impressed with the way Chuck handled that loss. Did you see the way Chuck talked about it on Instagram? He just basically said, you know, hey man, you know, you put yourself out there, you go out there, you set goals, you know, you try and if you fail, it doesn't mean you quit. You get back on your horse and you fucking get right back to it. I try not to be so judgmental. He let go of all the hate and all the bullshit. I was very impressed with him. That's great, me too, and I like Chuck, he's a good person. Chuck, if Tito's, or if rather John Jones's number one, Chuck's number two, so far as light heavyweights, great light heavyweights, he was a fucking man. I mean, when he defined the early days of the UFC, one of the things about the UFC was like this crazy thing was like cage fighting, and here's this guy with painted toenails and a mohawk and a head tattoo, and he's just murking people, murking people. Biggest, like, was like the first big, big star in our sport to transcend and go on to entourage and have commercials and doing those fucking automotive commercials. Lives like a rock star, too. I mean, that dude went hard. Where do you stand? Do you remember that one interview that he did? Where's Cameron? He was on something. He was on all the drugs? He's on everything, and he's like doing morning TV, he's like, yeah, I'd like to fight the Hulk. I wish he was real. Isn't that great? I love that shit. I don't remember what the fuck he said, but he was clearly on Cloud9. Like, he's an animal man, like a legit bonafide animal. Whose responsibility is it? The guys like BJ Pan, who keeps losing, defining his legacy now, guy like Anderson Silva. Where do you stand on letting those guys fight? It's a very good question. If you're Dana White, what do you do? Because at the end of the day, the commission can go, all right, physically, yeah, man, he passed the fucking physical, so we gotta let him fight. But at the end of the day, if they don't have a resource or a job from the head man, if Dana calls BJ or Chuck, just like you do Chuck, he's like, I'm not giving you a venue to fight, it's not happening. So I wonder at what point, if you're Dana, let's say you're Dana, at what point do you tell these guys to stop fighting? Because I feel like for Anderson, although I don't remember him that way, the new generation is remembering him for being this guy. For BJ, the new generation only knows him as losing. We know him as one of the greats. So I feel like for Dana, I owe it to them to say you can't fight anymore. I don't know if BJ is capable of competing at the level that he's competing at right now, when he's losing to these guys. I don't know if he is, because it doesn't seem like he's capable of it. Well he's lost, what, six in a row? Yeah, and if I looked at the BJ that I saw against Ryan Hall, up until the time he gets leg locked, he looks fucking great. That happened fast though, bro. No, I know, I'm with you. I'm saying he looks like he's fit, he looks like he's in shape, he looks like he's a top fighter, but he almost needs to fight a young guy coming up. So we can see, when he fights Clay Guida, or he fights someone like that, he's losing, and then Ryan Hall, he's losing. I feel like, I don't know. He's not who he used to be. No, obviously, not. But I don't even know where his head's at. I feel like if I'm Dana, I'm going, hey man, I'm doing the guys a solid, you can't fight here anymore. And now they might go on to other organizations, but it's not the UFC. So they can go on there and compete, but you're not gonna tarnish your legacy at the highest level here in the UFC, not under my watch. No. So I couldn't do it. I'll never pick against BJ. I would never pick against Randy Couture. I don't have it in me. So when BJ fights, I'm like, I'll take BJ because I refuse to pick against him. That's so much I respect him. But at some point, I'm not gonna do it, and I don't, obviously, Dana can't either. Could you be like, hey dude, no more, we're done. Well, I'd have to be friends with him. I'm like, I was friends with you. Yeah. You know, I mean, when Yair Rodriguez, 360 Roundhouse kicked him in the face, that should have been the end. I mean, that was, you saw that, and compared to BJ when BJ beat Sean Shirk. Like you're looking at a, this is a severely different fighter. Whose job is it to tell him? Family and friends, I guess? No one's job. You know, here's the thing, man. We can't let the fighter beside him. I don't think he should be competing at the highest level of the sport. But if he still wants to compete, like who's to say he