B.J. Penn Set To Join Jose Aldo At Nova Uniao In January
B.J. Penn sent shockwaves throughout the MMA world when he announced his return as a head coach on TUF 19 opposite bitter rival Frankie Edgar. Penn declared he would follow Edgar down to his new home at 145 lbs. in an attempt to finally beat “The Answer.” Penn famously lost two decisions to Edgar in 2010, ending his run as UFC lightweight champion.
And it looks like Penn is picking the right camp to train with. Penn will venture to Brazil to train at Nova Uniao with famed Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Andre Pederneiras. Penn got his black belt from Pederneiras in record time, earning his nickname “Prodigy.”
Now Pederneiras has a new star pupil: UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Aldo successfully defended his belt twice this year against top opposition in Edgar and Chan Sung Jung. Although he battled a broken foot and kidney stones in the aftermath of his UFC 163 victory over “The Korean Zombie,” Aldo is scheduled to return to fight Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 in February.
The champ is excited for Penn to come to Brazil and provide his vast wealth of knowledge, telling MMAFighting.com:
“B.J. is coming in January to know the gym and help us. He is going to the U.S. again, and then he’ll come back to train with us all for the rest of our camps. I never trained with him. He was already a black belt when I was on the team, so I never had the chance to train with him. But I’ll have this honor now. He has fought and became champion in the lightweight division, and at 170, so he has a lot to teach me. He has a lot of experience in the UFC, he’s been fighting there for years, so his experience and technique will teach me a lot. He has excellent boxing and jiu-jitsu as well.”
Aldo is very respectful of the groundbreaking Penn, one of few men to hold UFC titles in multiple weight classes. Now that Penn will be fighting at featherweight, however, “The Prodigy” and “Scarface” are sharing a weight class.
Featherweight is quickly becoming one of the most stacked divisions in MMA with several elite fighters waiting for their shot at Aldo. Penn will face off with one of the best in Edgar, and his success is going to depend on how effective his weight cut is.
Former welterweight champion Penn has never fought at 145. Perhaps training with Aldo will help him get there. If “The Prodigy” shows up motivated and in shape, Aldo and Penn together as a team is a scary prospect
With two huge fights on the horizon, they’re going to need all the help they can get. Will the champ help Penn make a triumphant return to the Octagon? Or will fans be calling for his retirement yet again?
Photo Credit: Jason Silva for USA TODAY Sports
