Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion BJ Penn recently announced his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) after hooking up with combat sports mastermind Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Together, they plan to make a run at the 145-pound title.
Starting in April.
“The Prodigy” was expected to return as soon as UFC 196 on March 5, and even told media members he had an opponent; however, that fight will now be delayed until the UFC 197 pay-per-view (PPV) event in April to give everyone involved a little more breathing room.
Penn elaborates by way of his official website:
“I thought the fight guaranteed was going to happen because the UFC, they set up medicals for me to do. I did the medicals and they were sending a film crew down and we were getting all that together and I assumed we were setting up the fight, and that might have been what was happening. But, at the end of the day, [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby called me and said it would be more convenient for all of us to move the fight to April 23.”
The Hawaiian is expected to continue his training camp in Albuquerque.
Penn (16-10-2), who got mixed up with featherweight “Carny” Nik Lentz over some bad diet advice, hasn’t competed since Frankie Edgar turned him inside out back in July 2014. In addition, the 37-year-old grappler has just one win since stopping Diego Sanchez in late 2009.
It will be interesting to see if this old dog can, in fact, learn some new tricks.