BJ Penn Leaves The Door Open For Octagon Return At Lightweight

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn has been through some absolute wars in the Octagon, enough that Dana White has recently said that he doesn’t want to see the legendary Hawaiian take any more damage. Indeed, White may have a point here, as Penn sports an ugly 1-4-1 record in his last six bouts, and was handily destroyed by Nick Diaz and Rory MacDonald in his last two.

But that isn’t enough to put out the competitive fire within, and Ariel Helwani reported on last night’s “UFC Tonight” that Penn is indeed in training and may look to make a return to the UFC at lightweight, the division most think he is best suited for:

“I spoke to a source very close to BJ Penn’s camp who told me the door is still open for him to return to MMA in the near future. He’s actually training right now to see whether or not he is mentally and physically prepared to get back into this sport. The source also told me that he if he does come back to the UFC and MMA in general, it will be at 155 lbs., and again, I think a lot of his fans will be happy to hear that.”

There’s not much doubt that Penn is definitely more suited for the 155 lb. division. He had a very successful run as champion before running into an upset from Frankie Edgar. It’s true that he has taken a ton of damage and it’s hard to gauge the lasting effects of those bouts because Penn is so tough and has never been knocked out.

‘The Prodigy’s’ most recent foray at welterweight was quite unsuccessful. Does he have enough gas in the tank to make one more run at lightweight?