Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports is reporting B.J. Penn (11-4-1) & Joe Stevenson (28-7) will square off in January at UFC 80 in Newcastle, England. Iole states Dana White will not strip Sherk of his title regardless of the outcome of his case…

he’s not going to strip Sherk of his lightweight championship because he is fed up with the California Athletic Commission’s handling of Sherk’s steroids case.

As we recently reported the CSAC issued a second continuance after the commission failed to disseminate evidence presented by Sherk’s attorney to all commision members.

Said Dana White:

The way this whole thing has been handled has been a mess,

White had previously stated he would strip Sherk of his title where he to lose his appeal before the commission but Iole’s article indicates that’s no longer the case. Sherk will presumably reunite the two Lightweight belts once he is either cleared by the Commission or serves his suspension.