BJ Penn Not Throwing in the Towel Yet

The former ufc welterweight and lightweight champion, BJ Penn, has seen better days.

When he claimed the 170-pound title from then pound-for-pound great Matt Hughes, it was the pinnacle of his career at that point. After an disappointing run in the UFC’s 155 pound division, Penn moved to the welterweight division and immediately challenged Hughes for the title. Little gave Penn a chance to win, but win he did. He submitted the grappling ace with a rear-naked choke inside of the first round and claimed immediate celebrity amongst his peers in the MMA community.

The glory days weren’t all that long ago. After moving back down to 155, “The Prodigy” claimed the ever elusive title at UFC 80 against perennial contender Joe Stevenson, before going on to defend the title against the likes of Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez (respectively). Then, he met Frankie Edgar.

The two initially met at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi last April, which played host to another title fight: pitting Anderson Silva against Demian Maia for the middleweight title. While many penned BJ to defend the title and possibly move back up to the welterweight division to explore his dominance there once again, somebody probably forgot to give Edgar the memo, saying that he was supposed to lose.

The native of Toms River, New Jersey earned a close and debated unanimous decision from the Hawaiian in a stunning upset, claiming the title that BJ had defended for a lightweight record setting three times.

Penn had his chance at reclaiming gold some months later at UFC 118, however fell short in his attempts and was thoroughly dominated throughout the fight by Edgar, who went on to win a shutout unanimous decision victory, with all three judges scoring the contest 50-45 in his favor.

Initially unsure of his next move (while making a mess of things in the lightweight division he was marketed to dominate)and at an obvious loss of words after losing back-to-back fights to Edgar , Penn went to the internet and set the MMA world a buzz once again.

“I’ve just been hanging out these last couple days,” said BJ on Tuesday in a video which can be seen on his website, BJPenn.com, “but I’m gonna stick to what I said about being as active as I can. We’re gonna try to contact the UFC, get a fight as soon as possible.

“I got no injuries. I can still build off what I built in the last camp.”

Wanting to get back into the fold as soon as possible, a bevy of opponents will be at BJ’s disposal. While he is a long ways away from another title shot after losing twice to the current champion, match up’s against former for Takanori Gomi, former training partner Nate Diaz, and of course Clay Guida all come to mind, but before any of that happens, Penn needs to address the biggest issue there is–his training camp. Losing two in a row is a cry for help; something needs to change, and BJ knows it, too.

“A lot of people have been asking about the camp, we’re still figuring that whole thing out,” said Penn, suggesting a change of scenery will be in order shortly. “But while we figure that whole thing out, I’m gonna jump back in the gym.”

No time line has been set yet for his return, but a BJ Penn coming off of two losses, seemingly backed into a corner where his legacy is at stake…well, I feel sorry for the next guy.

So, my MMA peeps, who do you think should be on deck next for Penn? And do you think the Hilo, Hawaiian still has it in him to be a champion once again? Let your opinions known below.