B.J. Penn will indeed fight on.
The UFC Hall of Famer will continue his career at UFC Fight Night 112 on June 25 when he faces Dennis Siver in a featherweight bout.
The event, scheduled to take place at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., and air on FS1 with early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, was today announced by UFC officials.
UFC Fight Night 112 still awaits its main event, but Penn (16-11-2 MMA, 12-10-2 UFC) vs. Siver (22-11 MMA, 11-8 UFC) was confirmed, along with a middleweight bout between Tim Boetsch (20-11 MMA, 11-10 UFC) and former UFC welterweight champ Johny Hendricks (18-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC), a women’s strawweight contest between Felice Herrig (12-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Justine Kish (6-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), and a light heavyweight clash between Jeremy Kimball (14-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Josh Stansbury (8-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
After many delays, Penn, the former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion, ended a more than two-year retirement in January when he faced rising featherweight star Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night 103. “The Prodigy” was swiftly beaten when Rodriguez battered him to a second-round TKO. Penn didn’t speak about his future immediately after the fight, but now it’s clear the Hawaiian is intent on continuing his career.
Siver, meanwhile, won’t have fought himself in more than two years. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 69 in June 2015 where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Tatusya Kawajiri. The 38-year-old was scheduled to fight Penn once during the extended break but was forced to withdraw because of injury.
Another ex-champ in Hendricks is also trying a career resurgence, but he’s made much more progress after winning his long-awaited 185-pound debut with a unanimous decision over Hector Lombard at UFC Fight Night 105 in February. “Bigg Rigg” struggled to make weight repeatedly at welterweight, experiencing a three-fight losing skid in the process. He will attempt to make it 2-0 in his new division against Boetsch.
“The Barbarian” completed his UFC contract in February with a first-round submission loss to top contender Ronaldo Souza at UFC 208. He came to terms with the UFC on a new deal, and the fight with Hendricks will mark his 22nd octagon appearance.
For more on UFC 112, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.