BJ Penn was certainly not cherry picking his opponents for UFC comeback. He opted to come back against Yair Rodriguez who is by no means an easy fight for him – as proven by his defeat. Still Matt Hughes who is eyeing his own return wishes BJ was more apprehensive.

“I wish he would just find the right opponent, you know?” Hughes said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. “I’ve always told him, ‘hey B.J., you’re so good on the ground, find an older Brazilian that’s not going to have’ … typically Brazilians don’t have the best cardio, ‘find an old Brazilian who’s not in shape who’s going to want to be on the ground, and kind of get your hand in the air, go out that way.’”

Indeed Penn just went all out but even that wasn’t enough against the young Yair Rodriguez.

“BJ is such a competitor that he wants to fight the best out there,” Hughes said. “That’s just the way he’s always been. My hat goes off to him for being that way, but I wish he would just be kind of a little smarter about it and really really choose a right opponent.”

Matt Hughes, on the other hand, might be eyeing a return at Bellator along with Chuck Lidell.

“I would love to come back,” the former longtime UFC welterweight champion said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I didn’t want to retire in the first place.”

 

Bellator’s Scott Coker has no definitive news for now

“We have not talked to either athlete,” Coker said during a media call on Tuesday. “At some point, I’m sure we’ll talk and we’ll just hear each other out and see if there’s anything that can be done, but really, it hasn’t been on our radar yet.”

“I have no interest in fighting somebody like Tyron Woodley or [Jorge] Masvidal or some of these young kids,” Hughes said. “I don’t. I’d want to have somebody close to my age that would have the same speed, quickness.”