(Val Kilmer isn’t the most experienced strength-and-conditioning coach that BJ’s trained with, but he works cheap, and he’s available pretty much all the time.)
BJ Penn may have tried to retire after his crushing loss to Nick Diaz last October, but the UFC hasn’t given up on him yet, and is reportedly trying to lure the future Hall of Famer back to the Octagon with a bout against Josh Koscheck. Here’s what Kos said via twitter last night:
#UFC just offered me to fight BJ Penn…I said YES!!!!! Just waiting on him!!!!!! Let’s scrap bra?
UFC president Dana White revealed earlier this month that Penn turned down a fight against Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez. A return fight against Koscheck — who’s coming off a split-decision loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC on FOX 3 — might be more attractive to Penn, in that it wouldn’t require the Prodigy to cut to 155 or make a “downgrading” appearance in Strikeforce.
Penn has yet to make a public a statement about the bout-offer; we’ll update you when we know more. In the meantime — are you psyched about the possibility of Kos vs. Penn? And how do you see the fight playing out?
Update: And here’s Penn’s public statement…and it’s not good:
@joshkoscheck I know it costs a lot of money to live that lavish lifestyle, big house, fast cars & you need big fights but sorry I’m not coming back anytime soon!