B.J. Penn decided to return to the Octagon to meet Frankie Edgar for the third time in 2014, and he’s called an old coach to help him during the 19th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Nova Uniao’s leader Andre Pederneiras, who promoted Penn to black belt in jiu-jitsu in 1998, revealed to Combate he was invited to be one of the trainers of Team Penn.
“It was a honor to receive this invitation,” Pederneiras said. “B.J. and his brother are really close. He is really excited and motivated with his fight against Edgar. It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to show my work as a coach to the audience outside of Brazil, which is not used to see my work closely.”
Pederneiras coaches 11 UFC fighters at Nova Uniao, including the champions Jose Aldo and Renan Barao, and his most experienced fighters will be in charge of the trainings.
“Besides my family, I spoke with some of my older students before taking this decision,” he said. “They will be responsible for the training, keeping me updated with videos.”
Edgar defeated Penn twice in the lightweight division, and decided to drop to 145 pounds after losing his title to Ben Henderson. He then challenged Jose Aldo for the featherweight belt, losing via decision.
Pederneiras wants Penn to train with Aldo at Nova Uniao for his upcoming bout and, according to the coach, the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion will train for his next fight in Rio de Janeiro.
“We’ve studied Edgar’s game a lot for Aldo’s fight,” he said, “so I believe there’s no better place and sparrings better for B.J. to come back in great fashion and motivated.”