It’s 2016 and BJ Penn is calling out Georges St-Pierre for a third fight. GSP announced on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani that he is ready to return to the cage, and that has the Hawaiian’s wheels spinning.
The former lightweight and welterweight champion took to Twitter late on Sunday to call out GSP (h/t Damon Martin of Fox Sports). Penn is lobbying for the fight to happen at 155 pounds at UFC 205 in New York City.
Hey @GeorgesStPierre if you can make 155 easily, I'm free in November and would love the opportunity to fight you at 155 pounds in New York.
— BJ PENN (@bjpenndotcom) June 27, 2016
Penn dropped both previous meetings against GSP. They originally met in a title eliminator at UFC 58 in March 2006, when GSP edged Penn on the scorecards. The two UFC legends ran it back at UFC 94 in January 2009 in a champion vs. champion tilt; Penn quit on the stool after the fourth round.
There is no reason this fight should happen, and no one—other than Penn—is calling for it. The tweet did not elicit the response Penn was hoping for on social media:
BJ Penn calls out George St. Pierre on @Twitter for a fight at #UFC205 in New York for 3rd time. Question is: if he couldn't beat him b4...
— David Kano (@TheDKano) June 27, 2016
My feed: pic.twitter.com/ThEGT3DLZC
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 27, 2016
GSP could starve himself to 145 and still beat Penn at featherweight.
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) June 27, 2016
Penn is on a three-fight losing skid and looked horrendous in his 2014 return against Frankie Edgar. Perhaps even more crucial to this callout, GSP has not expressed an interest in fighting at lightweight. There is no heat behind this proposed fight.
In fact, GSP has his eyes on going in the opposite direction in terms of weight. In the interview with Helwani (h/t Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com), GSP stated his interest in fighting Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight crown. That one makes a lot more sense than a third fight with Penn that virtually nobody is craving.
Penn will likely have to look elsewhere for a marquee matchup, as there is no juice to a third encounter with GSP.
