“It’s time to move on with my life and focus on my career. I’m glad it is done.”
This was the sigh of relief uttered by Hawaiian MMA star BJ Penn after his sentencing on Tuesday December 12th. According to a report by The Honolulu Advertiser, the first man to move up a weight class and conquer a belt in the Ultimate Fighting Championships, The Prodigy B.J. Penn was sentenced to a one-year probation and fined $2,000 in restitution for an incident that occurred at a bar in Waikiki, Hawaii back in 2005. Penn pleaded “no contest” to the charges and will be subjected to community services, receive substance abuse treatment and must make himself available for random drug testing as well as alcohol abstention.
Judge, Karl K. Sakamoto has given BJ the green light to fly to Newcastle, England to face Joe “Daddy” Stevenson for January’s lightweight title fight, which was originally an interim championship. But now that Zuffa has stripped Sean Sherk of his belt after the CSAA upheld their decision for testing positive for the anabolic agent Nandrolone, it’s officially for the belt.
Penn is definitely fortunate with this outcome considering that he supposedly struck a police officer, and it must be a great relief for the Prodigy so that he can now focus on his upcoming championship bout against another jiu jitsu stand out.
PIC: BJ Penn is fighting Joe Stevenson for the UFC lightweight title in January 19th 2008 at Metro Radio Arena, England.