can't? Who's to say he can't go to a small organization and fight for them? Who's to say? I mean, he's not getting- Whose choice is it, Joe? He's not getting sparked out. You know, I mean, he's still conscious. He's not- He's getting beat, but he's not getting crushed. Nope. And not in all the fights at least. I mean, the Ryan Hall one is probably like the most- Ryan Hall's gonna tear anyone's knee off though. Hate to tell you. Oh yeah, if he gets- If they give him anybody, he's gonna do that to your knee. Well, he's a phenomenal grappler and a super, super intelligent guy too. But that was probably the kindest way for him to lose. Just to get tapped real quick. Rather than just get beat up like Frank Eger did to him. Yeah, I know. I guess maybe, again, the commission, they have a tough job, because like physically- We can't see into his brain, but physically he's passing all the tests. Like who's job is to tell Bernard Hopkins not to take that last fight when he got knocked out of the fucking ring? Whose job was to tell Roy Jones, don't go to Russia and get knocked out? Yeah. I don't know- It's a story that's so old. So it repeats itself over and over and over again. These guys, that's what makes these stories so great when they're in their prime and you're watching them on the come up and so special. But it's also what makes this sport so fucking heartbreaking. Because you know who does do that? The NFL and the NBA. They tell you no. They tell you no. That's it. And it's very black and white. But that's because someone has to fill that position and they're not about nostalgia. They're about who does the best job in that position. Shouldn't the UFC be that way? Yeah, but it's not that. The UFC doesn't know who does the best job in that position until they set you up with somebody. When they see over and over and over again, then- We've solved- But again, the argument is he's not getting crushed. He's not getting sparked out. He's not getting knocked out. He's just not as good as he used to be. No, it's not a good argument. But he's not as good as he used to be. I'm not arguing with Joff. So why do you think he's still there? Why do you think he's still at the UFC? Why don't they cut? He hasn't found a passion. I don't know why. Because he's still in the draw maybe? Yeah, that's a good question. Because right now- Out of respect? Is it out of respect? Like what is it? What he's done for the game. He's earned the right to go out on his own note. But the stakes are so high in fighting, it's different than basketball. I don't know whose job it is. And I don't have the answer and I wish I did. I don't know. It's the most heartbreaking thing in sports, I think. I agree. And I think with BJ, if he would have found, and I don't know BJ well enough, but if he would have found a passion like I did with stand up or podcasting or something else, he probably would have been out and never come back. Maybe, but the thrill of what he does- That's what makes BJ great. Yeah, I mean he's a multiple time world champion. The thrill of BJ when he was in his prime is probably indescribable. Like what brings Nate Diaz back, even though he has money in the bank. What's gonna bring Connor back? It's not money. Those guys were born fighters. They're natural born fighters. This is what they do and that's what makes them feel alive. So I don't know. Yeah, the excitement, the thrill, the fucking, I mean, and look, we're all gonna die. It's like when people say you should look out for their health, well then we should stop fighting all together. Correct, and stop playing football. Yeah, stop doing everything. And we should probably stop drinking. And no more driving. Yeah. Driving's dangerous, gotta walk everywhere. If we just walk and people get in accidents walking, they'll be fine. They'll bump into each other, it's no big deal. That would be cool. Yeah. I mean, there's a real argument for that, right? Like this is, you have a small window to experience this life. Do it any way you want. But yeah, with a guy like BJ Penn, the reality is there should probably be a number of fights that you lose in the UFC where you can just get cut. It used to be three. Was it a signed in paper thing? No, but man, when you've lost two, which I did, that third one, Joe Silva would tell your mansion. And he told my manager, Lex McMahon, he goes, you're gonna win this one. It's probably over. No, he wouldn't say that. He'd go, we're giving him one more. And he knew that was like, that was your shot. If you lost, you were done. Even if you won by decision, they wouldn't cut you. Yeah. Yeah.