Hello Hubris: B.J. Penn Talking Return to Welterweight as Frankie Edgar Awaits at UFC 112

UFC Lightweight champion and USAT/SBN Consensus MMA Rankings #1, B.J. Penn is once again talking about leaving the lightweight division -- where he has amassed a 12-1-1 ranking over the last decade -- and moving up in weight where he's a much less impressive 3-4. Admittedly, his losses are to Light Heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida, Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre (x2) and former champ Matt Hughes, but still.

Here's what Penn said to Sherdog:

"If everything goes well, I'd definitely consider moving up to 170," Penn said during a Tuesday teleconference. "Not that it's 100 percent guaranteed, but I'm thinking about it. If I do move, I'm going to move slow. I'm not going to rush anything. I'd think about it as testing the waters, maybe do something like Anderson [Silva] is doing [at light heavyweight]."

But don't think that means Penn believes he has cleaned out the UFC lightweight division:

"There are a lot of good guys out there," Penn said. "All have a good shot at fighting for the title one day. I don't want to make believe they don't exist. At the end of the day, it will be [UFC President] Dana White who gives me the phone call and tells me what's on the agenda for the next fight."

Penn mentioned #5 Gray Maynard, #4 Kenny Florian and UFC newcomer #13 Takanori Gomi by name. Of those three, Maynard presents an interesting challenge as he's a heavy-handed wrestler who's huge for the division, but he hasn't shown the kind of complete game it would take to overthrow king B.J. Florian had his shot at UFC 101 and got outclassed. Gomi was vanquished by Penn in 2003 before going on his legendary PRIDE run. But the Takanori Gomi of 2010 is a mere shade of the Fireball Kid who terrorized the PRIDE lightweight division from 2005 to 2007.

If the old Gomi manifests himself with a brutal KO win over Kenny Florian at UFN 21, Penn will have an interesting challenger, but not necessarily an entirely worthy one.

Nor is he looking past his UFC 112 opponent #7 Frankie Edgar:

"I know Frankie's got quick hands and good wrestling," Penn said. "I think he might try and kick me a lot. I don't want to underestimate his kicks. Frankie's a great scrambler, a great wrestler. You never know what's going to happen. I don't have a specific gameplan to impress anybody."

"Frankie Edgar's not a guy to look past," Penn said. "This isn't a guy to play around with. Anyone who looks past him is going to end up with a loss on his record."

While it's true that stylistically Edgar may present some problems for Penn with his slick boxing and solid wrestling, realistically Penn is heavily favored for a number of reasons: his boxing is even slicker than Edgars and he's got true KO power in his hands; his take down defence is legendary; and his jiu jitsu is on a different planet. 

Sadly, the most interesting challengers for B.J. Penn at 155lbs are outside the UFC: DREAM champ #2 Shinya Aoki, Bellator champ #3 Eddie Alvarez, #6 Tatsuya Kawajiri and Strikeforce champ #8 Gilbert Melendez. While it's certainly arguable that the top contenders in the UFC lightweight class could beat any of those listed here, we just don't know that for sure. 

So that leaves us with B.J. Penn playing Anderson Silva and taking on some non-title fights at 170lbs. Unlike Silva however, Penn doesn't have a long lanky frame that will prevent him from being dwarfed by even mid-tier welterweights. How effective would the 5'9" B.J. Penn be against even mid-tier welterweights like Ben Saunders (6'3") or Dustin Hazelett (6'1"), much less the higher tier fighters like Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves or Jon Fitch? 

There's only one way to find out I guess. 

In some senses Penn's heedless lust for challenges is admirable. This is a man who needs mountains to motivate him. Methodically cleaning out the UFC lightweight division doesn't seem to be enough for him. It's a testament to Dana White's astute and patient promotional abilities that Penn has even made this recent run at lightweight and build something of a legacy.

Will Penn's lack of patience squander that by pushing for a series of truly dangerous and mis-matched fights at 170lbs? Or will he add to his legacy by voluntarily fighting as the underdog and coming home with more than his share of glorious and improbable wins?