Former UFC champion BJ Penn (15-7-1) will make his return to the welterweight division when he steps into the octagon with Matt Hughes this weekend at UFC 123.
There has been comparisons made between the size differnces between Penn and Hughes by the media lately, with Hughes being the bigger fighter and holding the advantage in the fight. For Penn, the size differences aren’t something that he is going to worry about.
Standing outside a McDonalds, reporter Michael DiSanto spoke to Penn about the size difference.
“There is a guy standing a few feet from me right now,” Penn said. “If I’m hungry, and I want his bag of food, I’m going to walk over there, beat him down and take it. I’m not going to say, ‘Excuse me, sir, how much do you weigh?’ before beating him down. Who cares how much Matt Hughes weighs? I don’t care. I don’t think warriors 100 years ago cared, either. I’m sure they didn’t ask other warriors how much they weighed before fighting, so why should I?”
Penn has fought bigger opponents before, even facing Lyoto Machida in March of 2005 at a K-1 Hero’s event. Despite the size differences with Machida weighing in at 220 lbs and Penn weighing 191 lbs, Penn was able to stay in the fight all three rounds, losing a unanimous decision to the future UFC light-heavyweight champ.
Penn and Hughes have fought twice before, with each fighter earning a win over the other. Penn would win their first meeting back at UFC 46 in 2004 by submission, and Hughes would win the rematch at UFC 63 in 2006 by TKO.
Now both men will meet in the co-main event of UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida this Saturday, Nov. 20th to decide the winner of their grudge match.
HT: UFC.com