Former UFC champion BJ Penn was arrested for the third time in six days on Friday, this time for missing a mandatory court date.
Penn, 46, was arrested for violating terms of his bail agreement, according to online records. Hawaiian news outlet KHON2 reported that Penn did not appear in court to face charges from his prior two arrests on charges of abuse of a family or household member. According to KHON2, Penn claimed he missed court because he was suffering from Covid.
According to online records, Penn previously was arrested Sunday and released on $2,000 bail. He was arrested again and placed on $1,000 bail on Monday, per online records.
A video posted to his social media account appeared to show police handcuff and escort him out of his residence during the arrest on Sunday.
Penn, who retired from professional MMA in 2019, recently claimed online that multiple members of his family are missing. He accused unnamed imposters of replacing those family members in an effort to steal his inheritance. Last month, he publicly asked the Hilo Police Department to investigate their murders.
“If I harm any of these people that are acting like my mom or my brothers, I go to jail and lose everything. If they harm me, nothing will happen to them and I lose everything,” Penn posted on Instagram on April 8. “I have my black belts over the years that are police officers. Are you guys gonna help me? Are we going to help [my brothers] and my mother and look for them and investigate these fake frauds who are trying to steal everything from my family?”
Penn is a former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest lightweights of all time. His career ended on a seven-fight losing streak from 2011 to 2019, during which he suffered three losses via knockout.
