Penn vs. MacDonald To Serve As UFC 152 Co-Main Event

B.J. Penn

White: Penn vs. MacDonald will happen

A welterweight match up between B.J. Penn and Rory MacDonald will happen, and UFC 152 is the expected date of the contest.

That news comes from Dana White, who announced at the post-fight press conference of “UFC on FX 3” that the bout will serve as the co-main event.

The UFC president also stated that matchmaker Joe Silva will be talking to both fighters very soon to finalize the match up.

The bout came to fruition after MacDonald challenged the future Hall-of-Famer to a bout on The MMA Hour. Penn fired back, stating that he would take that fight and come out of retirement.

MacDonald last fought at UFC 145, defeating Che Mills via submissino due to strikes. Prior to that victory, the Canadian fighter earned impressive wins over Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle and a disappointing loss to current interim champion Carlos Condit.

Meanwhile, Penn has not seen action since October of last year. He retired after a unanimous decision loss to Nick Diaz. He was offered comeback fights against Josh Koscheck at welterweight and Gilbert Melendez at lightweight, in the UFC and Strikeforce, respectively. Ultimately, he turned down both contests.

UFC 152 is set for Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 22. The card is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Junior dos Santos and top contender Cain Velasquez.