BJ eyeing WW return..not looking past Frankie

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UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn (15-5-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC) has never been one to shy away from a challenge.

A former UFC welterweight champion, Penn once fought a then-220-pound Lyoto Machida in Japan. Taking on all comers is just one reason "The Prodigy" is considered among the best fighters in MMA history.

And while Penn insists he's not overlooking his April 10 title defense with Frankie Edgar (11-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, the champ said today on a media call promoting the event that he's considering a return to the welterweight division.

"If everything goes well on April 10, I definitely would consider moving up to 170 – not that it's 100 percent guarantee," Penn said. "There's still a lot of good contenders in the 155-pound division, but I'm thinking about it.

"If I do make a move, I'm going to move slow. I'm not going to try to rush anything."

Penn said he isn't seeking an immediate title shot, though a third fight with current 170-pound champ Georges St-Pierre is undoubtedly in the back of his mind.

Instead, Penn said he would simply like to dabble in contests in the welterweight division, similar to the way middleweight champ Anderson Silva has occasionally fought at light heavyweight.

"I would think about it more as testing the waters," Penn said. "I'd talk to (UFC president) Dana (White) and find out if he would want me to vacate the belt, but maybe try to do something like Anderson is doing – test the waters, see how everything is going and see how everything plays out."

Many MMA fans have called for St-Pierre to look at moving up a class to prove his true worth as a mixed martial artist. Penn said he doesn't believe that it's necessary to fight out of his natural weight class to prove his legacy, but each competitor must find what drives them to become better.

"No, I don't think that at all," Penn told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). "I think a fighter has to [stay] true to himself and what his goals and his accomplishments are and what really motivates him. I've been the welterweight champion once, and in a lot of ways, I really wouldn't mind being the welterweight champion again. I think it's just a fun thing to do. I think it's cool, and I think that's what martial arts is about. It's definitely what jiu-jitsu is about.

"Martial arts is about the small man being able to defeat the bigger man, and that's why we have the love and fascination for martial arts. I know that the UFC is a sport now, and it's taken a lot more seriously in the sporting aspect. That's why we have the rounds and the rules. But there's something deep inside of me that is a martial artist, and it's just awesome."

Nevertheless, Penn insists his aspirations of a return trip to 170 pounds won't cost him against Edgar.

"I've said many times that Frankie Edgar is not the guy to look past," Penn said. "Anybody that looks past Frankie Edgar is going to end up with another loss on their record. This isn't the guy you play around with, so I'm not thinking about anything past April 10.

"Frankie is a great opponent, and I just have to go out and do my best."

And besides, Penn, who said one can never truly clean out their division with the constant influx of new talent to the UFC, believes there is still work to be done at 155 pounds.

"I think there is Kenny Florian, there's (Takanori) Gomi, there's Gray Maynard," Penn said. "There's a lot of guys out there, and I think they all have a good shot at fighting for the title one day, so I don't want to look past any of those guys, or I don't want to make believe that they don't exist."

This is exactly how I would want it to play out. I would like to see BJ move up and just get some fights in. He doesn't need to immediately go for the title. He needs some tune up fights to see if he is ready for WW and to get his size increase down.

[FUZO]

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