In his youth, Anthony Pettis starred on the gridiron, break-danced, boxed and practiced tae kwon do.
It was on the hard court, however, where the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, product aspired to one day make his mark.
“When I was growing up, I wanted to play in the NBA,” Pettis, 24, recently explained to Bleacher Report.
“I loved basketball.”
Although Pettis dreamt of someday making a living in professional basketball, it was his passion for tae kwon do—and perhaps his affinity for boxing, too—that eventually led to him trying his hand at mixed martial arts.
“I wanted to try something new,” Pettis offered. “I did [tae kwon do] my whole life and I figured that I could use my skills in the cage.”
It didn’t take long for Pettis, who made his professional mixed martial arts debut in January of 2007, to realize that he might be on to something.
“After my first fight—I finished the fight in 24 seconds—I knew that I had what it takes to be great,” Pettis noted.
After he began focusing his attention on mixed martial arts, Pettis quickly found success in the sport.
Pettis won his first eight matches—including seven by way of first-round stoppage—before making his WEC debut in June of 2009.
In the WEC, Pettis won his first match—a first-round submission victory Mike Campbell—before dropping a split-decision loss to Bart Palaszewski at WEC 45.
From there, Pettis went on to claim successive stoppage victories over Danny Castillo, Alex Karalexis and Shane Roller before besting Ben Henderson at WEC 51 to claim the now-defunct organization’s lightweight championship.
Since making the transition to the UFC’s Octagon after the demise of the WEC, Pettis has dropped a decision loss to Clay Guida and, most recently, claimed a decision victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 136.
Although he has established himself as one of the sport’s most exciting lightweights, Pettis—who is to return to the Octagon against Joe Lauzon at UFC 144 in February—still has lofty aspirations within the confines of professional mixed martial arts.
“I’m feeling great,” Pettis offered. “I’m hungrier than ever. Very motivated and ready to get back to the top!”
“[My goal in the sport at this point is to be the] undisputed best lightweight in the world…[When I retire, I will be satisfied with] becoming a legend in the sport.”
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