BJ Penn returns to coach TUF 19 opposite Frankie Edgar

BJ Penn is making his return to the UFC and will be fighting in the featherweight division. It seems fitting that he’s decided to move down to featherweight just to face Frankie Edgar, who has beaten him twice already.

The two fighters were revealed as the coaches on the 19th season of The Ultimate Fighter, which will debut in January 2014 on Fox Sports 1. They will fight at some point in April.

BJ Penn returns to coach TUF 19 opposite Frankie Edgar

UFC President Dana White revealed that the original plan was to match Urijah Faber and Frankie Edgar against each other, but neither of them wanted to move to the other’s division. Penn has signed a new deal with the UFC and plans to make a run for the title at 145 pounds. If he made that run and captured the title, he’d become the only fighter ever to win a belt in three weight classes.

Edgar and Penn fought twice back in 2010, with Edgar capturing the title at UFC 112 in a fight that most felt Penn should have won. However, Edgar soundly defeated him at UFC 118 in a lopsided contest.

Penn hasn’t fought since getting manhandled by Rory MacDonald last December on Fox and he’ll be dropping two weight classes for his return fight. The weight cut may be difficult, but it was smart for him to drop down to featherweight. He has taken some severe beatings as a welterweight in fights against Georges St. Pierre, Nick Diaz, and MacDonald. It should be a fantastic season of “The Ultimate Fighter” with two future Hall Of Famers coaching against one another.

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