B.J. Penn: Khabib Nurmagomedov never moved up because 'he is not proficient and confident in jiu-jitsu'

UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn thinks Khabib Nurmagomedov avoided a move to welterweight for a reason.

Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC), the former UFC lightweight champion, retired after notching his third title defense against Justin Gaethje last October and finishing his career undefeated, leaving no doubt about his greatness.

But after hearing many laud Nurmagomedov as the top 155 pounder of all time, Penn (16-14-2 MMA, 12-13-2 UFC) has something to say about it. The first fighter to hold UFC titles in two different divisions, Penn, competed all the way up at light heavyweight.

Penn, 42, thinks the one asterisk in Nurmagomedov’s perfect MMA career was his unwillingness to challenge himself by moving up a division, something he believes Nurmagomedov avoided because of size.

Since Khabib has been saying he is the greatest lightweight of all time and I am number 2 best lightweight many people have been asking me why didn’t Khabib fight Usman for the 170 pound belt or compete for 170 belt like I did many times… in my humble opinion it is because he is not proficient and confident in jiujitsu

I believe the reason behind Khabib not fighting Usman is because he does not know jiujitsu like I did and he is not comfortable fighting off his back against someone who is bigger and stronger than him like I did many many times in my career. I fought at 170 185 and heavyweight and every fight I had to fight from my back and survive and come back and fight harder if I was to get a victory.

It’s because of my jiujitsu black belt experience and fighting in my weight and absolute division for years that always prepared me for this…Gracie jiujitsu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu alone is not enough to be UFC champion but to choose one system BJJ is still the greatest self defense system in the world especially for the little man to fight the big man.

It was just part of the game…
Khabib says jiujitsu is easy and he is the best grappler ever but he did not fight bigger opponents in higher weight classes because his style is not prepared for this …and that’s what jiujitsu was created for.. for the little man to defend himself from the big man! That is martial arts, that is self defense !!

Nurmagomedov once sported a T-shirt during the UFC on FX weigh-ins in 2013, which read, “If sambo was easy it’d be called jiu-jitsu.” That’s what Penn is referring to when he says that Nurmagomedov thinks jiu-jitsu is easy.

Nobody had an answer to Nurmagomedov’s ground game. His three title defenses over former UFC dual champ Conor McGregor and former interim champions Dustin Poirier and Gaethje all came by submission as the 32-year-old looked to be in his best form before retiring.