Yahoo Sports Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn Set to Headline Second Night of Back-to-Back UFC Events
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going bigger than ever before with UFC International Fight Week in July in Las Vegas.
The promotion will put on UFC 175, which has yet to garner a headlining bout, on Saturday, July 5, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The next day, The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale will take place in the same venue, but that event does have its headlining bout.
UFC Tonight reported on Wednesday night that UFC officials confirmed Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn 3 would headline the TUF 19 Finale.
Edgar and Penn, of course, are coaching opposite each other during the nineteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which is slated to feature a line-up of middleweight and light heavyweight male fighters vying for a berth into the UFC.
Penn (16-9-2) has been in and out of a pseudo retirement over the past couple of years, but dangling a featherweight fight with Edgar in front of him convinced the Hawaiian to return to the Octagon.
Penn coached season five of The Ultimate Fighter, which Edgar, funny enough, tried out but did not get selected for.
Edgar (16-4-1) has fought twice since Penn’s last bout in December of 2012. Edgar has challenged Jose Aldo for the featherweight title, losing that fight, but then bounced back with a unanimous-decision victory over Charles Oliveira.
Penn, by comparison, will be fighting for the first time at 145 pounds when they meet in July.
Edgar and Penn have fought twice before with Edgar winning five-round unanimous decisions in both.
