UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation by a doctor to determine if he’s fit to participate and move forward in the criminal cases against him after being arrested numerous times in 2025.
On Oct. 8, Judge Peter Kubota suspended the criminal proceedings against Penn for the time being until he’s examined for “fitness and penal responsibility” after the court found reason to doubt his mental fitness in regards to the case being allowed to proceed.
Penn was ordered to undergo testing with a doctor at the Adult Mental Health Division in Hawaii. The former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion is due back in court on Jan. 9, when the judge will decide next steps in the criminal complaint against him.
The mental health professional examining Penn is expected to submit an opinion to the court “as to Defendant’s fitness to proceed, i.e., Defendant’s capacity to understand the proceedings against Defendant and to assist in Defendant’s own defense.”
If the mental health professional finds Penn is unable to understand the charges against him or he’s unfit for trial, several recommendations are then presented to the court, which include the veteran fighter being remanded to “an appropriate institution for detention, care, and treatment.”
The court also ordered an opinion submitted even if Penn refuses to undergo the mental health evaluation, which could also potentially result in the fighter being ordered to detention in a treatment care facility.
Penn has been arrested five times already in 2025 after he was initially taken into custody on two different occasions for abuse of a family or household member. The family member was Penn’s mother Lorraine Shin, who was also granted a restraining order against her son that he went on to violate several times, which led to additional arrests.
Shin accused Penn of “extreme psychological abuse” after he began claiming his family had been “killed” and replaced with imposters.
The disturbing allegations against Penn started after Shin claimed she returned home from a trip and found all of her belongings removed from her bedroom. Penn denied any involvement in the missing property. A few days later, Shin claimed her purse was stolen from a safe, which led to her making a theft report with police.
Prior to filing for the restraining order, Shin told police she returned home from a separate trip and found Penn had allegedly put duct tape over her security cameras and glue into the deadbolt lock on her bedroom door to prevent her from entering. Shin later accused Penn of stealing her mail and when she claimed she found the mail in the back of a vehicle that belonged to one of her son’s friends, the 46-year-old fighter denied the accusation and allegedly grabbed Shin’s arms and shoved her against the car, which led to his mother screaming at the top of her lungs for her son Reagan Penn to help her.
B.J. Penn was eventually arrested and told to stay away from his mother for the next 48 hours, but Shin claims he returned to the home and presented video evidence as proof to police, which led to Penn’s second arrest in as many days.
“I believe my son [B.J. Penn] is suffering from Capgras delusional syndrome (a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, other close family member has been replaced by an identical imposter),” Shin told police when filing for the restraining order. “He believes I’m an imposter who has killed his family to gain control of the family assets.
“In the best interest for my safety, I ask the court for a six-month [temporary restraining order] and have my son ordered to get medical treatment or other source of therapy.”
Penn has continued to post the accusations about his family being replaced by imposters on social media with the 46-year-old also writing a “statement” after being arrested multiple times that read, “when a hero falls, cowards rejoice.”
The court is now ordering Penn to undergo a mental health evaluation with a doctor expected to report back within seven days of his next scheduled in January.
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