Anthony Pettis Has Focus On Becoming Two-Division Champ
At one point, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis was thought to be the face of the UFC. He was the promotion’s lightweight champion, and had received a plethora of lucrative sponsorship deals. Then, however, he was destroyed by Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 in March 2015. After losing the strap, Pettis lost two straight to the likes of Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza. All of a sudden, the bright lights had dimmed for “Showtime” and he appeared to be at a sort of crossroads.
It was clear that a new beginning was needed for Pettis which is why he dropped down to 145-pounds in hopes of bouncing back. He did just that this past weekend, scoring an impressive submission victory over No. 6-ranked Charles Oliveira. Now, Pettis plans to ‘map’ out his future at featherweight:
“I didn’t really know if I could make the weight to be honest,” Pettis said in the post-fight conference, per Danny Segura of MMA Fighting. “I was like, ‘146, I’ve never seen it before’. But we made the weight. Now, I’ll map it out, and figure out where I want to go. It just feels good to be back in the winning column.”
With his recent victory, it’s clear that Pettis could be a serious player in the 145-pound division, and he has his eyes set firmly on the gold:
“I had a rough patch,” Pettis said. “I mean [losing] three fights in a row, you know, I wasn’t used to that. I had two losses my whole career, and going three back-to-back, I had to do some soul searching. I had to figure out what drives me, what makes me want to do this, and I went through a lot of stuff. I have to thank my family, my girlfriend, everyone that was around me that kept me focused and that made me keep pushing. I felt like we pushed through. We got a new division, a new goal: two-division champ. And that’s what I’m set out to do.”
Given his star power along with his performance in Vancouver last weekend, “Showtime” should be headed for another big fight, but who would you like to see him clash with next?
