A woman with whom B.J. Penn
fathered a child in June 2019 has filed a paternity suit against
the UFC Hall of Famer.
Combate was first to report the news, and additional details
were provided by
MMAFighting.com. Penn anounced the birth of his daughter,
Mahina Amado Penn, on social media eight months after she was born.
The girl’s mother, Camila Amado, has filed a lawsuit seeking
paternity recognition and alimony.
Penn met Amado while training at Nova Uniao in September 2018, and
Amado found out she was pregnant after spending time with the
fighter in Hawaii in January 2019. According to the reports, Amado
has spent a year trying to get Penn to recognize paternity, and six
days after Mahina’s birthday she elected to file a lawsuit in Rio
de Janeiro.
According to MMAFighting, a DNA test was conducted with Mahina
Amado and one of Penn’s daughters in January 2020 and determined
that it was more than 99 percent likely that they were half
siblings.
“It’s a very upsetting situation for me, who take care of my
daughter by myself,” Amado stold MMAFighting. “My daughter is
growing up and soon she will wanna know who her father is, and he’s
a public figure.
“He’s used my daughter’s image, my image on social media. He put
her name there, Mahina Amado Penn, which would be [her full name
with] his surname, but he’s none of that.”
Penn told Combate that he “already introduced his daughter on
social media” and is “interested in legally recognizing
paternity.”
Penn was
released from the UFC in September after footage showed “The
Prodigy” involved in a bar fight in Hawaii. A champion at both
welterweight and lightweight, Penn ended his promotional tenure
with seven consecutive losses.