B.J. Penn is taking charge. The UFC Hall of Famer will represent himself in court on August 25, 2025, facing charges of assault and violating a restraining order. Arrested four times in May and June 2025 in Hilo, Hawaii, Penn distrusts lawyers and wants to handle his defense, mirroring his approach in the octagon.
Penn’s Court Plan and Reasoning
Penn explained his choice on Instagram, stating:
“The judicial version of ‘hands of chin down’ is anything you say ‘can and will be used against you in a court of law’, but even with that said and I know I don’t wanna make any mistakes, but honestly almost every time I have got a lawyer they either sold me out or they set me up and stole my money. if I go down, I go down making the decisions I wanted to.”
He added, “I’ve always live my life that way when the bell rings I stand up and everyone else sits down, and I make the decisions that I wanted to make not talked into something by somebody else or set up by someone in a disguise that I can’t ever find later to ask him why the f*ck did he do that and then yell yelled at him or asked for my money back. It’s a dirty game. Never let a lawyer make a business decision.”
Penn pleaded not guilty, requested jury trials, and has a public defender as standby counsel.
B.J. Penn, 46, has a 16-14-2 MMA record with seven knockouts. He won the UFC welterweight title in 2004 against Matt Hughes and the lightweight title in 2008 against Joe Stevenson. Inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2015, he’s known for his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and fights against Georges St-Pierre, Frankie Edgar, and Lyoto Machida. His last fight was a loss to Clay Guida in May 2019.
His career faced struggles. Penn lost seven straight fights from 2011 to 2019, retiring after the Guida loss. Outside the cage, he faced legal troubles, including a 2015 assault arrest and a 2019 bar fight. In 2025, he was arrested for allegedly abusing his mother, Lorraine Shin, and violating a restraining order, adding to his challenges.
Penn’s charges stem from incidents in Hilo. On May 24 and 25, 2025, he was arrested for abusing Shin, 79. She claimed Penn has Capgras syndrome, believing family members are imposters, and secured a six-month restraining order. Penn missed court dates, leading to a third arrest on May 29. On June 11, he violated the order, resulting in a fourth arrest. He claims COVID-19 illness caused missed hearings.
