B.J. Penn’s team responded Thursday to allegations of physical and sexual abuse made by his estranged partner and mother of his children.

MMA Junkie reported on Wednesday that the UFC Hall of Famer had a restraining order placed on him by the state of Hawaii on behalf of Shealen Uaiwa.

Uaiwa, who has separated from Penn, alleged a wide range of verbal and physical threats and abuse in a wide-ranging string of incidents over the course of their relationship. She was granted an order of protection which is in effect until Oct. 8, 2021.

Penn has not been arrested or charged with a crime in response to the allegations, but must stay away from Uaiwa and is only allowed supervised visits with his children.

Thursday, more than 24 hours after the news broke, Penn’s team issued a short statement through the website BJPenn.com.

“BJ is in a highly-contested child custody case involving his two young daughters,” the statement read. “The order of protection has made serious allegations against BJ. The allegations are so, misleading, hurtful and false that any further comment by BJ or about BJ would cause more damage to the well-being of his children and potentially further inflame the pending custody proceedings. BJ and his family ask that you respect their privacy at this very difficult time.”

Penn, the former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion, is scheduled to fight at UFC 237 against Clay Guida. He is winless in his last seven fights. The UFC has not commented on Penn’s legal situation.