Morning Report: B.J. Penn would rather finish trilogy with Frankie Edgar at lightweight

Granting a rare interview to his own outlet, former UFC champion B.J. Penn opened up a bit on how he went from ‘doing yard work’ one week to now starring opposite Frankie Edgar on next season’s The Ultimate Fighter. In add…

Granting a rare interview to his own outlet, former UFC champion B.J. Penn opened up a bit on how he went from ‘doing yard work’ one week to now starring opposite Frankie Edgar on next season’s The Ultimate Fighter. In addition to the coaching stint, the pair will meet for a third time, but at 145lbs. With Edgar now a full time featherweight, Penn was forced to take the plunge himself if he ever wanted another shot at him. Even so, Penn says he’d rather finish their trilogy at lightweight, where it began.

You know, I really do wish this fight was at 155 lbs. Nothing to do with the weight, it’s just I really feel that Frankie hasn’t lost yet. He’s right up there, and I feel everybody says I’m supposed to be the greatest at lightweight. Frankie beat me twice. Frankie never really lost yet. Pettis is the new champ, you got all these new guys coming. Well if Frankie and me are the old guys, maybe who walks out of that ring will be one of the best lightweights of all time. We’re going to find out.

Should Penn have success against Edgar, he’s already sorting out the complications of fighting his mentor’s other prized pupil, Jose Aldo.

I know it’s really weird for a lot of people in America to understand this, but I’ve always been a loyal guy to my Jiu-Jitsu King. Ever since Jose Aldo has hit the scene and just went on an absolute tear has busted everybody up, I never had any intentions of fighting Jose Aldo. At this point, if I fight Jose Aldo who am I fighting? I’m fighting Andre Pederneiras. I’m fighting the man who gave me my black belt. It’s just not a comfortable feeling for me. Me and Andre Pederneiras will have to sit down and talk. Jose Aldo is going to have to sit down and talk. I know Jose Aldo was just about to fight Anthony Pettis. Now, is Jose Aldo going to go up to 155 and fight Anthony Pettis or is he going to stay at 145 and defend his belt? I think with some of the decisions Aldo will make, will help me make some of my decisions myself.

In addition to training with Pederneiras leading up to his 2014 summer bout, Penn plans on keeping him heavily involved as a coach on TUF.

Andre Pederneiras is the first guy on the list. We want to have a lot of special guests. We’re working night and day. Me and my five buddies, my coaches/training partners… we’re trying to put together a good team that makes a lot of sense that really gives these guys what they need based off their careers.

With Andre Pederneiras coming in, I almost feel like my job is easy now that I’ve got Andre because he’s the mastermind. He’s the sensei. He’s the man who made me the first foreigner to ever win in Brazil. Let’s see if he can be the man to make me be the first person to finish Frankie Edgar. We’re going to find out.

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5 MUST-READ STORIES

Signal to noise. Luke Thomas gives his take on the best and worst of UFC 165.

The cut. After Dana White claimed he begged cageside doctors not to stop the fight, referee John McCarthy sets the record straight on the cut that nearly cost Jon Jones his title. “I said, ‘Jason, this is the last round. I think you need to let him go. I will look at it. If it gets worse, I promise you I will bring him to you.’

Biggest ever. Dana White says UFC 168 has the potential to be their biggest show to date. “Bigger than UFC 100. On every level. Tickets, pay-per-views, everything. You’re going to see a motivated Anderson, but what makes this so much fun is, what Anderson are you going to see? How is this thing going to go? That’s such a big part of the fun.”

Rogan on Jones vs. Klitschko. UFC commentator Joe Rogan doesn’t sound optimistic on the prospect of Jon Jones wanting to box heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. “No, no, no. I think anybody who thinks they can box with one of the very best boxers the heavyweight division has ever seen, without being just a professional boxer for a long period of time, is kind of kidding themselves.”

McGregor looks to GSP. Having the same surgeon repair a torn ACL, Conor McGregor is using Georges St. Pierre’s knee rehabilitation as the blueprint of his own. “Watch when I come back-I’m going to make it look damn easy. There’s no doubt about it.”

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MEDIA STEW

UFC 165 phantom cam highlights.

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Dana White coming for the $175K Ken Shamrock owes the UFC.

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UFC World Tour: Weidman vs. Silva 2 Press Conference.

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Google+ Hangout with Team Alpha Male.

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Ken Shamrock making the case for higher UFC fighter pay.

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New Joe Rogan Experience with Josh Barnett.

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Luke’s weekly Chat Wrappers.

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Swedish fans reacting to Gustafsson’s big takedown.

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Ncedo “Nintendo” Gomba KO’s Fahsitong.

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TWEETS

Day 2.

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I know the feeling.

Less of this one.

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Almost makes up for the rematch.

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This escalated quickly.

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Early morning.

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Nick in shape and training.

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Kill.

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Bromance.

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Outstanding.

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Congrats!

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Sept. 24 2013)

Francisco France vs. Hans Stringer to WSOF 6

Chad Robichaux vs. Andrew Yates to WSOF 6

Aaron Rosa vs. Mikhail Zayats at Bellator 103

Anthony Njokuani out vs. Al Iaquinta at UFC Fight Night 30

Antonio Braga Neto out, Brian Houston in vs. Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 31

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FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via MMA Fighting member AndrewHH.

The Heart of a Champion

We witnessed something special last night. A champion was pushed to his limits for the first time in his young career. A worthy challenger rose to the occasion in dramatic fashion, shattering the MMA world’s expectations of him and putting on the best performance on his life. UFC 165 wasn’t just a show. It was an event.

The last time I felt like this after a fight was November 19th, 2011, when Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua put on an epic fight to end all epic fights at UFC 139. That fight was awesome. Awe-inspiring. By fight’s end, both men had been rocked, dropped, taken down, caught in submissions, reversed, and everything in between. Both were so exhausted that they, like Jones and Gustafsson, skipped the post-fight press conference in favor of recovering in the hospital. I’m not saying Jones vs. Gustafsson was better than Henderson vs. Rua, but it was easily just as good.

Check out the rest of the post here.

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