The rivalry between 'The Prodigy' BJ Penn and George 'Rush' St-Pierre is considered fundamental to the history and evolution of the sport of MMA. Over their two fights, at welterweight it seemed as if a transition was made between the primacy of sheer skill and flair, to strategy, application, and athleticism. Their first fight saw Penn dominate early on in the striking exchanges, but as time went on, the more powerful and durable wrestler, GSP, began to control the range and secured a historic- if disputed- decision over three rounds. The second fight afforded for no such doubt. The Canadian dominated from the first, repeatedly flooring 'The Prodigy' and besieging him with unrelenting ground and pound until, in spite of the Hawaiian's bravery, his corner put a stop to the fight in the fourth round. One of the many messages of their last encounter was quite clear: Penn was no longer big enough to compete with the best modern welterweights. Since then, Penn fought as low as featherweight, and was intending to make his comeback at that weight class at UFC 199, until the fight was pulled due to a USADA IV use violation. The consequences of that rule infringement are not yet known, so it is difficult to speculate when Penn may be able to fight again. However, he plainly thinks he he will be cleared by November and the UFC 205 card, scheduled to be its first ever at Madison Square Garden, New York. Penn has taken to twitter to implore his old nemesis to drop to the 155 lb weight limit to complete their trilogy for his UFC comeback. It remains to be seen whether GSP would want to make the cut, but it would certainly be a massively high-profile encounter for the UFC's New York debut.Hey @GeorgesStPierre if you can make 155 easily, I'm free in November and would love the opportunity to fight you at 155 pounds in New York.
— BJ PENN (@bjpenndotcom) 27 June 2016