B.J. Penn is set on fighting again in the featherweight division, and to that end he is guaranteeing a return fight on March 5 at UFC 196.
According to a report from Wednesday’s UFC Tonight program on Fox Sports 2, Penn will be fighting on the pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, and may be squaring off with Dennis Siver. No official fight matchup has been announced, but Siver appears to be the targeted opponent.
Penn hasn’t fought since July of 2014, where he was demolished by Frankie Edgar. He was then inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame last July, but wants to make a run for a third title in the UFC in a third different division. As for Siver, the German featherweight has lost consecutive fights, and has just one win dating back to 2012. In his most recent appearance, Siver dropped a decision to Tatsuya Kawajiri in June.
UFC 196 will air live on pay-per-view with a main event between Rafael dos Anjos and Conor McGregor for the UFC Lightweight Championship, with a Women’s Bantamweight Title bout between Holly Holm and Miesha Tate in the co-main event.
Penick’s Analysis: As a starting point for Penn’s efforts at featherweight, Siver’s right around the perfect option. He’s a challenge, inasmuch as a Penn loss wouldn’t tell us anything we don’t already know, while a win still means something. It’s not the best matchup, and nothing for Penn right now in the cage is necessarily all that intriguing, but it works well enough, and will answer plenty of questions come March 6.
[Photo (c) Stephen R. Sylvanie via USA Today Sports]
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