The Hawaiian star B.J. Penn announced his retirement on more than one occasion. President Dana White has even reinforced that he would prefer the American to hang up his gloves. But plans are likely to be postponed once again.
According to reports on the UFC Tonight program on American channel FUEL TV, Penn is expected to return to lightweight in his next UFC fight. The fighter has not performed in the category since UFC 118, in 2010, when he lost the rematch in the title fight to Frankie Edgar. BJ's last performance took place in December, when he suffered a tough defeat to Rory McDonald, seeing their recent record stand at 1-4-1.
The announcement that the man who already won the lightweight and welterweight belts was returning already raised the first challenge. The undefeated Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov used his Twitter account to ask to face Penn. “I heard the legend is back. I will be very happy to face him,” said Nurmagomedov in a message directed to BJ himself and Dana White. “He's the best lightweight in history, I've been a fan of his since my childhood, I deserve this fight,” added the Russian.
Nurmagomedov has a 20-0 record, 4-0 in the UFC, with victories over Brazilians Gleison Tibau and Thiago tavares. At 24 years old, the Russian is ten years younger than the Hawaiian, who has a record of 16-9-2.
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