BJ Penn 'warming up to the idea' of a UFC return

Perhaps retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be after all.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight and Welterweight Champion B.J. Penn, who's currently overseeing his own signature gym in Hawaii, may have just put an expiration date on his self-imposed retirement.

"The Prodigy" talks to UFC Tonight:

"I mean, right after my last fight I had no interest in fighting, but I am kind of warming up to the idea. Everywhere I go people are telling me to get back into the ring and I think it is working a little. No timetable, it isn’t going to be anytime in the next few months, that’s for sure. The thing about the UFC is that the landscape is constantly changing. I guess whatever makes sense. I don’t want any freebie fights. I would like to put together a fight that makes sense for everyone; for the fighters, the fans and the organization -- a big fight."

Calling all fantasy matchmakers!

Penn, who recently turned down a comeback fight against Josh Koscheck, came up short as the main event headliner for UFC 137 back on Oct. 29, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The unanimous decision win for Nick Diaz, which left Penn battered and bruised, sent him straight into an Interim title bout against Carlos Condit at UFC 143.

And sent "The Prodigy" straight into what looks to be more of an extended break than it does an official retirement.

While not even his most loyal fans would anticipate a return to the Octagon in 2012 -- it does sound like Penn would be willing to do another fight -- if the UFC was able to find him the right opponent.

Who do you have in mind?