The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Las Vegas May 24 for UFC 84: Ill Will at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. ‘Ill Will’ is the perfect moniker for the main event pitting lightweight champion B.J. ‘The Prodigy’ Penn (12-4-1) against Sean ‘The Muscle Shark’ Sherk (32-2-1).

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These two 155-pound mixed martial artists couldn’t be further from each other in style, technique and personality, and there has been plenty of bad blood leading up to this contest. Shortly after Penn won the lightweight title vacated by Sherk when he tested positive for steroids (a claim he vehemently disputes), Penn stated to the crowd at UFC 80: Rapid Fire, “Sean Sherk, you’re dead.” The back-and-fourth banter between these two continued on Thursday’s media conference call.

“Sean Sherk took it personal, it’s hard for a guy like me who has never used performance enhancing drugs to respect someone like that,” said Penn. “I’m a purist, more of a fighter than an athlete.”

That answer prompted Sherk to respond in what is quickly becoming a heated rivalry.

“I think this fight became personal because of the steroids issue,” noted Sherk. “It’s not an easy process to go through, but it makes for a better fight and a better story line.”

Offshore sportsbooks are listing Penn as the $2.30 favorite (bet $230 to win $100) over Sherk, the $1.80 underdog (bet $100 to win $180). It will be interesting to see how the odds shift heading into this matchup between the last two lightweight champions.

Penn is just the second UFC fighter to capture titles in two different weight divisions after dominating Joe ‘Daddy’ Stevenson with a second-round rear-naked choke back in January. ‘The Prodigy’ is an accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist who has five submission victories along with four knockout wins and three decisions. Penn has suffered four setbacks in MMA while fighting in numerous weight classes, one loss by knockout along with three decision setbacks.

This fight with Sherk figures on being a very technical ground war, pitting a powerful wrestler against an accomplished jiu-jitsu artist. Penn has won his last two fights by rear-naked choke holds, and even won his first UFC title as a welterweight with that submission over Matt Hughes at UFC 46: Supernatural.

“You know what I’m going to do, but can you defend it?” stated Penn when asked about his preparations for this fight. “I’m not concerned about anything he will be trying to do to me, I’m going to be myself.”

Sherk is known as an extremely powerful wrestler, especially in the 155-pound division. ‘The Muscle Shark’ captured the lightweight title at UFC 64: Unstoppable in October 2006 with a unanimous decision victory over Kenny Florian. Sherk then proceeded to beat Hermes Franca by unanimous decision at UFC 73: Stacked last summer before testing positive for steroids.

Sherk is known to take numerous over-the-counter supplements, and presented evidence of contamination in one of them. The Minnesota native has taken and passed three polygraph tests, and is known to be such a health freak that he avoids casinos when fighting in Las Vegas because of all the second-hand smoke.

“I know what I did and didn’t do, and anyone who followed my appeal knows I haven’t done anything wrong,” stated Sherk. “This fight is really important to me, I get to beat BJ and get my belt back.”

It would be extremely difficult to find two fighters who are this different. Penn is a laid-back Hawaiian who has been criticized in the past for his lack of cardio. Sherk is not as gifted as ‘The Prodigy,’ and is fanatical about training and overpowering people. So when these two fighters enter the octagon and the fight is over, will the bad blood end like it did when Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock fought a third and final time?

“I’ve always been a class act, this is something people have wanted to see,” noted Sherk. “When it’s over, it’s over. Whatever happens in the octagon stays in the octagon.”

Brad Young can be reached at byoung@vegasinsider.com.