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Sport

13th Jan 2016

One of the greatest of all time wants a comeback fight at UFC 197

Return of the prodigy

Darragh Murphy

If this happens, UFC 197 will have already reached unprecedented levels of unmissable.

To add to the already stellar title fights and intriguing prelims, MMA legend BJ Penn has officially indicated a desire to come out of retirement for the March 5 event.

Penn retired in 2014 after losing three fights in a row for the first time in his 13-year fight career, the last defeat coming against Frankie Edgar in 2014.

The former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion wants to get his hands on 14th ranked UFC featherweight Nik Lentz to bring an end to the pair’s lengthy war of words.

Penn, who has begun training with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, had previously stated that the Lentz bout would be the only one that could tempt him back to the octagon after the Texan got under Penn’s skin with a disparaging poem about ‘The Prodigy’.

Penn took to Instagram on Wednesday night to issue the challenge.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAfZs5gAUtK/