After suffering two straight losses, Dennis Bermudez (15-5) was able to score a unanimous decision win, defeating Tatsuya Kawajiri at UFC Fight Night 83 on February 21st. Now ranked as the #8 UFC featherweight, Bermudez stands at a pivotal point in his career, and he wants to solidify his ascent back towards championship contention, possibly by defeating a UFC legend.
“We’re getting back to the old Dennis Bermudez, man,” Dennis said in his interview for MMAjunkie Radio. “I want to be in there and be active. I want to fight this summer and again in November. I want to be on the two biggest cards of 2016. I think I want to fight on UFC 200 and then fight on the first New York card. That would nail it right there.”
“At UFC 200, maybe a rematch with Ricardo Lamas or B.J. Penn,” Bermudez said. “At (the first UFC show in New York), I don’t know – Max Holloway, Jose Aldo or Conor McGregor.”
B.J. Penn’s return to MMA is questionable at the moment. In his most recent fight back in 2014, the former two-division champion suffered a heavy TKO loss vs. Frankie Edgar at featherweight. In total, Penn has lost 5 out of his last 7 Octagon appearances, and the UFC recently postponed plans to book Penn for his comeback fight due to ongoing police investigation into an alleged assault in his home state of Hawaii.
So why does Bermudez want to meet Penn? The answer is simple.
“Because he’s famous,” Bermudez said. “He’s a legend in the MMA world, and I already knocked off two pioneers or legends or big names in the MMA world. He would be a third. And he was one of my favorite fighters growing up.”
