UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn and former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks are two of the fighters leading the charge on the UFC’s return to Oklahoma City, Okla.
Penn will continue his return to the Octagon by facing Dennis Siver on Sunday, June 25, at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, while Hendricks makes his second start at middleweight opposite Tim Boetsch.
Penn (16-11-2) returned from a two-and-a-half-year hiatus in January, losing via a brutal TKO stoppage to rising talent Yair Rodriguez. The loss was his fourth consecutive.
Things won’t get any easier for Penn when he faces the heavy handed Siver (22-11, 1NC), who is desperate for a victory of his own, entering the fight off back-to-back losses.
Following numerous struggles making weight at 170 pounds, Hendricks (18-6) moved up a division in his last bout, earning a unanimous-decision victory over Hector Lombard. He’ll look to build off of that in a middleweight fight with Boetsch in Oklahoma.
Coming off back-to-back wins in 2016, Boetsch (20-11) was upended by Jacare Souza in February, so he will be looking to get back on track in the fight with Hendricks.
Other bouts announced for the Oklahoma City card via UFC Tonight on Wednesday included a strawweight fight between Felice Herrig and Justine Kish, as well as Josh Stansbury vs. Jeremy Kimball in a light heavyweight contest.
