B.J. Penn praises UFC champ Cris Cyborg, says 'door is always open' for his own return

LAS VEGAS – UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn made a surprise appearance at today’s UFC 222 open workout while jumping in with women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg while wearing a mask.

Penn (16-12-2 MMA, 12-11-2 UFC), who shares boxing coach Jason Parillo with Cyborg (19-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), grappler with the dominant champ before being tossed the ground, unmasked and submitted. It was one of the highlights of the open workouts, which preceded Cyborg’s scheduled title defense against Yana Kunitskaya (10-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 222 headliner.

UFC 222 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the main card on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass. The bout marks Cyborg’s second 145-pound title defense in a 63-day stretch, and it came together only after the UFC needed a new main event after the original headliner fell off the card on short notice.

Penn made his MMA debut under the UFC banner nearly 17 years ago. After seeing the sport evolve, “The Prodigy” he said he’s in awe of what Cyborg can do.

“When I heard that she was taking this fight, I never even questioned like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t have enough time,'” Penn told MMAjunkie. “None of that came in my mind. I know she’s ready. She’s a professional. She’s more professional than I was when I was there. She doesn’t need a lot of turnaround time.”

Penn, a former lightweight and welterweight champ whose final three fights came at featherweight, respectfully compared Cyborg’s skill set to some of his past male opponents. He said he’s impressed by her physical attributes but also praised her mental toughness.

“She doesn’t know her size, and she doesn’t know her own power,” Penn said. “That’s why when she grabs me. She wanted to judo throw me, and I go, ‘I don’t know. I don’t want to get hurt.’ She’s as strong as anyone I’ve felt.

“She knows she’s No. 1. Right now the best part of her game – of course we’ve got all the skills, but she knows she’s No. 1. That’s always the best part.”

Penn’s unexpected arrival at today’s UFC 222 fan and media raised obvious interest in his own fighting career. The 39-year-old hasn’t been seen since his majority-decision loss to Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 112 this past June, which extended his winless streak to six fights. Penn’s lone win in his past nine fights came against Matt Hughes at UFC 123 in November 2010, and since then, he’s retired and come back on more than one occasion.

Even now, Penn wouldn’t confirm the status of his career. He said nothing is currently on the books, but he also admitted he wouldn’t hang up the phone if UFC officials approached him with an intriguing matchup.

“I’ve got nothing scheduled; I’m just cruising,” Penn said. “I don’t know what to say. The door is always open. The door is always open. I don’t want to say never, but I’ve got no plans on fighting. But if they’ve got an idea they think would work well with me, give me a call.”

For complete coverage of UFC 222, check out the UFC Events section of the site.