Josh Koscheck (James Law/HeavyMMA)
Former two-division champ to come out of retirement?
Ever since BJ Penn announced his sudden retirement after a loss to Nick Diaz in October, he’s been bombarded with questions about how certain he was that he was hanging up the gloves.
Recently, the former two-division UFC champion has hinted that anything could happen. And UFC president Dana White never has really believed the Hawaiian was truly done. On Wednesday, the MMA world may have gotten its first clue to whether or not Penn will return.
Former welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck took to his Twitter account to announce that the UFC had offered up a fight for him – against Penn. And at least one half of the equation for the potential welterweight fight is on board.
“UFC just offered me to fight BJ Penn…I said YES!!!!!” Koscheck wrote on Twitter. “Just waiting on him!!!!!! Let’s scrap bra (sic)?”
There was no response from Penn on his official Twitter account as of Thursday morning. But it wouldn’t be the first time the UFC has tried to lure Penn out of retirement in recent weeks. Penn actually was offered a lightweight title shot against Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez – but opted to not make the move over to Strikeforce from his longtime UFC home for the fight.
Penn (16-8-2, 12-7-1 UFC) has had a rough stretch the last two years. The former welterweight and lightweight champ lost his 155-pound title to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 in April 2010. In the rematch at UFC 118 later that year, he was again outpointed but more decisively. He jumped back up to welterweight for a trilogy fight against Matt Hughes at UFC 123 and knocked the Hall of Famer out in 21 seconds. But 2011 featured a draw against Jon Fitch at UFC 127 and his unanimous decision loss to Diaz at UFC 143.
Koscheck (17-6, 15-6 UFC) is coming off a split decision loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC on Fox: Diaz vs. Miller earlier this month, snapping a two-fight winning streak that saw him knock out Hughes and outpoint Mike Pierce by split decision. The veteran of Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and one of the most successful veterans of the show, is 2-1 since a unanimous decision loss to Georges St-Pierre in a welterweight title fight at UFC 124 18 months ago.