Looks like a UFC legend is willing to give it a go one last time at a weight class he hasn’t competed at in over a decade.
On Tuesday’s edition of UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani dropped a blockbuster announcement: Frankie Edgar will coach season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite former UFC lightweight/welterweight champion BJ Penn.
After the conclusion of the show, the two will meet in April in a yet to be named event in a featherweight contest, the third matchup between the two competitors.
Penn hasn’t fought below 155 pounds since he won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2000, competing at a weight class of roughly 149 pounds (the weight classes at WJJC are measured in kilograms).
Edgar won the lightweight title from Penn in a highly disputed decision at UFC 112 in April 2010, only to soundly outstrike and outgrapple the respected Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in a rematch at UFC 118 about four months later.
After the back-to-back losses, Penn decided to return to the welterweight division, where he went just 1-2-1 in his next four bouts.
As far as “The Answer” goes, the New Jersey native dropped to 145 pounds after losing three straight fights between February 2012 and February of this year.
However, the losses to Benson Henderson (twice) and Jose Aldo were all close, with pundits generally believing Edgar had done more than enough to earn the decision against “Bendo” in their rematch at UFC 150 in August 2012.
However, the judges in Denver, Colorado saw the fight differently.
Edgar has since rebounded with a “Fight of the Night” performance against Charles Oliveira, winning a clear-cut decision at UFC 162 in July.
Many fans have already panned the decision to book Edgar vs. Penn III, since Penn will be 35 years old when the bout occurs and the Hawaiian hasn’t put together a win streak since 2009.
Will Penn shock the world and show he has at least one title run left in him or will Edgar prove this matchmaking was more or less a waste of his time?