Rory MacDonald appears to be getting his wish.
On Monday, the up-and-coming welterweight fighter out of Tristar Gym in Montreal - where he trains with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre - appeared on The MMA Hour and stated his desire to fight BJ Penn. It seemed like a nice idea, with one of the true legends of mixed martial arts battling one of the sport's next great superstars, but it didn't seem especially likely. While Penn had shown himself to be more and more open to the idea of returning to the Octagon, it would have to be for the right fight, and if that fight wasn't with someone of Josh Koscheck's stature - Penn shot down a proposed bout with the former No. 1 contender last month - then it probably wouldn't be with MacDonald, who is already considered by some to be in the top 10 at 170 pounds but doesn't yet command main-event recognition.
On Tuesday, however, Penn agreed, releasing a public statement through his website, BJPenn.com, saying, "Rory, I accept your challenge."
Of course, MacDonald's request for the fight didn't read much like a challenge - in "polite Canadian" fashion, the British Columbia native spoke respectfully about Penn and his achievements, referring to him as "a guy I'd like to fight before he leaves the sport" - but in any event, Penn is officially on board and now it's on UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and his team to get the paperwork done.
It's obvious why the matchup makes sense for MacDonald, but Penn's motivations aren't quite as clear.
Penn's already had a taste of the "legends circuit," fighting Matt Hughes in the co-main event at UFC 123, and with his lightning-fast knockout of the former UFC Welterweight Champion, he showed that he's above that kind of "special attraction" fight. He fought Jon Fitch to a draw at UFC 127, and then battled Nick Diaz at UFC 137, taking a unanimous decision loss but surviving Diaz's relentless assault without ever being knocked down. At 32 - not all that old for the fight game - Penn is still capable of competing with the best in the welterweight division, and probably wasn't interested in fighting an opponent who's on the way down. Koscheck, at 34 and coming off a loss to Johny Hendricks last month, may fit that description.
MacDonald, on the other hand, represents the future. A mixed martial artist from the very beginning - as opposed to a kickboxer or wrestler who added the other disciplines later on - MacDonald has developed evenly, and can always turn the focus of a fight to his opponent's weaker skill set. Against the grappler Mike Pyle at UFC 133 last summer, that was striking, as MacDonald scored big on the feet, forced Pyle into a sloppy takedown attempt, and scored a TKO victory with his ground-and-pound assault. Against Che Mills in April at UFC 145, that was grappling, as "Ares" brought Mills down to the ground himself, again achieving his victory via TKO. MacDonald, seemingly, is a man without any true holes in his game, and while that will likely become less rare as fighters start training for MMA at an earlier age, right now, it puts him in a class with fighters like Jon Jones, Nick Diaz and MacDonald's friend and training partner GSP.
As SWR mentioned on Monday, it also makes him, in all likelihood, the closest thing Penn will ever get to a third shot at St-Pierre. More than that, though, a fight with MacDonald is a real opportunity to continue to compete at the sport's highest level, against a young, hungry and talented fighter who has a chance to ascend to main event status with a win. For one of only two fighters in history to hold UFC titles in two different weight classes, that's a real attraction.
