Although BJ Penn has some criminal charges he faces back in his home state of Hawaii, he is still plugging away to get ready for his comeback fight after retirement at Greg Jacksons in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The former two division champion was set to face off with relative old timer Dennis Siver, but that fell out when he was injured and pulled from their fight at UFC 199 in Los Angeles, California. A card headlined by two title fights in the Middleweight and Bantamweight division.
Penn has not done so well in his last few outings which has prompted him to retire. Now, he feels fully committed training away from home with someone else in charge of his days to day training regime. Since losing his belt to Frankie Edgar six year ago in 2010, he has gone 1-4-1. His only win comes over old rival Matt Hughes who retired relatively shortly after that. His draw came to the hands of Jon Fitch who does not even fight in the UFC anymore. He has two losses again to Frankie Edgar in that span and a loss to GSP protege Rory MacDonald. Now, he will face off with a TUF alum in Cole Miller who knows all about ups and downs in the Octagon.
Cole Miller was a participant ont he very tough season of TUF 5 that has produced some long time fighters in the UFC. In fact, Miller himself has been in the UFC for over nine years at this point. He started off as a Lightweight going 7-3 with varied success and then dropped down to Featherweight. Two straight losses welcomed him to 145 but he rebounded with a 3-1 run which was ended by a loss to rising star Max Holloway and then he was unable to finish his last fight due to an eye poke. Now, he will look to get back on the winning track in a short notice replacement fight against a legend. Will he be able to do it?