How Much Longer Will B.J. Penn Continue To “Save” The UFC?

By Raphael Garcia

This Sunday night, Mike Goldberg is going to have a number of chances to yell out “He’s Back!” B.J. Penn, the former two-division UFC champion, will return to the Octagon against his nemesis Frankie Edgar for the third time in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale. While “The Prodigy” may entice a number of fans to click on their televisions on Sunday, one must question just how much Penn has left to bring to the sport.

Based on Penn’s recent record, it’s clear that he isn’t the fighter he once was. At 35 years of age, he’s won just one bout in the last four years, and even that win could be questioned because it came against an aging Matt Hughes, who was also well past his prime. Since Edgar dispatched Penn at UFC 118 in a manner that few would have guessed, the Hawaiian-born athlete has never looked the same.

Looking at the fight stats from Fight Metric, Penn has been outright dominated in his last few outings, as opponents have outstruck him by the amazing total of 341-124. That means that Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, and Rory MacDonald battered Penn with nearly three times as many strikes as he landed on them. In fact, if we take away the flash knockout that Penn landed on Hughes in 21 seconds at UFC 123, the last time B.J. outstruck an opponent was back in 2010, the first time he faced Edgar.

In the year 2014, does the UFC featherweight division need B.J. to be “in the mix” in some form or fashion? Well, a victory over Edgar at this point in time would get everyone clamoring to see him fight again. However, where would that win take him? Penn has trained extensively with Nova União during this camp, which makes it unlikely that he’d square off against current featherweight champion Jose Aldo. But if Chad Mendes can snatch the title away at UFC 176, a fight against Penn would be intriguing to many.

However, if Edgar is able to secure a third win over B.J., it will be hard to see where he fits in the current scheme of the promotion. There’s no way he would be content in being a “gatekeeper” in the featherweight division. And does he move back to lightweight or welterweight, where he would be at a size disadvantage against the majority of fighters in either division? Most likely not. A defeat therefore puts him in a place where he doesn’t quite fit anywhere, so it wouldn’t be too shocking to see him walk away from the sport once again. Fans are just a few days away from finding out exactly what comes next for one of MMA’s best known stars — hanging up the gloves, or a shot at becoming the UFC’s first three-division champion.

The fight game has a way of brutally disposing of athletes when they try to push too far past their primes. The list includes names such as Matt Hughes, Mark Coleman, and Randy Couture, and continues to grow as fighters from the previous era are pushed out of the sport. After this weekend’s event, B.J. Penn could find himself added to that list, or he could become a genuine comeback story. Sports are a “never say never” world, but it may be time for the UFC to truly begin planning for the day that it can no longer depend on The Prodigy to return to action and spark fan interest. B.J. might be back, but he might not be back for long.