"If he's so big and I can't handle all this power and all these things then why did the fight go so long? Why wasn't I taken out immediately if I don't belong in the ring with him? It's been six to eight months since the fight and at the end of the day, I gotta get back into the octagon and I gotta kick somebody's ass. I could almost still be down there feeling sorry for myself, feeling like the world's coming down on me. You know, you gotta stand up -- especially if your a champion. What kind of champions not going to get back on their feet? I'm gonna stand tall and we'll see how the future goes. No matter what I think about Kenny [Florian] personally, I like his style. I think he judges distances well, he's got nice kicks, good jiu-jitsu, if he wants to take someone down he can. I think he's a student of the game and a true mixed martial artist... I'm not looking past Kenny Florian in any way, but my game plan is to beat Kenny Florian, beat the next guy and you know, if GSP is still around, you know... let's see. What goes around, comes around."

-UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn expresses his admiration for upcoming contender Kenny Florian, but reaffirms his ultimate desire to get a third fight with current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

The two first fought a closely contested battle back in March of 2006 with St. Pierre pulling out a controversial split decision victory. Penn eventually dropped down to the UFC's lightweight division and quickly fought his way to the title; first earning the UFC's interim lightweight strap against Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 in January of 2008, then besting lightweight champion Sean Sherk at UFC 84 in May of the same year for the undisputed UFC lightweight championship.

Penn went on to face St. Pierre a second time eight months later at UFC 94, however, this time with drastically different results. St. Pierre dominated Penn, controlling the stand-up and ground fighting until the fights conclusion at the end of fourth round when Penn's corner was forced to throw in the towel. 

After the contest, however, allegations of "greasing", corroborated by none other then UFC President Dana White, swirled around the MMA world. A second look at video of the fight revealed that St. Pierre's cornerman rubbed relatively copious amounts of vaseline on his back which, the Penn camp claim, allowed the fighter to become very difficult to control and maneuver on the ground.

Penn complained that this illegal practice directly led to the loss and called for an immediate investigation. Others, such as UFC President Dana White, while admitting that some wrong doing had taken place, believed that the outcome of the fight was unaffected by the excess vaseline. In any event, the Nevada State Athletic Commission looked into the matter and concluded that new rules regarding the application of vaseline (a cut mitigating agent) would be established immediately in order to ensure that incidents like this would be avoided in the future. Penn asked that the fight be ruled a "no contest", but was rebuffed by the commission who shared UFC President Dana White's position that the fight outcome was unaffected by the infraction.

Since then, both men have taken shots at one another through the media and a third fight would certainly be a huge draw provided both continue to win. First however, Penn will set his sights on Kenny Florian at UFC 101 on Aug. 8.