B.J. Penn's woes continued on Sunday night as the former two-division UFC champion fell in a majority decision to Dennis Siver, who was returning to action for the first time in more than two years.
Siver had been facing injuries, which kept him sidelined and out of action since 2015, but there's no doubt the bigger story going into the weekend was whether or not Penn could right his ship after suffering through the toughest run of his legendary career.
It looked like Penn might get back on track after a knockdown in the second round, but ultimately thatlone punch served as his best shot landed over 15 minutes in the Octagon with Siver.
Penn looked to establish his jab in the early going but Siver did a good job staying light on his feet while staying in constant motion to not stand in front of the former lightweight and welterweight champion.
In return, Siver was very active with his striking attack, although he was struggling with his range to land anything with real power but the German fighter was definitely more active through the first five minutes.
It was more of the same in the second round with Siver staying active on the outside with short, accurate punches and kicks. While not doing much damage, Siver was far more active through the first few minutes.
Penn finally engaged in a big exchange when he slammed home a huge right uppercut that staggered and dropped Siver to the mat. Penn quickly followed up, looking for the finish on the ground, but Siver did a good job tying him up to survive before the round came to a close.
The near finish seemed to drain whatever Penn had left in the gas tank because Siver recovered between rounds and came after the legendary Hawaiian with everything he had left in the arsenal in the third round.
Siver continuously attacked Penn's left leg by feeding him a steady diet of kicks to the inside and outside, which resulted in a ton of bruising on both sides of his thigh.
Siver's assault didn't stop as he kept going low with kicks and then head hunting with his punches including a stiff right hand that rattled Penn late in the round. Siver kept up the offensive onslaught until the fight came to an end as Penn walked to his corner to finally catch his breath.
The judges ultimately scored the fight 28-28, 29-28 and 29-27 giving Siver the majority decision win.
After two years away from the sport, Siver picked up a huge win over a UFC Hall of Famer while Penn's incredibly tough run continued as he dropped his fifth fight in a row overall. Penn has insisted that he wanted to continue fighting because he loves doing it, but there's no telling if this latest loss will impact his decision to stay or if the UFC would consider letting him go after this most recent setback.
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