Those rumors of B.J. Penn's return to MMA just became a lot more than rumors.
On Wednesday afternoon, Penn posted a message and photo on his Instagram account that pledged a return to the UFC. The former UFC lightweight and welterweight champ even has an opponent and a date in mind: lightweight Nik Lentz on March 5 at UFC 197.
"This is a formal challenge for Nik Lentz to meet me in the octagon March 5th in Las Vegas," Penn wrote in the post. "Nik, you wrote a silly poem about me making fun of me, you said stuff about me and my parents ... I ask you today to be a man and back up everything you said, talk the talk [and] walk the walk, uncle BJ is mad already."
The 37-year-old Penn (16-10-2) took an extended hiatus from the sport in 2012, then came back in 2014 to face Frankie Edgar as a featherweight. After taking a one-sided beating that ended in a third-round TKO defeat, Penn formally retired from MMA.
Until, apparently, Wednesday.
The challenge comes just a day after another Penn Instagram post first inflamed speculation of a comeback. Penn posted a photo with famed super-coach Greg Jackson with the caption "we coming!!".
Not long after, Jackson told Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting that he had indeed met with Penn and that he was "very optimistic about the future."
Though it is entirely unclear whether UFC officials will actually grant Penn's wish, the Hawaii native is still revered by fans as one of the best, if not the very best, lightweight in MMA history. It stands to reason that many would tune in to watch him fight.
Even so, some fans and media members on Twitter offered a negative reaction immediately following the announcement, saying they did not want to see an aged and diminished Penn risk his health for comparatively little reward.
Nik Lentz will hurt him and you will all feel bad about it.
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) January 13, 2016
BJ Penn is challenging a guy who has been in the UFC since 2009 and has managed 1 main card appearance in 16 Zuffa fights.
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) January 13, 2016
If I'm Lentz, I just ignore him. This is sad. https://t.co/Dsm9a6tcUv
— Chris (@mmamaryland) January 13, 2016
In addition to the 155-pound title, Penn also held the UFC welterweight belt. Even if Penn never competes professionally again, Wednesday's communication reads as a clear intention on Penn's part to do so.
For his part, Lentz (26-7-2-1) authored a poem last fall taunting and threatening Penn. It seems the provocation worked, at least in getting Penn's attention.
If Penn gets his way and returns on March 5, that would add yet another high-profile bout to an already loaded card. Conor McGregor will make his UFC lightweight debut against 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos, while Holly Holm makes her first defense of the women's bantamweight title against Miesha Tate.
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