During a recent interview, UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis made some bold claims regarding his UFC 181 fight in December with fellow Ultimate Fighter 20 coach Gilbert Melendez.
“Gil’s a tough opponent,” Pettis said. “He’s one of those guys that just goes out there and likes to fight. You saw him in the Diego Sanchez fight throwing bombs, the Ben Henderson fight went five rounds – but that’s the thing for me, I don’t really see him as a big threat. He doesn’t really knock anybody out, he doesn’t submit anybody; he kinda goes out there and keeps the same pace the whole fight, so I’ve got to break that down and make sure he doesn’t go five rounds with me.”
For “Showtime,” the glitz and glamor is nice, such as being on the cover of Wheaties and coaching TUF 20, but for the champ, it’s all about what takes place inside the Octagon.
“I’ve got to get back in there and get a defense under my belt,” he said. “I definitely got some cool experiences – the Wheaties box, The Ultimate Fighter show, sponsors like Reebok and some big companies out there, so I definitely experienced that end of it, but the actual fighting side is what I’m going for, so I think once I get some fights under my belt, I’ll get the full experience of being champ.”
Pettis went on to discuss some of the rising contenders in a stacked UFC Lightweight division, guys such as Rafael dos Anjos, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, a guy who Pettis beat early in his run in the UFC.
“I love it,” Pettis said. You’ve got guys like Donald Cerrone, I beat Cerrone a few years ago in the first two minutes and now he’s pleading for a title shot, and the fans are believing him. I love it. I just gotta remind everybody of what my skill set is and what I do out there. I think after this next fight, everybody will be back on Team Pettis.”
Pettis concluded, “Mixed martial arts fans have so many fights to look at, so they’re very quick to forget. It’s been a year off for me, so I gotta go out there and remind them again.”
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