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STAR-ADVERTISER / AUG. 17
The Waikele Center is slated to be the site for BJ?Penn’s second UFC Gym. Penn sits on the steps of the Octagon at his Kakaako gym, which opened last August.
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Hilo’s B.J. Penn will make his return to the Octagon next April in a featherweight fight against nemesis Frankie Edgar.
The UFC announced Wednesday that Penn and Edgar will serve as the coaches for the next season of the “Ultimate Fighter” reality TV show scheduled to begin airing in January on Fox Sports 1.
It will culminate in a bout in April at 145 pounds, which will be Penn’s first at that weight.
“BJ really hates the fact that he lost to Frankie Edgar,” UFC president Dana White said in a statement. “It’s something that’s been burning deep inside of him for three years now. So he’s moving down to 145 pounds to not only avenge those defeats, but to try to become the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three different weight classes.”
The former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion is 1-4-1 in his last six fights. Penn has already fought in four different weight classes in his career.
His last four fights have been at welterweight (170 pounds), including a unanimous decision loss to Rory MacDonald last December.
Edgar ended Penn’s eight-year undefeated streak at 155 pounds with a shocking unanimous decision victory in April of 2010, ending Penn’s lightweight title reign.
Edgar beat Penn convincingly in their next fight, another decision in August of that year.