Penn reveals Dana is looking for him to move up to welterweight soon

Lightweight champion, B.J. Penn has revealed that UFC President, Dana White has spoken to him recently about moving back up in weight before the end of the year, but the Hawaiian explained he’s not overlooking his next opponent at 155 pounds, Frankie Edgar.

Speaking via BJPenn.com, Penn said:

“Dana has expressed some things to me that he would want to see this year, maybe me in the welterweight division. We will see. I have got a tough fight with Frankie Edgar coming up. [And] there is always good lightweight talent, there is a bunch of welterweight contenders up there. I guess I would just have to say I don’t have my mind set on anything yet…. I don’t want to jump the gun and give away all Dana’s plans!”

“My weight right now - I just finally got a battery for my scale - I think I am about 167.5 or 168. You have got these big guys, they walk around [heavy] and they are strong. I don’t know if I am the only guy, but I think it is about pushing yourself and seeing how far you go and its about failing sometimes - and failing miserably sometimes -but standing up afterwards and realising what happened, and the mistakes that you made.”

“But I think that I cannot picture myself becoming complacent, staying in one place. Not that I could defend the lightweight title for ever, I know that’s impossible, you can’t win every one. But I think there is nothing wrong with pushing yourself, seeing how far can you actually go.”

Penn will headline UFC 112 against Frankie Edgar while middleweight champion, Anderson Silva also sees action against dangerous submission wizard, Demian Maia. Can Penn cement his legacy as the best lightweight on the planet before returning to 170 pounds for a possible rematch with Georges St. Pierre?

By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)