BJ Penn looks at his opponent Nick Diaz during the start of the welterweight bout at UFC 137 at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Diaz would win by unanimous decision. (Credit Imago)
Jason Parillo has coached some of the top UFC champions, including BJ Penn, and shared his thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov
Jason Parillo is a former boxer that went undefeated in his professional career, however, he is also known for coaching some of the greatest UFC champions ever.
Parillo went 8-0 in his boxing career but has also coached UFC champions such as BJ Penn, Michael Bisping, Cris Cyborg, Rafael dos Anjos, Tito Ortiz and many others.
The 46-year-old was interviewed by RT MMA and was asked about one particular comment. Luke Rockhold, another UFC Champion that has been coached by Parillo, was recently seen training with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Parillo spoke about the greatest Lightweight ever and he wasn’t referring to the now retired Khabib.
He was referring to Penn, who is a former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion.
The 42-year-old is a UFC legend and Parillo was asked to breakdown Khabib vs Penn:
“I’ve had this question asked plenty of times and I believe prime BJ Penn beats Khabib.
“Let me say it, could I be wrong? Of course I could be wrong, there’s no doubt I could be wrong but I’ll explain my breakdown.
“He has a style perfect for BJ Penn. BJ Penn does not, first of all he’s tough to hold down on the ground, he’s tough to get down, you know.
“Would Khabib have the ability to take him down in his prime? Maybe but I think BJ also has it, has a better ability to get up by most.
“People got to remember what kind of threat a BJ is on the ground. He submitted Matt Hughes, Matt Hughes was killing everybody at Welterweight.
“The prime BJ Penn beats…”
The quote was incomplete simply because Penn was training in the gym and decided to chime in.
The UFC legend went on to say that: “25-year-old BJ Penn kills Khabib”. Penn could be seen stretching during the video but this could have been said in jest.
The former UFC champion claimed that he loved Khabib and that The Eagle is a great guy. Parillo also heaped praise not only on Khabib but also his management but added that he had to back Penn since the former UFC double champion was “his guy”.
Parillo then compared the title defences from both stars during their Lightweight days and it was pretty similar.
It is difficult to say what a prime Penn could have done to Khabib and this is a problem when comparing stars from different generations.
Penn was also moving up and down from the Welterweight division during this time and even held that belt.
Khabib, for his part, went undefeated in his career but only stuck to the Lightweight division. We may never know how this fantasy fight would have gone, but one thing is certain but Penn and Khabib are legends in their own right.
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