Like most MMA fans who prefer not to see the legends of the sport continue to fight well past the twilights of their careers, we did not exactly take the news of BJ Penn’s unretirement well. Following his *last* unretirement fight — a one-sided, horrific beatdown to rival Frankie Edgar at the TUF 19 Finale – a teary-eyed Penn openly admitted to reporters that he never should have returned to the sport, leading most of us to believe that he had finally learned the lesson that so few fighters do.
But a broken spirit and a declining skill set is nothing that Master Jackson can’t fix, and as such, The Progidy…er…The Prodidy…The Prodigy is back!
According to Kevin Iole (via BloodyElbow), Penn has officially been booked to return to the octagon. The former two-division champion will face German kickboxer and spinning sh*t aficionado Dennis Siver at UFC 199, which transpires at The Forum in Inglewood, California on June 4th.
With all do respect to Siver, the matchup is easily the most winnable one Penn has been given in close to 7 years. Seriously, look at the dude’s resume – Penn has fought nothing but killers for something like 11 fights in a row, and even his opponents before that were anything but cans. Having dropped two fights in a row and been sacrificed to Conor McGregor, Cub Swanson, and Donald Cerrone in the recent past, Siver has quickly transitioned from the UFC’s master of the spinning back kick to its go-to fall man, and a loss to Penn may very well see him get his walking papers.
That being said, this is a far more winnable fight for Siver than you might initially expect, based solely on how atrocious Penn looked in his last performance. Could six months at the Jackson-Wink camp really have regenerated the 37-year-old Penn to his former glory? And if it has, how long will it last? It’s hard to say, really, but all I know is that a win against Siver might be the worst thing that could happen to him. Lord knows he’ll be promoted to instant #1 contender status with anything resembling an impressive performance, and the thought of seeing him face whoever emerges from the Edgar-Aldo-McGregor pileup is enough to make you lose your lunch.
What do you think though, Nation? Is this the best case scenario for Penn, or is he once again sowing the seeds for his own demise?
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