Takanori Gomi could meet BJ Penn in only his second fight for the UFC, company president Dana White says, provided he gets past Kenny Florian first and Penn is still the lightweight champion after he fights Frankie Edgar on April 12th.

In an excerpt from a forthcoming interview with Japanese magazine Gong, White says “Kenny Florian is one of the top lightweight fighters. If Gomi beats Kenny, that’s going to get a lot of attention from many people – including bjpenn

“But BJ has a fight with Frankie Edgar in Abu Dhabi on 4/12 and Gomi still needs to fight Kenny. So until that happens we can’t make a decision. But I’ll tell you, if Gomi beats Kenny, I definitely will consider a match with BJ.”

Gomi was the PRIDE FC lightweight champion from early 2006 until the organisation shut down a year later. He and Penn have fought once before, with Gomi losing by submission in the third round of their 2003 match for Hawaiian promotion Rumble on the Rock.