Penn vs Hughes 3 in the works for UFC 123?

The rubber match UFC fans have been waiting for since UFC 63 may happen on November 20th at UFC 123. The other day Former Welterweight champion Matt Hughes posted a new blog which included the following quote

“Finally, Dana called me yesterday and we had an interesting conversation about the November 20th UFC in Detroit. More news about that down the road.”

Now this would mean nothing if not for the fact that Former Lightweight and Welterweight champ BJ Penn posted a video not to long ago stating that he will be fighting again in November. With many LW fighters already set to fight or are being rumored to fight such as Guida, Gomi, Lauzon, Satiropoulos, Maynard, and Tyson Griffin it would make perfect sense for BJ to make another move up to 170 and try to defeat the Hall of Famer for a second time.

Both fighters currently hold a victory over the other. BJ Penn and Matt Hughes first stood toe to toe at UFC 46 where a smaller BJ shocked the world when he defeated a man who seemed unstoppable and took his belt in just one round. The second bout took place at UFC 63 and happened by complete chance. Matts original opponent was set to be GSP but an injury forced him off the card and BJ was more than happy to take his place. The fight began and BJ seemed to be the much quicker fighter. For two rounds BJ would go on to punish Hughes’ face with his crisp boxing. Then as the third round began Penn looked absolutley gased which allowed Matt to take him down, get him in a crucifex and pound his face until the ref stopped the fight.

Now 4 years later both men may meet again at a card that has been getting better and better with fights such as Machida vs Rampage, Lauzon vs Sotiropoulos, and the return of Karo Parisyan…. As for Matt Hughes saying he will not fight again in 2010 a Rubber match between the man that took his title so many years ago is just too tempting to pass up.