BJ Penn to return to action against Dennis Siver at UFC 199 on June 4th

One of the most decorated fighters in the history of the UFC will make his return to the cage at UFC 199.

It’s been confirmed that UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn (16-10-2) will take on Dennis Siver (22-11) at UFC 199. The card takes place on June 4th inside of The Forum in Inglewood and features two title fights – Rockhold vs. Weidman II and Cruz vs. Faber III. Kevin Iole was the first to break news of the Penn-Siver fight earlier today. The fight will be contested at featherweight.

Penn was originally going to face Siver at UFC 196 but that was would scrapped due to an internal sexual assault investigation by the UFC stemming from allegations by his former website runner, Pedro Carrasco. It appears that nothing substantial was found during the investigation and Penn will fight on.

With a 1-5-1 showing since his last successful lightweight title defense back in late 2009, Penn has been seen inside the octagon taking beating after beating in an attempt to resurrect his glory years. His rabid fan base will tell you that this time it will be different. Why? Because Penn has aligned himself with one of the most respectable camps in the world today – Jackson Wink MMA.

Siver will need to do some resurrecting as well if he wants to keep his job. The German kickboxing extraordinaire got himself back on the right track with a win over Charles Rosa in 2014 after serving a suspension for using an illegal hormone. Unfortunately, his 2015 campaign wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for. He kicked off the year with a high-profile loss to Conor McGregor in Boston followed by a UD loss to Tatsuya Kawajiri at UFC Fight Night 69.

When Siver mixes it up with Penn at UFC 199 it will be his first octagon appearance since that loss to Kawajiri last June in Germany. For Penn, it will be his first fight in nearly 2 years since “retiring” after being defeated by Frankie Edgar for a third time.

Here’s a quick look at UFC 199 ‘Rockhold vs. Weidman II’ as it stands today:

• Middleweight Title Bout: Luke Rockhold (c) (15-2) vs. Chris Weidman (13-1)

• Bantamweight Title Bout: Dominick Cruz (c) (21-1) vs. Urijah Faber 33-8)

• Featherweight Bout: BJ Penn (16-10-2) vs. Dennis Siver (22-11)

• Lightweight Bout: Dustin Poirier (19-4) vs. Bobby Green (23-6)

• Lightweight Bout: Evan Dunham (17-6) vs. Leonardo Santos (15-3-1)

• Middleweight Bout: Kevin Casey (9-4) vs. Elvis Mutapcic (15-4)

• Lightweight Bout: John Makdessi (13-5) vs. Mehdi Baghdad (11-4)

• Welterweight Bout: Tom Breese (10-0) vs. Sean Strickland (17-1)

• Lightweight Bout: “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim (13-7-3) vs. “Marco” Polo Reyes (5-2)

• Light Heavyweight Bout: Jonathan Wilson (7-0) vs. Luis Henrique da Silva (10-0)