Penn on Parenting-Fighting Balance
Sherdog.com Staff Nov 27, 2010
B.J.
Penn, on “It’s Time”
with Bruce Buffer, discussing the balance between fatherhood and
fighting:
“I think at first it was hard for me to deal with. You want to be there for your daughter, and you start to think about your health for the first time in your life, but I think that has all passed me. I want to be there and watch her grow up. I don’t want to be in training camp and then I look back later and my daughter’s 8 years old. But over time I started to realize that you know what, my daughter’s going to be there. I can’t fight forever. My daughter’s going to be there. I just don’t want to step back out of this sport … and then look back and say, ‘Man, I didn’t fight.’ It’s hard. Look at Matt [Hughes]. He’s 37. He’s still around. He’s still fighting. It’s hard for us to stop. Once we start this, it’s really hard to stop. Look at Randy.”
“I think at first it was hard for me to deal with. You want to be there for your daughter, and you start to think about your health for the first time in your life, but I think that has all passed me. I want to be there and watch her grow up. I don’t want to be in training camp and then I look back later and my daughter’s 8 years old. But over time I started to realize that you know what, my daughter’s going to be there. I can’t fight forever. My daughter’s going to be there. I just don’t want to step back out of this sport … and then look back and say, ‘Man, I didn’t fight.’ It’s hard. Look at Matt [Hughes]. He’s 37. He’s still around. He’s still fighting. It’s hard for us to stop. Once we start this, it’s really hard to stop. Look at Randy.”
Related Articles