Matt Hughes Fighting BJ Penn For A Third Time Confuses Me

MMA Junkie is reporting that the two camps are close to signing to fight in the rubber match at UFC 123 in November. The pair famously met for the first time back in 2004 at UFC 46, with Penn upsetting then-champion Hughes by submission via a rear naked choke. The rematch took place two years later at UFC 63, but Hughes would find redemption in his dominant ground and pound, taking the fight via a third-round TKO.

After losing three of four fights facing fighters like GSP and Thiago Alves, Hughes seems to be settling into a comfortable role of fighting older guys on the fringe of the promotion. After wins over veterans like Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie, Hughes had his first notable victory in some time when he defeated Ricardo Almeida in August at UFC 117.

Penn, on the other hand, has found himself on the business end of two nasty decision losses to Frankie Edgar. Seemingly admitting defeat, BJ has conceded to a return to the welterweight division. I just can’t understand the move. Penn was once the top lightweight in the world and it seems insane to toss that away to move up in weight, especially when he has such a poor record in the welterweight division (1-3).

It seems to me that this move makes the least amount of sense for Penn. BJ is the former welterweight champion, having beaten Matt Hughes six years ago and shortly thereafter having his title stripped after leaving the organization. Now, if he hadn’t upset Hughes I would say fighting for the title at 170 would be more of a motivation, but since it’s already on his resume it doesn’t seem to be worth the risk. Since the Hughes fight in 2004, Penn has gone 0-3 in the UFC’s welterweight division losing twice to Georges St. Pierre and once to Hughes.

With such a dodgy record at 170 lbs and with GSP likely not going anywhere anytime soon, I can’t see BJ becoming any more than a sort of gate keeper of the division. Sort of a Rich Franklin type character who, while good, never seemed to be able to regain a foothold at the pinnacle of the weight class.

People pay good money to see Penn fight, preferably defending a title. Would the income gained from having him possibly as a co-main event or main card regular at welterweight make up the difference of revenue lost from people not tuning in to see some lesser 155 pounder defend his title? The move doesn’t make much sense to me. The UFC gains a new ripple at 170 at the loss of a wave at 155.