A press conference today announced that UFC 99 "The Comeback" would take place at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on June 13th.
With BJ Penn suspiciously requesting more time off, the proposed BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian fight is off of the card.
Penn, putting Ken-Flo on hold demonstrates a clear lack of respect for his opponent.
This suspicious announcement was merely a rumor before, but now it tops the list of UFC news which causes me to say "hhhmmm."
My guess is that his recent "fall from welterweight grace" has left his ego slightly bruised.
Or maybe the failed attempt to conquer one of the most dominant champions in MMA history—Georges St. Pierre—is bringing out the "Baby Jay" in him once again.
It appears to this writer that Penn is having motivational problems.
The thought of swallowing his gigantic ego and fighting at 155 to defend the lightweight championship may have left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Also, accepting the fact that he is no longer mister be-all-end-all of Mixed Martial Arts is possibly a little hard for him to swallow.
It's nothing new for Penn to demonstrate a crappy attitude and if we lean a little closer at his newest dilemma there is also a strong odor of "de ja vu" surrounding it.
Penn made a very similar leap up in weight classes in 2004 at UFC 46 to challenge the five-time defending 170 pound title holder Matt Hughes.
Hughes had cleaned out the welterweight division at that time and Penn was the next logical step.
Hughes lost the fight four minutes into the first round by rear naked choke after giving up his back with only 23 seconds left in the round.
Shortly after defeating Hughes, Penn signed to fight for the Japanese promotion K1 using the ridiculous excuse that there was a lack of challenging fights left for him in the UFC.
The UFC promptly stripped him of the welterweight title, claiming Penn breached his contract and that the signing constituted him refusing to defend his title.
Penn got very upset and then threw what UFC president "Dadda" White described as a childish temper tantrum.
He expediently filed a law suit against the UFC.
Publicizing his side of the conflict, Penn boldly claimed that his UFC contract had already expired.
He then filed a motion to stop the UFC from awarding a new welterweight title, but that motion was flatly denied.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it...well, guess what, he gets it! -- Cool Hand Luke
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