Former UFC champion BJ Penn has confirmed that he will run for the governor of Hawaii at the next election. That’s according to a recent interview with his manager, in which Penn said it’s “99.9 percent right now” that he will pursue the big job in the Aloha state.
When asked why he would run for office, Penn cited the restrictions on Hawaiian freedom due to COVID-19. “The current state of Hawaii. I feel obligated to do something.
Former UFC Champion BJ Penn Will Run for Governor of Hawaii
They keep closing down our businesses and shutting down the economy. My people are hurting and somebody needs to stand up and do something. I just want to make it clear, I am not here for the office.
I am here for the people and I am here for our freedoms. That’s why I am here. The chief is only the chief because of the love of the people.”
Penn continued, blasting the current Hawaiian leadership for “taking Hawaii’s Aloha as weakness”. “There are currently three guys who are licking their chops and chomping at the bit to release the next set of mandates or restrictions. I don’t see any of these guys working to give our people any freedoms.
We’ve got three guys who are willing to tow the line with all of these mandates and who are just taking Hawaii’s Aloha as weakness. We cannot allow them to take our Aloha for weakness Hawaii. We showed Aloha when we wore the masks. We showed Aloha when many of us got vaccines. We showed Aloha when we closed down our businesses.
Enough is enough already. Don’t let them take our Aloha for weakness.” BJ Penn at the height of his career was widely considered one of the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists on the planet.
He was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the lower weight divisions of the UFC to public recognition thanks to his array of finishes and exciting combination of strikes and submissions. He retired from MMA following an eight-year losing streak.
On the subject of his plans as governor, Penn believes he should get Hawaii back to how it was pre-pandemic, and legalize recreational marijuana.
“One thing I plan to do in order to help boost the economy is to legalize recreational marijuana for people over the age of 21. As we have seen with other states who have legalized cannabis, this will result in a lot of income that we can in turn use to assist with fighting this pandemic.
We need to get back to how things were before the lockdown and that means re-opening businesses and eliminating a lot of these restrictions.”
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