Mixed Martial Arts coach Jason Parillo says that legendary UFC fighter BJ Penn is the perfect candidate to be Hawaii’s governor.

In a new interview with The Schmo, Parillo, who is Penn’s ex-coach, endorsed Penn saying that he is the perfect candidate to head the Aloha State.

“BJ Penn, what people don’t realize at the end of the day, he pays attention to politics,” Parillo said. “He pays attention to history. He’s a history buff. We’d be in camps and he’d just be on the internet reading history, day in and day out, talking to us, ‘Hey Parillo, what do you think of this?’…BJ cares a lot, he cares a lot about Hawaii more than anyone. He loves Hawaii. He loves his state, he really is a man of the people out there. At the end of the day, who else is going to do it?”

BJ Penn at his UFC Hall of Fame induction (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Penn announced a run for governor at the end of last month when he filed to run for governor as a Republican on April 27.

During a podcast, Penn said, “It’s the rising cost of living is what’s killing everybody right now, and we have no self-sustainability,” according to Hawaii News Now.

“He’s a true fighter, no one can talk him out of not fighting over his last couple of years of fighting,” Parillo added. “He needs something to focus on and he’ll put in his whole heart into it, he’ll put all his energy into it and I think he’ll make some good changes and good progress for Hawaii. Because at the end of the day, he’s not really going out there doing it for money.”

BJ Penn walks on the field with the Hawaii Warriors (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Penn has not yet announced his campaign issues or talked to the media about his campaign, but he recently spoke about the gun issue, saying, “I never had a gun but I know it’s to protect yourself against other guns and protect yourself against your government. It’s simple math.”

Penn retired as a UFC fighter with a 16-10-2 record and is considered one of the top fighters of all time.

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