Retirement just doesn’t sit well with B.J. Penn.
The UFC Hall of Famer, who has stepped away from fighting multiple times before, will end a 23-month hiatus on June 4 when he faces Dennis Siver at UFC 199 in Los Angeles.
The UFC made the fight official Wednesday after it was first reported Tuesday by Yahoo Sports.
Penn, 37, started training in January at Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, N.M., and had the fight with Siver lined up for as early as March.
However, in February a former employee of his website, BJPenn.com, made sexual assault allegations on social media against Penn.
No charges were filed and Penn denied the claims but the UFC postponed his return to conduct its own investigation.
The organization released a statement Wednesday saying, “following a review of the matter by Campbell & Williams, a Las Vegas-based law firm hired by UFC to evaluate the situation, UFC has been informed that no criminal or civil charges have been filed against Penn to date, nor has any action been taken by local law enforcement. It should be noted that UFC reserves the right to reevaluate the matter should new information be made available.”
Penn (16-10-2, 12-9-2 UFC) last fought in July 2014 against Frankie Edgar and was stopped in the third round. He announced his retirement after the fight.
The Hilo native is one of two UFC fighters to hold world titles in multiple weight classes but is just 1-5-1 over his past seven fights.
Four of those seven fights were contested at 170 pounds. Penn will fight Siver at 145 pounds.
Siver (22-11, 1 NC) is 11-8 with one no contest in his nine-year career with the UFC and has lost two of his past three fights, including a second-round TKO against Conor McGregor.
UFC 199 will be held at The Forum and broadcast on pay-per-view. The main event is a middleweight title fight between champion Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman and bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will defend his belt against Urijah Faber.