BJ Penn: There's no better place than Toronto to beat Rory MacDonald

Old dog vs. new tricks.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight and welterweight champion, B.J. Penn, will incur a 10-hour flight, along with a six-hour time difference, to lock horns with Rory MacDonald at the upcoming UFC 152 pay-per-view (PPV) event on September 22, 2012 from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

And according to "The Prodigy," that's a "perfect" place for his "dream fight."

"Everybody was like, 'Well, you have nothing to gain, why are you doing this? C'mon, go fight someone else. This is a dream fight for Rory, he can get motivated,' and this and that, but what they're gonna find out soon is that this is my dream fight, going up there and beating them in Toronto, in their hometown in front of everybody. I'm excited to fight in Toronto. Perfect. There couldn't be a better place to get this done."

Hear more from Penn (via MMA Weekly) on his decision to come out of retirement, as well as what he did to "heal up his insides," after the jump.

The Hawaiian is 16-8 in his career and just 1-3-1 over his last five fights and was ready to call it quits after getting knocked around by Nick Diaz at the UFC 137: "Penn vs. Diaz" event last October. Earlier that year, he battled Jon Fitch to a majority draw in Australia.

His best days may be behind him, which is why the betting lines opened with "Ares" as the -300 favorite.

After a third round technical knockout loss to Carlos Condit back in June 2010, MacDonald (13-1) went on a three-fight tear, sending Nate Diaz back to the 155-pound division in the process. At just 23 years of age, the Canadian prospect has 12 finishes in 13 wins.

Will the dream become a nightmare?

For more on B.J. Penn vs. Rory MacDonald at UFC 152, including their self-imposed drug testing stipulations, click here and here.