May 5, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Nate Diaz before his lightweight bout against Jim Miller during UFC on Fox 3 at the Izod Center. Nate Diaz wins by submission in round two Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-US PRESSWIRE

The UFC did it again. After a couple lackluster fight cards at UFC 147 and UFC 149 Dana White has rewarded us with a stacked Fox card.

Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz will fight for the lightweight title in the main event of UFC on Fox 5. Henderson just defended his belt against Frankie Edgar with a controversial split decision victory at UFC 150. Dana White stated immediately after that Diaz would earn the next title shot.

Diaz is coming off a win at UFC on Fox 3 against Jim Miler. He defeated Miller via guillotine choke in a No. 1 contender bout.

Shogun Rua will fight rising contender Alexander Gustafsson in what would seem to be a No. 1 contender fight after the Jones-Hendo winner vs. Machida.

Rua is coming off a fourth round TKO victory over Brandon Vera at UFC on Fox 4 and could have earned a title shot if not for the even more impressive knockout from Lyoto Machida in the co-main event.

Gustafsson most recently defeated Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel TV in April. Dana White promised a big fight from Gustafsson at the UFC on Fox 4 press conference and this is definitely a step up in competition.

Rory MacDonald and BJ Penn will now move to the UFC on Fox 5 card after being pulled from UFC 152. MacDonald was forced to pull out of the event after suffering from a cut above his eye that required 38 stitches.

MacDonald is coming off a victory against Che Mill at UFC 145.

Benn retired after a decision loss to Nick Diaz, but came out of retirement for the fight with MacDonald.

Apr 21, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Rory MacDonald celebrates beating Chad Mills in a welterweight bout during UFC 145 at Philips Arena. MacDonald won the bout by technical knock out. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell-US PRESSWIRE

Former lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn has stated that he would consider coming out of retirement for a fight with Rory MacDonald. Penn retired after losing to Nick Diaz at UFC 137. He was rumored in May to be coming out of retirement for a fight with Josh Koscheck, but that never came to fruition. On his personal website he has stated that he will come out of retirement to face the young up and comer, but no official announcement has been made by the UFC.

Penn was a great fighter, but his biggest issue has always been conditioning and being mentally prepared for a fight. When he comes into a fight in shape he can be the best fighter in the world, he tends to take fights off though.

MacDonald isn’t a fighter Penn could do this against. He is the future of the welterweight division. One of the new UFC fighters who has grown up training in mixed martial arts. He doesn’t have one specialty, but rather is solid in all aspects of his game.

He has very good wrestling and his ground and pound is outstanding. His one weakness may be the stand up, but it isn’t a liability. MacDonald is only 22 years old and keeps improving. He absolutely destroyed Che Mills and needs a big name opponent to launch himself up the ladder.

Penn’s greatest asset is his jiu-jitsu, but he would be overmatched against MacDonald. Penn is only 5’9″ with a 70″ reach, while MacDonald is 6’0″ with a 78″ reach. MacDonald would pick apart Penn on the feet and wouldn’t allow him to use his jiu-jitsu.

In my opinion I feel Penn would be better suited for lightweight in a comeback, but as I’ve said training has been an issue of his. This is an easy weight cut for him and a light training camp for him. I don’t think he would be able to win this fight, but this should launch MacDonald up the ladder.

After retiring after a loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 137, BJ Penn retired from the UFC. He is one of only two men to hold a title in two different weight classes and was one of the most dominant lightweights of all time. While he failed to live up to “The Prodigy” he is still one of the most well known and successful UFC fighters and is now ready to return. Dana White said that if Penn returns it will most likely be at welterweight, but assuming he could return to lightweight let’s view some possible fights for him upon his return.

Lightweight:

Gilbert Melendez:

If the UFC truly wants to see how good Melendez is a fight against BJ Penn could give them the answer. Penn was a dominant champ and if he wants the opportunity to hold another belt, moving to Strikeforce could be the answer. This fight would allow us to see if Penn can still be an elite fighter and whether Melendez is a top ranked lightweight.

Nate Diaz:

Assuming Diaz wants to take a fight while Bendo and Edgar settle their score a fight with Penn could be perfect. The elder Diaz already defeated Penn, but with Penn at his more natural weight this could be an interesting fight. This is another fight that would allow us to see where both Diaz and Penn are in the lightweight division and a win for Penn would definitely get him back into top lightweight status. If Penn decides he wants to come back soon, this could be a perfectly timed fight for both fighters.

Joe Lauzon:

Why not? Both are coming off losses, both are jiu-jitsu experts and Lauzon was on Penn’s team during The Ultimate Fighter. It’s a bout that would get both back on track and Lauzon is known for taking down big names. He defeated Jens Pulver in his UFC debut and recently derailed Melvin Guillard’s title chances. Penn could be another name to add to the list.

Welterweight:

Josh Koscheck:

Koscheck is coming off a loss against Johny Hendricks and is in a sort of limbo in the welterweight division. A fight against Penn would give him a big name opponent and pay day and would be a fun fight. It’s the classic wrestler vs. jiu-jitsu match up and one that all fans would love to see.

Jon Fitch:

They fought to a draw last fight and it was a great fight. While fans may not like it because of Fitch’s fight style it would be nice to figure out a winner. Neither is near a title shot, so this fight is one that could happen and wouldn’t really ruin any title implications. This could be a good match up on a free card or the co-main event of a PPV card. Fitch isn’t scheduled to fight anyone, so this is a definite possibility.

Obviously all of these fights depend on whether or not Penn comes back, but if he does there are plenty of fights available for him.