Penn softens stance on retiring from UFC

BJ Penn might have let the emotion of taking a pummeling at the hands of Nick Diaz affect his thought process Saturday when he announced his retirement after losing in the main event of UFC 137.

The former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder appeared to back off the decision in a statement released on his website Monday.

"I want to thank all the fans for their love and support. I have decided to take some time off to enjoy life, train and teach. I will keep you guys posted with what's next," the statement read.

UFC president Dana White was skeptical of Penn's authenticity on Saturday night.

"We'll see how that plays out," White said at the time, noting the proclamation was made after an emotional loss.

Penn is just 32 years old but has been competing at the highest level of the sport for a decade. He said he has a daughter at home and one more on the way, and doesn't want them to have to see him with a battered face.

■ UFC 137 GATE -- The late removal of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre did little to damage UFC 137 at the box office.

The event at Mandalay Bay Events Center did a live gate of $3.9 million with an attendance of 10,313, according to figures released by the organization. Official numbers will be sent out by the Nevada Athletic Commission later this week.

UFC 137 was already sold out when St. Pierre pulled out of his welterweight title defense because of a knee injury. Sources close to both the organization and the venue indicated very few refunds were requested after the change.

"It was a sellout, and it remained a sellout," White said. "If this was a boxing event, this thing would have collapsed and we would have had to reschedule it."

The secondary market was not as fortunate.

According to Seatgeek.com, the average price for tickets on the Internet decreased 34 percent from $623 to $409 after the injury was announced.

■ UFC 138 ON SPIKE -- UFC 138, featuring middleweights Chris Leben and Mark Munoz in the main event, takes place Saturday in Birmingham, England.

The main event will be the first five-round, nontitle fight in UFC history.

Las Vegan Anthony Njokuani is also in action against Paul Taylor in a lightweight bout.

The event will air tape-delayed on Spike TV (Cable 29) at 8 p.m. The Facebook stream of the preliminary card will air live, however, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

■ VIACOM BUYS BELLATOR -- Though Spike TV will lose live UFC programming at the end of the year, the network will not be out of the mixed martial arts business.

Viacom, the parent company of Spike, purchased a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships, according to USA Today.

Spike owns the rights to the UFC library through 2012, a deal that prohibits the network from broadcasting another MMA organization.

Viacom plans to move Bellator over to Spike in 2013. Spike is available in 20 million more homes than MTV2, where Bellator currently airs.

■ PROELITE 2 -- Former UFC heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski will headline Saturday night's ProElite 2 card in Moline, Ill., but they won't be fighting each other.

Arlovski will take on Travis Fulton, and Sylvia meets Andreas Kraniotakes. Sylvia was scheduled to fight Pedro Rizzo, who was 0-3 in UFC title bouts, but he was injured and forced to pull out. Kraniotakes was originally denied as a replacement, but the athletic commission in Illinois reversed course and approved the fight.

BJ Penn's brother, Reagan Penn, will also be in action on the card, which airs live on HDNet.

■ SUPERIOR CAGE COMBAT -- Jay Silva has agreed to step in for an injured Elvis Mutapcic to fight Bristol Marunde in the middleweight co-main event of the SCC 4 card on Friday night at the Orleans Arena.

Lightweight John Alessio will fight Luiz Firmino in the other co-main event.

The card begins at 7 p.m.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.