When Anthony Pettis entered the UFC at the beginning of 2011, he carried with him a promised title shot after capturing the WEC lightweight belt at the promotion’s final event.
Unfortunately for Pettis, Frankie Edgar fought Gray Maynard to a draw at UFC 125 and rather than sit back and wait, he elected to take a fight. That proved to be a bad choice, as Clay Guida used his wrestling to control Pettis for three rounds and the loss cost Pettis his chance at UFC gold.
Since that loss, Pettis has reeled off two straight victories over tough competition. He outworked veteran Jeremy Stephens late last year and scored an impressive knockout of the night performance against Joe Lauzon in Japan.
With Benson Henderson defeating Frankie Edgar to become the new lightweight champion at the same event, the cards have fallen into place for Pettis to finally get his title shot. After all, it was Henderson that Pettis defeated in the final WEC event to take that belt.
The UFC’s busy 2012 schedule, as well as a few unexpected results, has muddied the waters in the 155-pound division. Some speculated that the winner of the Jim Miller-Nate Diaz bout on May 5 might be next in line, but that would put Henderson’s first title defense sometime in August. Couple that with the fact that Henderson defeated Miller just two fights ago, and the case for Pettis gains more ground.
A rematch between Henderson and Pettis should be an easy sell for the UFC and with Pettis’ convincing finish of Lauzon, the fight makes a lot of sense. It’s no surprise that UFC President Dana White hinted at the matchup in the UFC 144 post-fight press conference. Now it may just be a matter of time before the fight becomes official.
Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at The MMA Corner. For anything related to MMA, Follow @RobTatumMMA.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com