BJ Penn out of UFC 132; Likely Suffered an Injury Training

Fans who were excited to hear that Jon Fitch was out of UFC 132, due to his wrestling style that is overwhelmingly considered boring, may not have dodged a rematch with BJ Penn just yet. 

MMAjunkie.com was the first to report that BJ Penn is now officially out of what was scheduled for the UFC 132 main event as well.

MMAWeekly.com reported eight days ago (March 30) that Fitch was withdrawing from the card due to a shoulder injury.

A bantamweight title match between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, which was already scheduled to be on the main card, will now serve as the July 2 event’s headline fight.

The UFC was reportedly active in finding a replacement for Fitch, but Penn instead opted “to return to action at a later date.”

Carlos Condit was a popular choice to replace Fitch among fans, and Condit himself said it would be an honor to fight someone he considers an idol.

Bloodyelbow.com pressed the issue a step further, by checking in with the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

Meltzer was recently the first one to break the news about Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping as the top candidates to coach "The Ultimate Fighter 14."

While the Wrestling Observer is unfortunately a subscription-only website, Bloody Elbow was gracious enough to disclose the most important details.

Meltzer stated that: “B.J. Penn’s next fight is up in the air. Penn suffered an undisclosed injury and is getting it looked at and getting an MRI done this week. Depending on how that goes will depend if he’s moved back a show or given a new opponent for 7/2.”

Penn has not been known to pass up an opportunity to fight throughout his nearly 10-year professional fighting career, so anything besides an injury in this situation would be fairly surprising. 

No word on if the UFC plans on coming up with a completely new welterweight fight for UFC 132.